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November 23, 2021

Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Labels: Now a Star Compliance Feature in Orchestry

We are making work simple in Microsoft 365 by focusing our efforts on what organizations need from a compliance and control perspective. Keeping in mind what organizations are using out-of-the-box, and what can be added to further simplify provisioning, management, and governance, Orchestry offers full support of Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Labels. Discover what you can achieve with these powerful features.

Why is Control Important?

Working with various organizations, we learned that many don’t have any formal controls in their current Microsoft 365 environment, which can certainly lead to issues today and in the future.

Not having formal controls is a very common challenge that requires a clearly defined resolution as to not slide down the slippery slope of endless sprawl, duplication, and disorienting chaos. An often overlooked tool that can become a great control ally is Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Labels. Sensitivity Labels are powerful and compelling from both the end user and IT administrator perspectives, which can be applied at the container level, group level, or document level, and is available out-of-the-box (OOTB) in Microsoft 365!

How can you and your organization begin setting up Sensitive Labels with Orchestry and better control and manage the overall experience of Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint Online? We are glad you are ruminating with us, let us show you!

Applying Sensitivity Labels for Control

Sensitivity Labels are extremely powerful Microsoft 365 OOTB capabilities that control important governance settings, such as guest access, privacy setting, SharePoint external sharing, etc.

Sensitivity Labels aren’t a one-trick pony, they bring different levels of control with their various types. The Container-Based Sensitivity Labels allow you to control things like privacy settings, guest access, device access, and external sharing. The Container-Based Sensitivity Labels are a bit tricky to configure and publish, which makes them not the most intuitive to administer. But, once you gain an appropriate understanding of them, they can be very useful. As such, more and more organizations are taking advantage of these robust labels in their Microsoft 365 environments.

New Microsoft 365 Compliance Support in Orchestry

Great news, we’ve made Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Labels even easier to use with Orchestry. This is a brief overview of all the new label support that Orchestry added:

  • Full support for Sensitivity Labels for Microsoft Teams, Groups, Team Sites, and Communication Sites.
  • Full support for Classification Labels for Microsoft Teams, Groups, Teams Site, and Communication Sites.
  • Sensitivity Labels are now shown in Orchestry’s Workspace Directory and are available as a filter that allows you to search for content by sensitivity.
  • Sensitivity Labels are also shown in Orchestry’s Team Information Tab.

Now that you know what’s out there, let us explore how you start utilizing these awesome capabilities.

Getting Started with Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Labels in Orchestry

It is simple. Define your Sensitivity Labels within Microsoft 365 and import them into Orchestry. From here, choose which ones you want to use as part of your Workspace Provisioning process. Once a Sensitivity Labels is added and applied, Orchestry pulls in the label’s name, description, the privacy override, and the SharePoint sharing override; making all of these aspects visible to you in the Orchestry interface. However, at this time, API doesn’t give us the guest access external users override, which means you will have to add that in manually.

getting started with sensitivity labels in orchestry
Image: Applying sensitivity labels to Orchestry's Workspace Templates.

A subtle addition to Sensitivity Labels in Orchestry is the ability to attach an icon for each type of Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Label. This really brings together the visual experience of the Orchestry platform, making it both intuitive and engaging!

Now that you have your Microsoft 365 Compliance Sensitivity Labels defined in Orchestry, you can use them in your Workspace Templates, and there are multiple things you can do with them that is beyond Microsoft 365 OOTB capabilities:

  • In the configuration, you can enforce Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Labels to a particular Workspace Template. So, each time a particular Workspace is provisioned, it will have a pre-determined Sensitivity Label applied to it. Many customers, clients, and partners asked for this because in Microsoft 365 there is no correlation between the Sensitivity Label and the Microsoft 365 template, so any template can have any Sensitivity Label applied to it.
enforcing microsoft 365 sensitivity labels within orchestry
Image: Using Microsoft 365 Compliance Sensitivity Labels from within Orchestry.
  • Users can choose the Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Label they want to apply to the Workspace they are requesting. For better control and the ability to manage label options, you can give users access to a subset of Sensitivity Labels to choose from. So that there is no confusion along the way, the chosen Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Label is going to override the permission type, the guest access, and the sharing options.
allowing users to select Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Label type
Image: Allowing Users to Select Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Label Type with Override Facility.
  • Sensitivity Labels enabling better Workspace findability. The Orchestry Workspace Directory delivers visibility to see all the existing teams, team sites, communication sites, and even your custom metadata. We have added more filtering opportunities based on Workspace sensitivity and types. This enables users to go through this seamlessly filtered experience to find the right Workspace effectively and efficiently.
orchestry workspace directory filter with sensitivity labels
Image: Filtering the Orchestry Workspace Directory based on Sensitivity Labels.

Orchestry Regionalization and Enhanced Data Storage

In Orchesetry, we have also introduced multiple Azure regions including North America, Europe, and Australia to adapt to our scaling needs and ensure that our customers in these regions experience enhanced performance of the tool while maintaining data sovereignty.

We are also pushing data down to the client greater than previous versions. Orchestry stores very little data, only items like some configuration data and log files are stored within the customer environment. This gives better control and security, allowing the individual organization to manage their data completely on their own. We have even improved some of the output and logging of provisioning jobs.

The Orchestry Compliance & Control Experience

This is not all that Orchestry has to offer, along with the full support of Microsoft 365 Sensitivity Labels, we have added powerful features to get a grip on Group options and SharePoint sharing options. With Orchestry’s new and improved capabilities, you get unmatched control of your environment. Transparency and streamlined policies take the pressure off Microsoft 365 admins while enabling users to engage with tools like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Online, without too many overzealous restrictions. Organizations can really take advantage of these capabilities to run collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams at high levels of efficiency with Orchestry.

You can make use of Orchestry through Microsoft 365 or get it through your Microsoft Teams application. It is an all-in-one change management solution that is business-centric and focused on driving the adoption and engagement across Microsoft 365. It is time to test out the features for yourself, don’t wait, request 28-day free access with us today.

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