As Microsoft continues to roll out hundreds of updates each month, keeping up with the latest changes can feel overwhelming. That’s where we come in. In this month’s M365 Update Series, Managed Services Team Lead, Hitesh Hirani, dives into some of his top updates released in March 2025, that you should be aware of:
➡️ Microsoft Teams: Users can report security concerns involving external collaborators
➡️ Microsoft Entra: New People administrator role
➡️ Microsoft Exchange Online: New limit for dynamic distribution groups (DDGs)
Summary
Microsoft Teams users will soon be able to report security concerns involving external collaborators in chats and meetings, starting April 2025 for targeted release and May 2025 for general availability. Admins can enable this feature in the Teams admin center. Shared channels are not supported.
Coming soon: Microsoft Teams users will be able to report security risks and concerns with external users outside your organization in one-on-one chats, group chats, and meeting chats. Note: Shared channels are not supported at this time. As an admin, this feature will be available for you to enable it.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 481147.
This message applies to Teams for Windows desktop, Teams for Mac desktop, and Teams for the web.
When this will happen:
Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out early April 2025 and expect to complete by mid-April 2025.
General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out early May 2025 and expect to complete by mid-May 2025.
How this will affect your organisation:
After this rollout, Teams users can hover on a chat message, select the three-dot menu, and then select Report message to report a message-based security concern when chatting or meeting with users outside their organisation:
This feature will be available by default for admins to configure.
What you need to do to prepare:
Review your existing reporting configuration in the Teams admin center > Settings & policies > Global (Org-wide default) settings > Report a security concern and enable the new feature if you want your users to take advantage of it:
Source: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/?#/MessageCenter/:/messages/MC1037768
Summary
Microsoft Entra is introducing a new People administrator role to enhance administrative capabilities in Microsoft 365. This role, based on customer feedback, allows management of people-related settings and profile photos without requiring high privileges. The rollout will begin in early February 2025 and complete by late March 2025.
Updated March 7, 2025: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
We are excited to announce the upcoming People administrator role in Microsoft Entra, designed to improve and streamline administrative capabilities in Microsoft 365. Developed from customer feedback, this role will provide dedicated permissions for managing people-related settings and profile photos without needing the high privileges of Global admin or User admin roles.
When this will happen:
General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out early February 2025 and expect to complete by late March 2025 (previously late February).
Source: https://admin.microsoft.com/?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC992218
Summary
Microsoft Exchange Online will enforce a new limit of 3,000 dynamic distribution groups (DDGs) per organization starting in early April 2025. Admins will need to remove existing DDGs before creating new ones once this limit is reached. This change is automatic and cannot be turned off.
Updated March 10, 2025: We have updated the content. Thank you for your patience.
We will soon introduce a new limit on dynamic distribution groups (DDGs) in Microsoft Exchange Online. Each organization will be limited to a maximum of 3,000 DDGs. After this limit is reached, admins will need to remove existing DDGs before creating new ones. Learn more: Exchange Online limits - Service Descriptions | Microsoft Learn
When this will happen:
General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): We will begin enforcing this limit in early April 2025.
How this will affect your organisation:
If your organization has fewer than 3,000 DDGs, this change will not impact you. However, after your organization reaches this limit, you will not be able to create new DDGs until some existing DDGs are removed.
This change will be on by default and cannot be turned off by admins.
What you need to do to prepare:
The enforcement of the DDG limit will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before the rollout. You may want to notify your admins about this change and update any relevant documentation.
We recommend reviewing the usage of Dynamic Distribution Groups (DDGs) in your organization and removing any DDGs that are no longer needed. You can use the Dynamic distribution groups report in the Exchange admin center (EAC) to see the number of DDGs in your organisation and insights into their usage. To access this report, go to the EAC > Reports > Mail flow > Dynamic distribution group report. Learn more: Dynamic Distribution Groups report in the new EAC in Exchange Online | Microsoft Learn
Source: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home#/MessageCenter/:/messages/MC1024399