MB-260 course outline - Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (Data) Specialist Updated: 2024

LESSON 5: COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Understand all the things that must be considered when designing a compensation and benefits package.

LESSON 6: EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY

Learn the ins and outs of complying with OSHA, protecting against workplace hazards, and investigating, recording, and preventing accidents and employee illnesses.

LESSON 7: THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT

Gain knowledge of employment law as well as an understanding of equal employment opportunity, avoiding discrimination, and what happens when an employee files an EEOC claim.

LESSON 8: MAKING HR DECISIONS

Learn how to make decisions based on various company growth strategies and how to use HRIS Software as well as job analysis as a tool for decision-making.

LESSON 9: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Learn the full spectrum of affirmative action, how to create an affirmative action plan, and information on the AAP you will need to know.

LESSON 10: DIVERSITY

Understand what diversity is and why it is a good thing in an organization as you learn to manage it and handle conflict.

LESSON 11: EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND DISCIPLINE

Learn the laws that protect employee rights and privacy and how to properly monitor and document behavior and discipline employees.

LESSON 12: TERMINATION

Understand the alternatives to firing as well as how to prepare for termination including proper separation agreements as well as what to do in the event of wrongful discharge.

LESSON 13: INVESTIGATIONS

Learn why it is so important to investigate problems as well as the steps of an effective investigation including preparing, conducting, and wrapping it up.

LESSON 14: MANAGING LABOR RELATIONS

Get a quick overview of the history of unions as you learn how they work and why employees join them.

LESSON 15: CREATING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORKPLACE

Learn how to ask employees for input and act on it, delegate authority, keep communication open, and continuously ask for feedback as you strive to develop a high-performance workplace.

LESSON 16: GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCES

Understand the basics of staffing strategy, cultural differences, HR in other countries, choosing global employees, and issues faced by expatriates.

LESSON 17: RETENTION

Learn the top reasons employees leave a company and how you can encourage them to stay as well as the importance of succession planning.

LESSON 18: MOTIVATION, REWARDS, AND RECOGNITION

Find out fun ways to motivate workers and gain nine strategies for creating a great rewards program.

LESSON 19: PREPARING FOR THE PHR EXAM

Gain information on externships and internships as you review the basics of the PHR exam and begin to study.

Testing Process

These exams can be taken at Bethel or through an external authorized Certiport testing center.  Certiport.com/locator can help you find an external site.  If you would like to take the exams at Bethel, please email our testing coordinator at whiste@bethel.edu.

Study Resources

• The MOS Exams are currently only supported in a Windows environment. The testing at Bethel will occur on Windows computers. If you are used to MS Office on a Mac you should spend time ensuring you are familiar with the objectives below on a Windows computer.
• Bethel provides student access to Lynda.com through lynda.bethel.edu. This is a great resource on a wide variety of topics. There are Lynda courses for Microsoft Office Specialist Exam preparation including a Word 2016 course, PowerPoint 2016 course, and Excel 2016 course.
• Microsoft Office Specialist Study materials can also be located at bookstores or some libraries.
• You can also find material on:
• For individual Exam Objectives:

Fees

• The MOS Exams are currently only supported in a Windows environment. The testing at Bethel will occur on Windows computers. If you are used to MS Office on a Mac you should spend time ensuring you are familiar with the objectives below on a Windows computer.
• Bethel provides student access to LinkedIn Learning. This is a great resource on a wide variety of topics. There are LinkedIn Learning courses for Microsoft Office Specialist Exam preparation including a Word 2019 course, PowerPoint 2019 course, and Excel 2019 course.
• Microsoft Office Specialist Study materials can also be located at bookstores or some libraries.

Fees

The test fee is $25 per test ($75 required for all 3 tests). Payment of the test fee must be made when registering for the test. No test can be taken unless this fee is paid. Payment must be made with a credit card (VISA, MasterCard, or American Express only). Sorry, no personal checks or cash.

Test Requirements

Current & valid picture ID: driver's license, passport, or Bethel identification card. Confirmation email sent to your bethel.edu email address showing payment for the assessment(s). You must be a Bethel Student, Faculty or Staff to take this assessment.

Accommodations

Bethel University is committed to creating access to all students. For test accommodations see the procedure and submit your request.   

Cancellation Policy

Exam cancellations less than 48 hours before the exam or lack of attendance at exams are considered non-refundable. To cancel or re-schedule prior to 48 hours please contact the testing coordinator at whiste@bethel.edu or 651.638.6573.

Questions?

Contact our testing coordinator at 651.638.6573.

Registration

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Formerly known as Microsoft Operations Manager v3, System Center Operations Manager 2007 provides end-to-end event, service and application monitoring and reporting.

The platform supports Service Model Language (SML) for monitoring IT and software services -- required for service-level agreements -- and features audit collection services for compliance auditing and a customizable reporting tool.

At the Microsoft Management Summit, which started Tuesday in San Diego, the Redmond, Wash., software giant also announced a technology licensing agreement with EMC that will bolster the network management capabilities of System Center Operations Manager 2007. As part of the deal, Microsoft said it will integrate EMC's Smarts network discovery and health monitoring software into a future version of Operations Manager.

In addition, Microsoft, EMC and Cisco unveiled a pact to develop a set of network common models that exploit the SML to simplify network management. As part of the arrangement, the companies have submitted SML -- which is based on Microsoft's System Definition (SDM) Model -- for adoption as a standard to the W3C. That would allow partners and customers to manage software and hardware, as well as Windows systems, on the System Center platform.

Operations Manager 2007 is just one of several System Center products Microsoft is preparing for release this year.

System Center Configuration Manager 2007, formerly referred to as Systems Management Server v4, is scheduled to ship this summer. To add more value to the software configuration and deployment platform, Microsoft plans to roll out an add-on for Configuration Manager 2007 after it ships that will support Intel's next-generation vPro client management technology, code-named Weybridge, which is also due for a midyear release.

Microsoft also highlighted its progress in virtualization, backup and service management.

System Center Virtual Manager, formerly code-named Carmine, will move into Beta 2 testing in the next 45 days, the company said. And the second version of System Center Data Protection Manager -- which will provide backup and recovery for SharePoint 2007, Virtual Server 2005, Windows XP and Windows Vista -- will move into Beta 2 testing in the next 30 days.

Microsoft also announced System Center Service Manager, the formal name of its former Service Desk offering, and said plans to release the first beta in the next 30 days.

In addition, Microsoft announced an update for partners and customers awaiting Systems Management Server Service Pack 3. SMS Service Pack 3 with AssetMetrix software asset-management capabilities will be released to manufacturing this spring, the company said.

In his monthly Security360 Webcast on Tuesday, Nash outlined the Microsoft patch management strategy and predicted huge profits for companies such as managed security service providers (MSSPs) and other solution providers that specialize in this area of security.

"Simply stopping threats isn't good enough anymore," he said. "As the threats become more complex, managing security updates becomes critical to the overall security [of an enterprise] as well."

Specifically, Nash said solution providers must help customers navigate a four-step process of better patch management. That process includes assessing the current inventory of assets on a network, identifying which updates are available, evaluating the updates that are necessary, and deploying them.

Tom Biggi, senior consultant for HP Managed Services, agreed, noting that large companies frequently have a tough time inventorying what they've deployed.

"For many firms, tracking this is virtually impossible," he said. "That's where managed services [and MSSPs] can really play a big role."

Following the patch management discussion, Gordon Mangione, also a corporate vice president in Microsoft's Security Business and Technology Unit, used the Webcast to tackle the subject of spyware.

Mangione opined about Microsoft's recent acquisition of antispyware company Giant, labeling it a "step in the right direction" for Microsoft to incorporate antispyware functionality into its offerings in the months ahead.

"Our customers were asking for this," said Mangione. "We felt it was something we had to do."

According to Mangione, enterprise and consumer customers can expect Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft to incorporate Giant technology into its offerings within the next 30 days. He said Microsoft will offer antispyware functionality in at least a beta form by the end of January, and that this functionality will be available through ordinary software updates.

News

Microsoft Outlines New Outlook for Windows Rollout Plan

Microsoft will give organizations advance notice of the coming change.

• By Kurt Mackie
• 09/12/2023

Microsoft is planning to replace the current Outlook for Windows client application with a new product, but it could take maybe two years for that transition to get finalized for organizations.

That view was outlined by Microsoft luminaries Margie Clinton, group product manager on the Outlook team, and Robert Novitskey, partner engineering manager for Outlook for Windows, in an online presentation. The presentation was published last week, but it's noted in this Sept. 12 Microsoft announcement.

The two Microsoft luminaries mostly described why Microsoft is redoing its 25-year-old Outlook for Windows product. Some planned feature improvements were highlighted. They also addressed IT department concerns about the transition's timing.

Clinton said that Microsoft had no strict timeline for the end of life of the classic Outlook for Windows product. Microsoft's timing is "going to be determined on overall readiness, based on us delivering the core capabilities to the point where we believe that we're ready for opt out." However, she added that the end of the classic product is coming, and it would occur maybe "in a little bit more than two years."

The online presentation offered the following slide, showing the expected phases for rolling out the new Outlook for Windows client app:

Novitskey noted that Microsoft tries to give a one-year advance notice of disruptive changes for its commercial software. IT pros will get such a notice via the Message Center. Microsoft eventually will switch the apps, though, which Novitskey called a "cutover":

But at some point, we will decide that we think that the new outlook is good enough for all users and we will interface, called "cutover." And this is where classic Outlook or universal mail and calendar are no longer supported. And so, users will have to move to the new Outlook.

Some things won't work in the new Outlook for Windows, namely COM add-ins. Instead, the new Outlook for Windows will use Web add-ins. The following slide made those declarations:

Microsoft initially plans to roll out the new Outlook for Windows app as an option for users, with a toggle switch to try it located at the top right corner of the legacy client. The toggle switch, currently in the "Off" position by default, now appears for organizations that are using the monthly enterprise channel releases of Microsoft 365, Novitskey said.

IT pros initially will get Registry and Group Policy Object controls over whether end users can see this toggle switch, before total replacement with the new app. The IT controls were briefly outlined in the following slide:

Novitskey noted that the coming new Outlook for Windows client app can be a big change for large organizations with lots of users. He suggested that Microsoft's "support can work with you to kind of develop a personalized timeline, and they can secure kind of whatever extensions you may need for your tenant."

The new Outlook for Windows has a more simplified user interface, which looks somewhat like its Outlook on the Web predecessor. However, Microsoft is really making the switch to the new app because its current Outlook for Windows app is available in more than three offerings that all work differently, Clinton explained. Instead, with the new product, Microsoft wants to "apply all of our engineering energy on Windows into delivering and then maintaining a single, fast and agile codebase," she added. This change will allow Microsoft to address customer issues in hours and days, rather than weeks and months.

The new Outlook for Windows client will be customizable for various users. It also will get Microsoft's artificial intelligence enhancements, which Microsoft believes will deliver a "10x productivity" improvement, Clinton said.

Microsoft really wants to earn "Outlook love" with the new client, and so is actively seeking early feedback from organizations, Clinton indicated.