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Expert5 days / 40 guided hours or self-pacedpublished

Enterprise Microsoft 365 & Active Directory Solution Architect Lab

A flagship 5-day bootcamp and self-paced architect lab for M365, Entra ID, Active Directory, Azure AD Connect or Cloud Sync, Exchange Online and hybrid, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Intune, governance, security, monitoring, troubleshooting, documentation, and M&A tenant migration.

Audience

  • M365 platform architects and senior administrators moving into architecture ownership
  • Identity, messaging, collaboration, endpoint, security, and migration engineers
  • Enterprise teams preparing staff for global M365 and AD/Entra ID ownership

Prerequisites

  • Basic Windows Server administration
  • Basic Active Directory knowledge
  • Basic Microsoft 365 admin center familiarity
  • Basic PowerShell knowledge
  • Networking and DNS fundamentals

Outcomes

  • Design and support an enterprise M365 and AD/Entra ID platform.
  • Build and troubleshoot hybrid identity using AD DS, Entra ID, Azure AD Connect, and Cloud Sync patterns.
  • Administer and govern Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Intune, compliance, and Copilot readiness.
  • Create architecture diagrams, ADRs, SOPs, RCA reports, governance policies, migration plans, and support handoffs.
  • Plan and execute tenant-to-tenant migration, domain consolidation, coexistence, cutover, rollback, and hypercare.
Flagship architect bootcamp

Built for enterprise role readiness.

The lab combines real Windows/AD practice with an API-backed simulated M365 tenant. Live Microsoft Graph integration is intentionally isolated behind future adapter points, so no tenant IDs, credentials, or customer secrets are hardcoded.

5-day + self-paced
Mode
Intermediate to Expert
Level
12
Modules
Timed assessment
Final
Topology preview
  • dc01: AD DS, DNS, OU, GPO, and validation account
  • member01: Windows Server administration and hybrid service simulation
  • client01: Windows admin workstation and endpoint workflow
  • Simulated Tenant Lab: licensing, users, groups, Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Intune, compliance
Downloadable and exportable outputs
  • Student workbook
  • RCA report builder
  • Governance policy builder
  • Tenant migration wizard
  • Architecture decision records
  • Completion report
  • Certificate-ready final assessment
Course plan

Modules and labs

Each module maps to provisioned lab work, validation evidence, reset/rollback policy, and instructor visibility.

Module 1

Enterprise M365 & AD Architect Role Orientation

Contoso architecture risk review
Module 2

Active Directory Enterprise Design

AD DS forest, OU, GPO, and DNS design
Module 3

Hybrid Identity with Entra ID

Hybrid identity and Entra ID sync design
Module 4

M365 Tenant Administration

Tenant readiness and health report
Module 5

Exchange Online and Exchange Hybrid

Exchange Online and hybrid mail-flow RCA
Module 6

Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Collaboration Governance

Collaboration governance policy build
Module 7

Intune, Endpoint Management, and Conditional Access

Endpoint and Conditional Access design
Module 8

Monitoring, Support, and Operations

M365 outage incident and RCA
Module 9

Security, Compliance, and Governance

Security, compliance, and governance framework
Module 10

Tenant-to-Tenant Migration and M&A Integration

Tenant migration and M&A integration plan
Module 11

Architecture Blueprint and Standards Documentation

Architecture blueprint and standards package
Module 12

Final Enterprise Capstone

Final Contoso enterprise capstone
Required templates

Domain Controller template

defined

Windows Server 2022 base

TODO: Automate forest creation and safe random lab password rotation in lab-api worker.

Windows Server 2022 base

defined

Windows Server 2022 evaluation or licensed ISO

TODO: Build golden image from valid Microsoft evaluation or customer-licensed media.

Windows 11 client

defined

Windows 11 Enterprise evaluation or licensed ISO

TODO: Build desktop image with browser, RSAT, Windows Admin Center tools, and lab wallpaper.

Microsoft 365 simulated tenant layer

defined

API-backed scenario service with Microsoft Graph adapter interface

TODO: Connect a live Microsoft Graph adapter when customer-owned demo tenants and consent model are available.

Validation checks

AD DS and DNS healthy

Directory services, DNS, and LDAP checks pass inside the tenant network.

Domain joined

Computer account is present and secure channel validates.

Windows management reachable

The student access gateway can open a Windows console session.

Simulated M365 tenant ready

The simulated tenant layer exposes users, groups, licensing, Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Intune, compliance, and service-health scenarios.

M365 governance policy complete

Governance deliverable covers RBAC, least privilege, audit, retention, DLP, release management, exception handling, and review cadence.

Tenant migration plan complete

Plan includes discovery, identity coexistence, domain consolidation, mailbox and collaboration migration, cutover, rollback, communications, and hypercare.

Architecture package complete

Final package includes current state, risk register, target architecture, identity design, governance model, migration roadmap, monitoring model, RCA, and executive summary.