Microsoft 365 Lighthouse to 'make it easier' for MSPs to deliver to SMBs

Tech giant to introduce single platform to simplify 365 management and monitoring for partners

Microsoft's new 365 Lighthouse platform will "make it easier" for partners to deliver 365 services more easily to SMB customers.

The new tool will operate in a similar fashion to its stablemate Azure Lighthouse, in that it provides a platform that allows MSPs to manage and view Microsoft 365 customers from one place.

"For partners who are managing Microsoft 365 on behalf of small or midsize companies, we're working to make it easier," stated Brad Anderson, VP of commercial management experiences, ahead of the vendor's recent Ignite conference.

"We're introducing the new Microsoft 365 Lighthouse portal, which will enable IT partners to manage settings across multiple Microsoft 365 tenants from one place. This will enable partners to more efficiently manage devices, threat protection, and user access at scale."

Thought Lighthouse is currently in private preview mode, Microsoft has laid out what partners can expect from it.

One capability included is standardising device compliance, allowing partners to understand the policies a customer has in place and review and compare their devices, allowing the MSP to manage their customer base efficiently at scale.

It also includes threat management capabilities, allowing MSPs to view active threats in a client's environment, as well as which users and devices are affected by the threat.

Lighthouse will also simplify and automate user access management for partners, allowing them to view a list of all the users they manage across customers.

The vendor said it is also developing the ability to allow partners to understand the adoption of 365 services across their customer base.

"Microsoft 365 Lighthouse will help you reduce your operational overhead by enabling you to onboard, monitor and manage your Microsoft 365 customers from one place," wrote Vivek Kumar, senior product marketing manager at Microsoft, in a blog post, detailing the new tool.

"Moreover, you will be able to drive higher levels of standardisation, automation and auditing in how you work with customers."