In-Depth
Q&A: PowerShell for Office 365
A Microsoft SharePoint MVP shares his insights on what PowerShell can do for you with Office 365.
We recently spoke with Vlad Catrinescu, a widely known SharePoint MVP, who'll be presenting about "Powershell for Office365" at the upcoming Office & SharePoint Live!/Live! 360 Conference in Orlando, Fla. Here's his take on the top benefits of using PowerShell for Office 365, his favorite Office 365 feature and more:
What are the top benefits of using PowerShell with Office 365?
Using PowerShell to manage Office 365 is an essential tool for every Office 365 Admin. First, PowerShell lets you automate boring tasks, such as creating multiple users from a CSV file or changing an attribute for multiple users at once. Another benefit is getting access to all the Office 365 settings. The Office 365 admin center doesn't let you change everything in their tenant. Some settings are only manageable by PowerShell. If you are an Office 365 admin and you need full control of your Office 365 tenant, you definitely need to learn how to use PowerShell to manage Office 365.
What is your favorite Office 365 feature?
As a SharePoint MVP, I guess the obvious answer would be SharePoint Online. Actually, I think Office Groups is my favorite new feature of Office 365 since it brings together SharePoint, Exchange and Yammer into one tool that is really easy to use. Any user can easily master it without training.
Has anything surprised you working with PowerShell and Office 365?
I guess what surprised me when I first started with PowerShell for Office 365 is the limited amount of cmdlets available out of the box with SharePoint Online. There are nearly 40 cmdlets for SharePoint Online versus nearly 860 for SharePoint 2013 Server. Don't worry, though. There are other options such as CSOM or Office 365 PowerShell PnP to get more cmdlets.
What are some of the top things you want attendees to get out of your Office & SharePoint Live!/Live! 360 session "PowerShell with Office 365?"
At my session at Office & SharePoint Live!/Live! 360 In Orlando, attendees will learn how to connect to the different systems in Office 365. They'll also learn how to automate boring tasks by using the magic of PowerShell.
Find out more about Live! 360 here.
About the Author
Lafe Low is the editorial liaison for ECG Events.