How to implement Multi-Factor Authentication in Office 365 via ADFS – Part 3

20th of March, 2015 / / 4 Comments

Originally posted on Lucian’s blog over at lucian.blog.

In this blog post I’ll go into the configuration and implementation of Active Directory Federation Services v3.0 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This is in line with a recent proof-of-concept project I conducted for a large customer in the FMCG sector. ADFSv3 MFA coupled with some new functionality that Microsoft is working on in Office 365, MFA in Office 2013 which will be covered by part 4 of this series, offers a fantastic solution to organisations wanting to leverage MFA by way of adhering to company policy or simply to further secure their users accessing Office 365 cloud services.

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life

-Jane Addams

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How to implement Multi-Factor Authentication in Office 365 via ADFS – Part 2

11th of March, 2015 / / 2 Comments

Check out the original article at Lucian’s blog here: lucian.blog

Welcome to part 2 of this 4 part series on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). In this post i’ll go into some of the different types of MFA available to federated users with either Office 365, Azure AD and hybrid configuration Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) v3.0; as well as some use cases for each of these.

Quick recap – Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a means of access control whereby during the logon process, there is more than one claim to grant you access to the cloud service, server application or  even workstation. … [Keep reading] “How to implement Multi-Factor Authentication in Office 365 via ADFS – Part 2”

How to implement Multi-Factor Authentication in Office 365 via ADFS – Part 1

11th of March, 2015 / / 5 Comments

Check out the original article at Lucian’s blog here: lucian.blog

This is part 1 of a 4 part series put together exploring Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Recently I’m been working with a client on a project to implement MFA for Office 365 services as company policy mandates at least two factors of authentication (2FA) for accessing any corporate resources.

In part one I’ll put together my points of view around what MFA is, why its an important topic for organizations especially in 2015.… [Keep reading] “How to implement Multi-Factor Authentication in Office 365 via ADFS – Part 1”

Kloud develops online learning portal for leading education organisation

8th of January, 2015 / / No Comments

Customer Overview

Catholic Education South Australia (CESA) is made up of the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools (SACCS), Catholic Education Office of South Australia (CEO) and 103 Catholic schools across South Australia. The organisation comprises 6,000 staff who care for more than 48,000 students.

Business Situation

Catholic Education South Australia recently made the decision to offer the capabilities of Office 365 to its 103 schools across the state (including Exchange email, Lync, SharePoint and Office on Demand).… [Keep reading] “Kloud develops online learning portal for leading education organisation”

Using a Proxy with Azure AD Sync Services

19th of December, 2014 / / 3 Comments

In this blog I am going to cover some tips and tricks for using Azure AD Sync Services with a proxy… including the specific URLs required for whitelisting, the proxy settings used during the installation, configuration and running of the tool, and a workaround for apps that do not support authenticating proxies.

URL Whitelisting

It is generally recommended to whitelist all the Office 365 URLs to bypass proxy infrastructure as this provides the best performance and avoids issues with applications that are not compatible with an authenticating proxies (OneDrive for Business client installations, Exchange Hybrid services, Azure AD Sync Services and so on…).… [Keep reading] “Using a Proxy with Azure AD Sync Services”

Getting Started with Office 365 Video

21st of November, 2014 / / 1 Comment

Starting Tuesday November 18 Microsoft started rolling out Office 365 Video to customers who have opted in to the First Release programme (if you haven’t you will need to wait a little longer!)

Kloud has built video solutions on Office 365 in the past so it’s great to see Microsoft deliver this as a native feature of SharePoint Online – and one that leverages the underlying power of Azure Media Services capabilities for video cross-encoding and dynamic packaging.… [Keep reading] “Getting Started with Office 365 Video”

The Business Case for Microsoft Office 365

10th of November, 2014 / / No Comments

Businesses of all sizes and industries are considering adopting Microsoft Office 365. Some customers have a clear vision of the desired capabilities. Others have weighed up the options and identified that there are savings to be leveraged. Others still have heard the hype, but don’t know where to start.

Office 365, like any technology, offers a variety of solutions and risks to any business. Kloud has extensive skills and experience in Microsoft Office 365 and have assisted many commercial and public sector enterprise customers successfully navigate the journey onto Office 365.… [Keep reading] “The Business Case for Microsoft Office 365”

PowerShell and Office 365

2nd of November, 2014 / / No Comments

While there is a plethora of articles written about PowerShell, Hey, Scripting Guy!, where I regularly seem to end up at while trying to figure out how to do something new/different, I’m often asked about PowerShell when I’m working with customers. You see, if you’re like me, you’ve spent most of your IT life working in a Graphical User Interface (GUI). It’s comfortable, it’s often intuitive and you can click around ’till you find what you’re looking for if you’re not entirely sure.… [Keep reading] “PowerShell and Office 365”

Failure Upgrading DirSync with a Remote SQL Instance

10th of July, 2014 / / No Comments

I’ve just recently come across an issue when performing the upgrade procedure for the Microsoft Azure Directory Sync tool with a remote SQL database. The procedure seems simple enough at first glance and is documented here.

To break down the process it is only a few simple steps:

Install the new dirsync –

Dirsync.exe /fullsql

Click next on the upgrade wizard until complete

Run Powershell –

Import-Module DirSync

Run the following PowerShell cmdlet to update the backend database –

Install-OnlineCoexistenceTool -UseSQLServer –SqlServer <ServerName> -Upgrade -Verbose -ServiceCredential (Get-Credential)

The Issue

This particular issue will occur during the upgrade procedure on the PowerShell step Install-OnlineCoexistenceTool with the following error –

VERBOSE: Running InstallOnlineCoexistenceTool in Upgrade mode.… [Keep reading] “Failure Upgrading DirSync with a Remote SQL Instance”

I Keep Getting Prompted to Authenticate in SharePoint Online!

9th of July, 2014 / / 5 Comments

Every once in a while I come across a problem which is vexing and irritating and equally, an absolute joy when it is finally resolved.

The Scene

This particular issue had been on-going for some time with one of my customers with reports coming in from various people saying that they were being prompted to authenticate when opening an Office document in SharePoint Online. “I’ve already logged in so why do I keep getting these prompts?!”… [Keep reading] “I Keep Getting Prompted to Authenticate in SharePoint Online!”