LEVEL UP: NEWS & VIEWS FROM RED LEVEL

SharePoint Modern Gets a Facelift With Branding Features

SharePoint Modern gets a facelift with new branding features. Have you noticed? Modern SharePoint got a facelift with new branding features that you can now customize. There are four new branding features: themes, headers, navigation, and footer. Let’s take a quick tour. Note: To change and customize your page, you will find the four features under the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner. Themes - You can pick from predefined color themes in SharePoint Modern. The color schemes have been designed for better readability. In addition to the predefined color themes, you can add and customize the supplementary color themes to enhance the color contrast based on your preferences. Header - You now have the option to change the header [...]

2019-10-01T14:37:12+00:00By Ryan Charnock|Microsoft|

Developing and Deploying SharePoint Framework on a Mac

Developing in SharePoint Framework (SPFx) or any Microsoft technology on Mac is new to .Net Core and highlights Microsoft’s shift to becoming open source. The value of developing SPFx on a Mac? You don’t need to a setup windows machine or virtual desktop to be able to build, compile, and deploy SharePoint Framework. Microsoft’s shift to being Mac and Linux friendly opens the field for developers to use their preferred system and still produce Microsoft based products. Development of SPFx on a Mac is simple, and the basic setup is straight forward. You’ll first need to have Node Package Manager installed, as that is the tool we use to pull from the Microsoft repositories to get the generator. The generator [...]

2019-09-27T15:03:04+00:00By Dakotah Jackson|Microsoft|

Excel Automation Add-In

Today we are going to cover Excel Automation Add-In which allows you to set your own User Defined Functions. Now, before we jump in, I had a desire to write functions using C#. And I wanted them to be deployable, so not just linked to an excel macro worksheet. With those two requirements, there are a few ways to write Excel Add-Ins which allow User Defined Functions (UDF’s). There are COM add-ins, Automation Add-ins, and XLL Add-ins. For the sake of not using a library to build the XLL Add-In, I was sitting between using a COM Add-In or an Automation Add-In. When researching, I discovered Automation Add-Ins are simpler to set up initially, and also are extensible to the [...]

2019-09-24T12:53:53+00:00By Dakotah Jackson|Microsoft, microsoft excel, Uncategorized|

Upgrade Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams

On July 30th Microsoft formally announced that Skype for Business Online was going to be retiring and a lot of our clients have been reaching out to us wondering how this will impact them. “We aren’t ready for Microsoft Teams.” “We don’t know what Teams is.” “We use Skype, what do we do?” We can help you answer those questions and concerns. Microsoft has shared that Skype for Business Online is going to be retired on July 31st, 2021. Which gives you plenty of time to learn and implement Teams into your organization. However, after that date, the Skype for Business Online Service will be completely inaccessible. As of September 1st, of this year all new Office 365 customers are [...]

2019-09-10T17:36:11+00:00By Justin Coffey|Microsoft, microsoft 365 business, microsoft teams, Office 365, Skype for Business|

Hat Trick for Red Level

It's official: Red Level is decidedly cool! Red Level has been named one of Michigan's Cool Places to Work by Crain's Detroit Business for the third year in a row. We put our people and culture at the forefront of our efforts. Our goal is to have our employees invested in our work while working together to proudly represent Red Level’s values. We continually implement new ideas to help cultivate an innovative environment while maintaining our values as we grow, and we make sure we always put our employees first. There are many reasons why Red Level is a "Cool Place" to work. Earlier this year, we were awarded the Michigan Skill Trade Fund which allows us to provide our employees with [...]

2019-08-05T13:30:36+00:00By David King|Awards, Cool companies to work for|

Wind River VxWorks and URGENT/11: PATCH NOW!

Notice: SonicWall physical firewall appliances running certain versions of SonicOS utilize third-party TCP/IP code for remote management that contain vulnerabilities named URGENT/11. At this time, there is no indication that the discovered vulnerabilities are being exploited in the wild, however: SonicWall STRONGLY advises applying the SonicOS patch immediately. Patches are available for all recent SonicOS versions. Detailed instructions are provided in the Security Advisory. SonicWall provides the patched versions of SonicOS at no charge, including for customers not currently covered by an active support contract. SonicWall also recommends updating to the latest SonicOS release (6.5.4.4), which provides firewall capabilities to help protect other devices vulnerable to URGENT/11. Wind River VxWorks and URGENT/11 vulnerabilities Security researchers at Armis have discovered and [...]

2019-07-31T20:28:30+00:00By SonicWall|Managed IT Services, Managed Services, SonicWall|

Say Farewell to the old SQL, Windows, and Exchange Servers

You’ve probably heard about SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 and Exchange Server 2010 hitting end of life. A lot of our clients are asking us what End-of-Support really means for them and their business? The answer requires an understanding of Microsoft’s product lifecycle. All Microsoft products have a 10-year lifecycle. The first five years is called mainstream support and that’s where you are going to get things such as new features, security updates, and non-security updates. The second five years is called extended support where you are going to receive security updates and non-security updates. During this time there is no additional product feature functionality added to the product. Important End-of-Support dates you need to be aware of: July [...]

2019-09-25T17:55:32+00:00By Justin Coffey|SQL, Windows|

Best From SharePoint North America Conference 2019

I have been involved in the technology industry, in the SharePoint community since 2007, just about the same time when SharePoint gained its popularity. This year, I got my first big chance to attend the 2019 SharePoint North America conference in Las Vegas and it was PHENOMENAL. There is a whole variety of things the SharePoint Conference covers, which made choosing what session to attend difficult. Every track really applied to me as I am a developer, a configure-er, an admin, and a user adoption and collaboration specialist. I went through a lot of different sessions at the conference and I would love to share my key take aways from the conference and what stood out for me from the [...]

2019-06-11T11:50:27+00:00By Ryan Charnock|Microsoft, Microsoft Partner, Microsoft Solution Provider, SharePoint|

We’re Proud to be the 2019 Valo Partner of the Year

Introducing the 2019 Valo North American Partner of the Year Award Winner: C/D/H! C/D/H, now part of Red Level, became a Valo Partner in late 2017 and has shown exquisite commitment towards Valo since the very beginning. “We are thrilled and honored to win the Valo Partner of the Year 2019 North America,” said Jack LaPan, Director of Products, Red Level. “We have a great team, bringing this dynamic communication tool to help organizations to succeed with a functional, modern and customizable intranet solution that facilitates collaborative work for a diverse and dispersed workforce.” Valo Partner of the Year Award is a unique award given to the partner who has shown awesome sales results, has created new innovations, and shown phenomenal [...]

2019-09-25T17:03:18+00:00By Red Level|Awards, Valo|

10 Things to Look for in a Managed Services Provider

As businesses start to grow, so do their technology needs. Growing businesses often find that they save time and money by contracting with the right Managed Services partner. Managed Services allow you to augment your existing IT staff and infrastructure by partnering with a dedicated IT firm to take care of your network, servers, computers, and all your technology needs. This is the perfect solution for companies who need to operate at peak efficiency but do not have the resources to manage a large on-site IT staff. Choosing the right partner for your Managed Services needs is important. Here are 10 Things to look for as you are evaluating a managed services provider: Evaluating a Managed Services Provider Availability You don’t [...]

2019-05-14T14:00:23+00:00By Red Level|Managed IT Services, Managed Services, Managed Services Provider, Uncategorized|