Microsoft updates the admin centres way too much, managers say

Microsoft admin centers might be getting too many updates for admins to keep up with, as shown by this Reddit thread, where admins collectively criticise (understandably) the Redmond-based tech giant’s fast ways of updating its platforms.

Dear Microsoft, please stop updating admin centers
byu/runozemlo insysadmin

Dear Microsoft, please stop updating admin centers. I’m just trying to do my job and I’m tired of having relearn complete UI overhauls on the fly. Thank you!

They’re not wrong, at least not entirely. While the updates to admin centres are necessary and part of Microsoft’s continuous effort to combat cyber threats (after all, the company is the most targeted in the world), they happen at a rate that requires admins to keep track of everything in a very short time.

Take, for instance, the recent Copilot update to Microsoft 365, which lets the AI model choose and designate Copilot candidates. That requires a bit of training to make it work best. SharePoint, for instance, will also introduce a Site Ownership Policy that will give organizations new ways to find site admins, but it will also take time to learn how to use it best.

The Microsoft 365 admin center also received a major update earlier this year, with a new update that supported organizational messages and unified app management across Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft 365, so it’s safe to say admins are in for a lot.

Some of them can’t even catch their breath.

Best we can do is give you a whole different admin center. Sorry!

How about a unified admin center? It has 1/2 the functionality of all the admin centers in one spot, but gives no indication of what might be hidden away in the other admin centers.

But they aren’t going to update the documentation to reflect the changes or any of the learn materials.

Some other admins have come up with solutions, suggesting PowerShell as an alternative. PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework that comes as a command line. It is based on the .NET framework, and you can use it to perform advanced tasks. PowerShell is far superior to Command Prompt and might eventually replace it, so it’s always good to learn how to use it. You can do so by following our guide here.

However, some say PowerShell is as complicated as the often-updated Microsoft admin centre.

Just use powershell… Oh wait, the cmdlets change all the time too. And, Graph Powershell is about as unwelcoming of a module that I’ve ever worked with. I consider myself a powershell expert but the Graph module makes me feel like a novice again.

Would you like to use our PowerShell API instead? Ope! Just kidding. That old thing? Please transition all your scripts to our new and different PowerShell API! About half of the functions are present! And we’re also deprecating the old one in 6 months. And the new one in three months! Byeee!

What’s your take on this? Let us know.