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Thomas Stensitzki is a Microsoft MVP, certified Exchange Server Master, and founder of Granikos GmbH & Co. KG, where he helps organizations modernize messaging, collaboration, and cloud security with Microsoft 365 and hybrid solutions. Alongside decades of deep technical expertise, Thomas has recently turned his focus to connecting technology with real-life conversations. He co-hosts the German-language podcast Cloudchroniken (https://cloudchroniken.de/), exploring the stories behind cloud technology, AI, and digital transformation. He also drives Discuss At Ease, an initiative inspired by his 2024 lymphoma diagnosis, creating open dialogue around illness, resilience, and well-being. A prolific speaker and trainer, Thomas shares insights at events like Experts Live and Exchange Summit. He contributes regularly to the Granikos blog, where his “Cumulative Update” series demystifies the latest in Exchange, Microsoft 365, Teams, and Copilot.
Exchange Online has different ways to provision mailboxes. Exchange Online is a standard service within Microsoft 365, which in the simplest case provides a mailbox. However, an Exchange Online mailbox also serves as a storage location for user-related data from other Microsoft 365 services.
When thinking of Active Directory, Exchange Server, or even SharePoint, which group object types come to your mind?
When users report to IT support that Exchange Online delivers email messages to the Junk Email folder of their mailbox incorrectly, the reason is often a misconfiguration of Exchange Online Protection settings. Such a situation mainly affects Exchange Hybrid configurations that use the centralized message flow.
Exchange Web Services (EWS) have been an integral part of Exchange since Exchange Server 2007. They are used not only by Exchange Server and Exchange Online for communication between Exchange Servers and as part of hybrid communication. Email clients also use web services. EWS is a SOAP-based API, but in the meantime, there are more modern protocols.
Customizing and configuring an Exchange organization has been a daily task for Exchange administrators for years. In a local Exchange organization, you can customize mostly anything you like. There is no requirement for enabling the organization for customization. But in Exchange Online, the situation is different.
You cannot compare today's IT workplace with that of the past. Even without the changes in recent months, which have led to an increase in remote work, daily work for IT personnel has changed considerably.
The question "why should I implement Exchange Modern Hybrid" is justified. Exchange Modern Hybrid is specially designed to simplify implementing Exchange Hybrid Mode by eliminating the requirement for inbound HTTPS connections to an on-premises Exchange organization. The technical specifications for Classic Exchange Hybrid are sometimes unsuitable for enterprises.
"Exchange Hybrid options? There are none. Just go Full Monty." - undisclosed Exchange consultant
That isn't quite right. But let me explain the concept of Exchange Hybrid first before we take a look at the available options.
In their blog article, "Improving Security - Together," the Microsoft Exchange product group announced that the insecure Basic Authentication authentication method switches off on October 13, 2020, not just for Exchange Web Services (EWS), but also for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), POP, IMAP, and Remote PowerShell.
With the use of the Office 365 platform, application monitoring requirements have changed. In your on-premises IT infrastructure, you normally monitor the availability of applications by solely checking server reachability. In some cases, you might choose to implement enhanced application monitoring by accessing dedicated protocol endpoints.