Getting started with the professional examination of MS-100, you must have a deep understanding of how to monitor service health in Microsoft 365. Monitoring service health is crucial as it entails maintaining both the availability and performance of the services associated with the Microsoft 365 tenant.
Understanding the Dashboard
One of the crucial aspects that should be clear while monitoring service health includes understanding the dashboard. The Microsoft 365 admin center contains a health dashboard that offers a detailed view of the service health status. This dashboard is designed to communicate the vital details such as ‘Service incident’ and ‘Advisory’ that could potentially influence the services.
‘Service Incident’ refers to a situation that arises when a service is not working as expected. Meanwhile, an ‘Advisory’ is a situation where a service is functioning but has issues.
Monitoring service health, thus, creates a significant effect on the organization’s overall productivity. Hence, it’s critical to involve the IT team in this process to react quickly and efficiently in case of any service fluctuations or outages to mitigate any potential disruptions.
Key Health Indicators
Microsoft 365 offers percentage-based Key Health Indicators (KHIs) which measure and quantify the health of services.
| Key Health Indicator | Measures |
|---|---|
| Operational Health | Measures how well the services are running. |
| User Impact | Measures the number of users who might be affected by an outage or service degradation. |
| Incident Resolution | Measures how fast an incident is identified and resolved. |
The above-defined indicators offer valuable insight into how well the services are functioning and the possible impacts in case things go wrong.
Service Health and Continuity Functions
Microsoft 365 provides Service Health and Continuity functions, ensuring smooth sailing of operations. This includes:
- Service Incident Communication: Microsoft clearly communicates to the customers during a service incident.
- Planned Maintenance: Microsoft provides advance notice for any planned service maintenance to minimize any impact on the customers.
Service health alert customization
Microsoft also offers Service health alert customization. Administrators can customize health alerts to ensure the right team members get accurate and timely information.
Setting Up Service Health Alert
The following is a process for setting up service health alert:
- Navigate to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- In the left-side navigation pane, select Health.
- Select Service health.
- Choose the alert icon at the top of the page.
- On the Active alerts page, select “Edit preferences”.
- Choose the services you want to get alerts for and then select “Save”.
This results in the IT team being informed promptly in the event of any service issues, thereby allowing them to respond quickly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, monitoring service health in Microsoft 365 is key to maintaining the availability and performance of the platform’s services. It gives an organization the ability to respond proactively to outages or degradations before they affect productivity. As a result, it is an essential component in preparing for the MS-100 Microsoft 365 Identity and Services examination.
Practice Test
True or False: “Monitor service health” in MS-100 Microsoft 365 Identity and Services refers solely to the physical wellbeing of operational hardware.
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: “Monitor service health” refers to maintaining the software’s operational efficiency, including server responsiveness, error rates, application performance etc.
Which of the following are included in monitoring service health in MS-100 Microsoft 365 Identity and Services?
- A) Checking system logs
- B) Evaluating server performance
- C) Protecting the physical integrity of the server
- D) Using Office 365 Service Health Dashboard
Answer: A, B, D.
Explanation: Although physical protection is important, it isn’t a part of monitoring service health in Microsoft The other options relate to monitoring system logs, server performance and utilizing available tools like the Office 365 Service Health Dashboard.
True or False: Service Health in Microsoft 365 only deals with live issues and doesn’t include past incidents?
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Service health in Microsoft 365 not only deals with live issues but also keeps you informed of past incidents that have happened in your tenant, which is crucial for analyzing the root-cause and for preventing similar issues.
Which of the following is a key benefit for IT Administrators when utilizing the Microsoft 365 Service Health dashboard?
- A) Real-time view on service issues
- B) Monitoring user activities
- C) Ad tracking
- D) Artificial Intelligence support
Answer: A.
Explanation: Microsoft 365 Service Health dashboard provides the IT administrators with real-time view on service issues and updates on the current status, helping them to manage and communicate accordingly.
True or False: Planned Maintenance events in Microsoft 365 Service Health refers to the scheduled updates and changes that could affect your service availability.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Planned Maintenance events are activities planned by Microsoft to apply security, compliance, or reliability updates to its services. Notifications regarding these planned events are provided in Service Health.
The Microsoft 365 Admin Center is native to every Microsoft 365 subscription and is used for:
- A) Reporting hardware errors
- B) Gaming
- C) Video editing
- D) Viewing service health statuses and incident reports
Answer: D.
Explanation: The Microsoft 365 Admin Center is essentially a platform to manage and monitor your entire Microsoft 365 services and this includes the ability to view service health statuses and incident reports.
True or False: The Service Communications API makes it possible to get a snapshot of service status by querying the API.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: The Service Communications API is a REST web service that you can use to access real-time and historical service health information.
In Microsoft 365, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 and Plan 2, Advanced Threat Protection ATP, SharePoint Online service descriptions are examples of:
- A) User data insights
- B) Service Health categories
- C) Network configurations
- D) Admin permissions
Answer: B.
Explanation: These are examples of Microsoft 365 Service health categories, which provide distinct areas of service health monitoring.
Alerts in Microsoft 365 Service Health are generated when there are:
- A) Jokes posted in company chat
- B) Software updates
- C) Issues that affect your tenant’s service health
- D) Intruder alerts
Answer: C
Explanation: Alerts in Microsoft 365 Service Health are designed to notify administrators of any issues or incidents that could negatively impact the tenant’s service health.
True or False: Microsoft 365 service health does not include insights on email and voicemail service statuses.
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Microsoft 365 service health includes monitoring of all aspects of delivered services, including the status of email, voicemail and other communication systems.
Interview Questions
What is Service Health in Microsoft 365?
Service Health is a feature in Microsoft 365 admin center which displays the status of Microsoft 365 services. It enables administrators to check whether there are any known issues affecting the services in their tenant.
What types of issues are displayed in the Service Health dashboard?
The Service health dashboard displays incidents and advisories. Incidents are service issues that impact users, while advisories are events that could impact users.
How can administrators get notifications about service incidents?
Administrators can use the ‘Message Center’ in the Microsoft 365 admin center, to receive service incident notifications.
What is the purpose of the ‘History’ tab in the Service Health dashboard?
The ‘History’ tab provides information about service incidents that occurred in the past 30 days.
Can an administrator customize the view of the Service Health dashboard?
Yes, administrators can customize the view of their Service health dashboard to see only the services that they’re interested in.
Can an administrator export Service Health data?
Yes, Service Health data can be exported to a CSV file for the last 30 days.
How often is the Service Health dashboard updated?
The Service Health dashboard is updated regularly as Microsoft identifies and resolves issues.
What is Post-Incident Review (PIR)?
Post-Incident Review is a report that is published after resolving a service incident, containing details about the issue, its impact, and what actions were taken.
What is the purpose of ‘Service Communication API’?
Service Communications API is used to retrieve access to Message center and Service health updates programmatically.
Can an admin choose how they will be notified of service health incidents?
Yes, Microsoft 365 administrators can set preferences in the Service health notifications center in the admin center to get alerts for service health issues by email, text message, etc.
What are the different service incident statuses in Service Health?
The different service incident statuses in Service Health are Investigating, Restoring Service, Service Restored, Post-Incident Review Published.
What types of issues can an administrator expect to see detailed in the Service Health dashboard?
Various types of issues might be detailed within the Service Health dashboard, including issues with exchange online, SharePoint online, Teams, OneDrive, and other Microsoft 365 services.
What is the ‘Current Status’ tab in the Service Health dashboard?
The ‘Current Status’ tab in the Service Health dashboard provides a snapshot of current service issues affecting the tenant.
What is the ‘Advisory’ status in Service Health?
‘Advisory’ is a status in Service Health that suggests there’s an issue which might affect clients but does not necessarily disrupt the service.
What are the ways to access the Service Health dashboard?
The Service Health dashboard can be accessed through the Microsoft 365 admin center, Microsoft 365 Admin mobile app, or via Service Communications API.
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