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How I keep up with Microsoft SCI+M product features and news (LAST UPDATE: Jan 2 2023)

/ mattsoseman / 3 Comments

I get asked frequently on my strategy to stay up to date on the news and feature releases around Microsoft Security, Compliance, Identity and Management (SCI+M) products. I decided to share my secret with you in this blog post and describe exactly how I stay up to date.

Before I share my secret it’s important to me that I share the why behind staying up to date. For me, this is a lifestyle and a passion – it’s so much more than “a job”. It’s for those reasons why (for me personally) I enjoy spending my personal time studying the technology, reading new blogs and technical documentation, watching videos, etc. I really do love this stuff, and I love sharing my passion and helping others learn. Everyone has passions and hobbies, mine is Microsoft SCI+M (yes, really).

Ask: Please share your methods on staying up to date on new features , announcements and news in the comments below! I’ll add it to this blog!

Best Practice: If the source supports RSS (i.e. blogs) consider using Microsoft Power Automate to have it automatically email you or post to Microsoft Teams or write to a SharePoint List when a new blog is posted. This is what I use for a lot of these blogs and social updates. I’ll post a video on how to do this in the future. Speaking of videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel as another way to stay up to date on all things Microsoft cyber security 🙂 (http://youtube.com/mattsoseman)

My go to source #1 – Microsoft 365 Admin Center Announcements

My primary source is the Message Center in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. I have email notifications enabled, but also peruse this a few times a month. This contains a wealth of valuable information. To help me digest these and organize them, I have it integrated with Microsoft Planner.

If you are a Microsoft Partner…

I like to keep up with Microsoft Partner news by following the Microsoft Partner Center Announcements in addition, I also monitor the US Partner Blog and the Microsoft Partner Blog.

One of my favorites – http://www.justdothebasics.com

This is an amazing resource where every weekend you receive a newsletter digest of all Microsoft SCI+M news for the week! Don’t ask me how he (Jeremy the site owner) does it, but it’s very accurate and complete. I make a habit to spend 10-15 mins each weekend reviewing the blogs and articles captured in this newsletter and then prioritizing the ones that interest me where I want to go deeper. I would say this newsletter is a must for anyone who wants to keep track of what’s happening in this space. Below is a screenshot of what to expect in the newsletter – you can subscribe to the newsletter here.

Microsoft Security Blog

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/

Microsoft Security Insider – http://aka.ms/SecurityInsider

This is an incredible resource that I review at least a few times every month, if not once a week. This is packed full of the latest blogs from Microsoft along with podcasts, whitepapers, infographics and many other resources to help me stay up to date in the latest cyber security trends that Microsoft is seeing. It’s divided into multiple sections:

Threat Watch – Interesting articles on the trending cyber security threats

Threat Actor Insights – Learn about top threat actors and understand their tactics/techniques/procedures.

Behind the Scenes – Interviews with cyber security experts at Microsoft

Perspectives – Interesting blogs and articles from Microsoft on cyber security topics

My other go to source – Marks List

My hero, and master cyber architect Mark Simos maintains an amazing list of Microsoft cyber security resources. You def need to bookmark this and refer to it often!

http://aka.ms/markslist

Book of News – Microsoft Conferences

Typically, when Microsoft has a major tier 1 conference or event they will publish online a “book of news” that details all of the announcements from conference or event. I love these, because it allows me to understand the new products or features that were announced and allows me to then go do further research. Usually there is a book of news for Microsoft Ignite, RSA, Build, etc. You can usually find these on https://news.microsoft.com/ or an internet search for “Microsoft Book of News <conference name here>”

Customer Stories

One of the ways I learn is through story telling and hearing a story about how an organization has had success with a Microsoft solution. I am often too much in the technical details that I forget about why an organization has decided to deploy the solution in the first place and the business outcomes the solution drove for the organization. Browsing these stories at http://www.customers.microsoft.com inspires me and gives me ideas for the art of the possible! I will typically check these every couple of months and spend some time reading up on the latest stories, and not just on Microsoft Security but Azure, Teams, Dynamics and other solution areas.

Endpoint Management Weekly Community Newsletter

Daniel Engberg has a fantastic newsletter on all things Microsoft Intune, Endpoint Manager, Config Manager and Windows! https://www.danielengberg.com/category/newsletter/

“Microsoft Sentinel this Week” (by Rod Trent)

My go to source for all Azure Sentinel news. This is an amazing SIEM solution and there are always new capabilities and new ways of using it. My friend Rod Trent sends an email newsletter weekly with all the updates – check it out! (Sign up here)

Microsoft Defender Weekly Wrap

Rod also has a great weekly newsletter on all news and updates for the Microsoft Defender suite. This is another one of my goto sources! Sign up here

Microsoft Endpoint Manager Newsletter

Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP) Andrew Taylor has an excellent weekly newsletter on Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Microsoft Intune – I really like the style of this and is another weekly habit for me. Link

Windows 365 Community

I am a huge fan of Windows 365, and I actually use it as my daily driver. This Windows 365 Community publishes a weekly newsletter that is packed full of best practices, new features, learnings, etc that I enjoy reading. If you’re into Windows 365, you won’t want to miss this https://w365community.azurewebsites.net/category/newsletter

Twitter

I discovered a few years ago that many Microsoft Program Managers and Microsoft Partners will tweet product announcements, new features, and overall evangelize on Twitter. By following key individuals, I find I am able to get a daily dose of updates and I am always learning about something new or something I didn’t know when I read these tweets. This is a big part of how I stay up to date. There is SO MUCH to learn from others in the industry!

If you’re a user of Twitter you will probably agree with me that the more people you follow the more “noise” will be in your feed. That’s where lists come in handy. You can create custom lists (that can either be private or public, where others can subscribe to it – my list can be found here) and add people you want to follow just to that list. So, I have created a list for Microsoft SCI news so when I want to read about those topics that people are tweeting, I open that list.

Okay, so who do I follow? Well I’m always finding new people to follow both inside Microsoft but also throughout the Cyber Security industry (such as Microsoft Partners) so it’s one of those things you need to stay fresh on, but here’s the list of people I am following today and that I recommend anyone who wants to stay up to date on Microsoft SCI also follow. Tip, look at the followers of others, then look at that individuals profile to see if they are in the industry or work at Microsoft, then follow them! (I also watch what they retweet then follow those people)

  • Cristin Goodwin
  • Joe Stocker
  • Thorsten Henking
  • Jeremy Windmiller
  • Sue Bohn
  • Windows Insider
  • Christiaan Brinkhoff
  • Scott Hanselman
  • Morgan (@MSFT)
  • Cory Gehr
  • Pascal Walschots
  • Matt Burough
  • Ryan Heffernan
  • Wayne Anderson
  • Bruno Nowak
  • Tom Burt
  • Microsoft Security Intelligence (@WDSSecurity)
  • Natalia Godyla
  • TimbMSFT
  • Phillip Misner
  • Sarah Armstrong-Smith
  • Hayden Hainsworth
  • Stefan Sellmer
  • Tomer Teller
  • @SingingTech
  • Sean Lyndersay
  • Microsoft Global Security
  • Travis Rhodes
  • BlueHat (@MSFTBlueHat
  • IntuneSupportTeam
  • Miriam Wiesner
  • Emily Hacker
  • @MicrosoftGTM
  • Gavriella Schuster
  • Toni Townes-Whitley
  • Satya Nadella
  • Microsoft Life
  • Microsoft for Healthcare (@Health_IT)
  • Kevin Scott
  • Jeff Teper
  • Why Microsoft
  • Microsoft Channel 9
  • US Partner Training
  • Microsoft US Partner
  • Microsoft Research
  • Digital Crimes Unit
  • Microsoft Government
  • Open at Microsoft
  • Microsoft 365
  • Microsoft On The Issues
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Microsoft IoT
  • Microsoft Support
  • Joanna Harding
  • Bailey Bercik
  • John Rodriguez
  • Microsoft in Business
  • Corey Sanders
  • Joe Belfiore
  • Aaron Margosis
  • Jackie Ostlie
  • Rakesh Agrawal
  • @AzureSecPod
  • Brad Smith
  • Jen Gentleman (@jenMSFT)
  • Jess Doson
  • Matt Egen
  • @gabsmashh
  • Jeff Chin
  • @hackersSentinel
  • Microsoft Partner
  • @yuridiogenes
  • Microsoft Azure AD
  • Katie Anderson (@andekat101)
  • Microsoft Azure
  • @MSIntune
  • @mslearn
  • @sosemanmatt (me!)
  • @Microsoft
  • @Windowsserver
  • Simon May
  • Microsoft Mobility
  • Microsoft Surface
  • @MSFTnews
  • @msftnews
  • Ron Markezich
  • Ram Shankar
  • Mayunk Jain
  • Alex Simons
  • Frank X. Shaw
  • John Lambert
  • Judson Althoff
  • Sarah Fender
  • Samuel Devashayam
  • Chris Capossela
  • Robyn Hicock
  • Andrew Conway
  • Alex Weinert
  • Joy Chik
  • Nicholas Dicola
  • Ann Johnson
  • Microsoft Mechanics
  • Adam Hall
  • DarkReading
  • Offensive Security
  • Darknet Diaries
  • Jack Rhysider
  • Metasploit Project
  • Briankrebs
  • Vasu Jakkal
  • @ravivtamir (Ninjacat)
  • Swift On Security
  • Hadar Feldman
  • Mark Simos — A MUST!!!
  • Heike Ritter
  • Bleeping Computer
  • @brucesaaaa
  • @AzureSupport
  • @MSFT365Status
  • @MSThreatProtect
  • @MSFTSECINTEL
  • @WindowsUpdate
  • @jepayneMSFT
  • @Dwizzzlemsft
  • Ari Schorr
  • Mark Russinovich
  • @MSFTSECRESPONSE
  • @MS_IGNITE
  • @maryjofoley
  • Panos Panay
  • Microsoft Teams
  • @Office365_tech
  • @MSFTSECURITY
  • @MSCLOUD
  • @Office365

Who do you follow? Let me know if the comments and I’ll add to this list!

LinkedIn

This is another go to for me, I’m usually taking probably 30-60 minutes a day to check LinkedIn and read what people are posting. People I follow on Twitter I’m connected with on LinkedIn – now I am connected with 12K people on LinkedIn so I’m not going to write all of them out in this blog 🙂 I recommend doing a search on LinkedIn for Microsoft Security and connect with those people (whether they are employees or partners)- and if you can browse who I am connected with and connect with them! (They won’t bite!)

People will post incredible articles and I’m always learning from them, so LinkedIn is a must.

Top people that you should follow who consistently post valuable content:

  • Joesph Davis
  • Mark Simos
  • Ryan Heffernan
  • Adam Hall
  • John Savill
  • David Branscome
  • Heike Ritter
  • Vase Jakkal
  • Joe Stocker
  • Rudy Ooms
  • Elli Shlomo
  • Ammar Hasayen

Subscribe to Microsoft Tech Community

Another must – I’ve been doing this for years and typically spend a couple hours a week on this website (aka “the forums”). Microsoft Tech Community is a website of hundreds of communities around all Microsoft technologies, comprised of people like you and I that want to ask questions and learn from eachother. The cool part is the engineering teams at Microsoft who are responsible for these products are also on this site responding to questions, delivering AMA events (Ask Me Anythings) and posting blogs.

Here’s the blogs that I follow, where new announcements are landing daily. Again, another go to and must have resource! (I’ll typically subscribe to these with RSS)

Note: These are just some of the blogs I follow on Microsoft Tech Community – what do you follow? Let me know in the comments!

Security Community Webinars

I’m constantly attending webinars or watching replays from the Microsoft SCI community. Upcoming webinars and recordings can be found at https://aka.ms/SecurityWebinars and you can subscribe to their email list at https://aka.ms/SecurityEmailList

These webinars are delivered by the engineering teams at Microsoft behind the products, so you know you’ll receive the latest information directly from the source!

Azure Security Podcasts

I’m a big fan of podcasts whether I listen when I’m driving or working out. I subscribe to dozens, but for Microsoft SCI my two go to are: https://aka.ms/AzSecPod and https://aka.ms/ASCInTheField

Microsoft Security Insights Podcast

One of my favorite podcasts to listen to is the Microsoft Security Insights podcast, hosted by my friends Edward Walton, Frank Grimberg, Rod Trent, and Brodie Cassell. Microsoft Security Insights provides information, news, tips on the Microsoft Security Solutions including Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft 365 Defender, Azure, and Microsoft 365. https://www.microsoftsecurityinsights.com/

docs.microsoft.com RSS Feed

Reading the technical documentation is free, and full of information – and is typically your best place to learn what’s new with your favorite product. You can subscribe to the “what’s new” RSS feeds for many products – here’s the ones I subscribe to so I can be notified whenever a change or new feature becomes available in some of my favorite Microsoft SCI products:

Microsoft Security Blog

Microsoft posts a lot of content on their security blog, that is not only useful and insightful, but also helps to bring the technical capabilities into context to understand how it helps the business. I usually spend 30 minutes a week looking through the Microsoft Security Blog learning about new things – another great resource! https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/

Bonus: I also love reading the Microsoft IT blog to learn how Microsoft is deploying the technology internally, which always gives me new ideas for use cases! https://www.microsoft.com/itshowcase/blog

Microsoft Ignite Videos

I am constantly watching videos from Microsoft Ignite throughout the year, typically one to two per week. A great (free) way to learn and understand what’s new and upcoming in addition to getting inspired. Another must have! Microsoft Ignite Session Catalog

Microsoft Security Technical Content Library

New as of Spring 2021 is the Microsoft Security Technical Content Library, where all Microsoft SCI content lives. There’s a feature on this site called “New Content” that I subscribe to and peruse on a weekly basis: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/content-library/

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Podcast

My friend Yuri Diogenes has an amazing podcast covering all things Microsoft Defender for Cloud – you can subscribe here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3ZTgFEc7LysiX4PfHhdJPR7S8mGO14YS

Microsoft Security YouTube Channel

Microsoft has an incredible YouTube channel where they cover all things Microsoft SCI+M. Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@MicrosoftSecurity/videos