HybrIT were invited by Microsoft to host a series of sessions called ‘Surface Modern Workshop’. HybrIT’s close working relationship with Microsoft and the Surface team has continued to develop and in 2020 our organisation has seen a large number of Surface devices form an integral part of some the solutions we have delivered to our customers.
Our Team were extremely excited and grateful to be asked to deliver these sessions as the subject of Surface and Microsoft 365 is a regular topic we discuss with our customers when helping them to form their modern endpoint management strategies.
Attendees
Firstly, we would like to thank everyone that attended our workshops over the last 2 weeks. HybrIT were thrilled to have over 150 attendees booked in and our team really enjoyed presenting each day to IT leaders and IT service professionals, covering some very interesting topics. Thanks to the live Q&A function in Teams Live Events, we were fully engaged with our audience as we worked our way through the workshops, seeing some interesting questions raised by IT professionals with a variety of technology challenges.
The sessions were recorded and we have made an example of one of these available to view, should anyone wish to share these with colleagues.
Virtual Studio
Whilst Hybrit would have been delighted to host these workshops at our purpose-built meeting centre, we decided to do something slightly different due to the restrictions of travel in place across the country.
This seemed like the perfect time to unveil our brand new HybrIT Virtual Studio. Using some amazing technology and content, we were able to deliver the workshops via Teams Live Events but with some advanced features.
Our team were able to demonstrate a fully live and working Surface Laptop Go being deployed using Autopilot, as part of our in-depth discussion on modern endpoint management. We then also had team members situated in the studio and joining via video on the 50” Surface Hub 2S, displaying the mobile stand and mobile battery features. Additionally, we were able virtually demonstrate the Surface Hub 2S 85”, having just been released in the UK.
Our intentions with the Virtual Studio was to make the sessions more engaging and allow our team to demonstrate some of the latest Microsoft technology and devices.
The way we work has changed
The theme of the workshops focuses on some of the recent challenges IT leaders have faced when continuing to operate their IT systems and end user device management with the vast majority of staff working from home or remotely.
Whilst the benefits of remote working are useful for end users, these benefits don’t come without their challenges. During the session we explore how you can manage & deploy a plethora of devices without sacrificing security, including how to get the best from your existing Microsoft 365 investment.
Focussing on Zero touch deployment, the HybrIT team demonstrated a live working device deployment process using Autopilot. This demo was to show exactly what an end user would experience when unboxing and logging into their brand-new surface device for the first time, even if they were at home.
Devices
We also looked closer at the devices in the Surface family, presenting the most up to date models in the current Surface range and explaining the differences. We also touch on some case studies with clients and also our experience using Surface devices.
Surface-as-a-Service
Combining Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Surface, HybrIT have created a complete end-to-end service which includes device procurement, bespoke technical deployment (through Autopilot and Microsoft Endpoint Manager) and a variety of tailored Managed Service models.
Our Service-as-a-Service offering is completely bespoke to each of our customers and can even include additional technology enablement and professional services engagements.
Future Workshops
Once again, we thank Microsoft for inviting HybrIT to deliver the workshops and we hope all the attendees were able to take something away from the sessions. We plan on running more workshops in 2021 around M365 and Surface, but also demonstrating some of the other practices within HybrIT, such as Microsoft Power Platform.
Our growing number of Microsoft Competencies reflects the technical ability of the entire team and we look forward to inviting IT leaders to future sessions.
