Microsoft Adding Simpler Microsoft 365 Admin Center Option for Small Businesses -- Redmondmag.com

Microsoft Adding Simpler Microsoft 365 Admin Center Option for Small Businesses

By Kurt Mackie
12/01/2020

The Microsoft 365 Admin Center, used for setting up and managing various Microsoft services, is getting a more lightweight interface designed for "very small businesses," according to a Tuesday Microsoft announcement.

The new interface is called "Admin Simplified View." It's designed for small businesses but can be used by any organization, according to Scott Schnoll, a product marketing manager for Microsoft 365 Admin Center and Microsoft 365 Groups, in the announcement.

Organizations that typically just use hosted Microsoft Office applications and Microsoft Teams, rather than broader Microsoft cloud services, might be interested in using Admin Simplified View, Schnoll indicated.

Admin Simplified View provides a single view of actions to take, including:

Adding users
Installing Office
Turning on Teams
Adding e-mail and calendars

It'll be possible toggle from the Admin Simplified View to the full Microsoft 365 Admin Center portal, if wanted, by clicking a "Dashboard view" indicator, Schnoll explained.

Admin Simplified View currently is "shipping," but it's an early version, he added. Possibly, it's a preview in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Such details weren't described, though.

Not much is published regarding Admin Simplified View, but it's on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap as being "in development," with a planned December release this year. The description in the Roadmap suggested that it's for "customers with 10 or fewer licenses of any Microsoft 365 Business subscription."

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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