— Blog
Field notes from
the Microsoft stack.
Practical notes on Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Azure, and .NET work, from running these stacks in real mid-market businesses. Less hot takes, more lessons earned at 2 a.m. in the middle of a migration.
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How AI is transforming businesses across the Carolinas
From Charlotte's financial district to the Research Triangle and Greenville's manufacturing corridor, businesses across North and South Carolina are putting AI to work. Here is what is actually happening on the ground.
- AI
- Azure
- Microsoft 365
- Carolinas
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Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout: a six-week plan that measures whether it works
Most Copilot rollouts skip the measurement step, which means nobody can tell whether the per-user license cost is paying back. A six-week plan with the metrics that matter, and the ones that look impressive but mean nothing.
- AI
- Copilot
- Microsoft 365
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Copilot Studio vs Azure OpenAI: which one for your custom AI build
Both run on Microsoft's stack. Different audiences, different strengths, different cost models. A practical decision guide for picking between them on a custom AI project, with the hybrid pattern that ends up working for most teams.
- AI
- Copilot
- Azure
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Microsoft Project Online retires September 2026: planning the migration
Project Online sunsets on September 30, 2026. With under five months left, most PMOs we work with are running out of runway. A practical playbook for the time you actually have.
- Migration
- Microsoft 365
- Project Online
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SharePoint information architecture: get it right before anyone creates a site
Most failed SharePoint deployments fail in the first month. Not because of the platform, but because nobody designed the information architecture before the team started creating sites.
- SharePoint
- Microsoft 365
- Architecture
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Resource capacity planning after Project Online: what to preserve, what to rebuild
The resource model in Project Online is the part most successor platforms do not fully replicate. The hardest decisions in a Project Online migration center here. A practical guide for what to preserve, where it goes, and what gets rewritten.
- Migration
- Project Online
- Architecture
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OneDrive sync purgatory: a 2026 troubleshooting guide
When OneDrive starts looping, fighting a file, or refusing to sync. The current playbook for the modern OneDrive client, Files On-Demand, and Known Folder Move.
- OneDrive
- Microsoft 365
- Troubleshooting
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Three checks before you migrate Exchange to Microsoft 365
The migration tooling matters less than the three things that decide whether cutover is uneventful or painful: your DNS, your shared mailboxes, and your distribution lists.
- Microsoft 365
- Exchange
- Migration
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Business process automation that actually pays back
Most BPA pitches sell the dream. The work that returns its investment looks specific, narrow, and a little boring. Three patterns where automation reliably earns its keep.
- Power Platform
- Automation
- Microsoft 365
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Four ways small businesses are using AI today
Skip the AI hype cycle. Four use cases where small and mid-market businesses are getting concrete returns from AI right now, and one category where they are mostly still wasting money.
- AI
- Copilot
- Microsoft 365
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Relational vs non-relational databases: a working guide for product managers
When to pick PostgreSQL or SQL Server, when to pick a document store, and why for most mid-market workloads the answer is the boring one.
- Databases
- Architecture
- SQL Server
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The Microsoft 365 license audit: where mid-market companies overspend
Most mid-market Microsoft 365 tenants are paying for E5 features they will never use, or running E3 when their compliance requirements actually demand more. A practical audit you can run this quarter.
- Microsoft 365
- Licensing
- Cost optimization
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Backup vs retention in Microsoft 365: native is not a backup
Microsoft 365's native retention policies are not a backup, despite what your team probably thinks. Three scenarios where you will find out the hard way, and what an actual backup looks like.
- Microsoft 365
- Backup
- Cybersecurity
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Power Automate vs Logic Apps: which one do you actually need?
Both run on the same Microsoft engine. Different licenses, different audiences, different right answers. A practical guide for picking between them, with the hybrid approach that ends up working for most mid-market businesses.
- Power Platform
- Automation
- Azure
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Conditional access for mid-market: the five policies to start with
Most Microsoft 365 tenants have either too few conditional access policies or too many ineffective ones. The five baseline policies every mid-market tenant should run, in priority order.
- Cybersecurity
- Microsoft 365
- Entra ID