Securing your Microsoft 365 environment shouldn't feel like navigating an obstacle course. The headline of this Automate365 release is our new Secure Sharing template, designed to replace complex, fragmented tenant configurations with a single, foolproof blueprint for guest access.
Alongside this major addition to our template gallery, we’ve also introduced a minor but useful deployment update: the ability to install and test templates which include Intranet products without needing upfront Intranet licenses.
Together, these updates ensure you can enforce ironclad governance immediately, while enjoying total freedom to explore new automation workflows at your own pace.
Secure Sharing Template
Configuring external sharing in Microsoft 365 involves dozens of settings across multiple surfaces and getting them right requires discipline. The Secure Sharing template in Automate365 turns that process into a guided experience, designed to produce consistent, defensible results.
Through a multi-step wizard, administrators choose between two external sharing models ("Anyone with restrictions" or "New and existing guests"), configure domain allowlists and blocklists, define which internal users are permitted to share externally, and enforce link safeguards such as expiration and view-only permissions for anonymous links. A final review step ensures that every setting is intentional before anything is applied.
For organizations where oversharing and inconsistent guest access are recurring risks, this template provides the structure needed to set and keep things right.
Frictionless template deployment for Automate365
Templates that include intranet products can now be installed without requiring an active intranet license upfront. This removes a major previous roadblock, allowing users to experience and test the end-to-end automation logic first and configure intranet components later.
While the intranet components themselves won't load fully until a license (such as a free trial) is activated, customers can now test Automate365 using all pre-made templates for our gallery, including those which rely on Intranet web parts to display content. This expands the set of templates that can be used to test on-demand or automated deployments, hopefully improving end users perception of the solution potential.
After testing with our pre-made templates, designed with real-life business scenarios in mind, customers will be better prepared and more inspired to create their own custom-made templates.
Conclusion
This release takes the complexity out of doing the right thing. With the new Secure Sharing template, you can turn good intentions into consistent, defensible configurations—without getting lost in the details. And with fewer barriers to testing templates, it’s easier to explore, learn, and move faster with confidence.
We’re continuing to focus on making governance simpler, more approachable, and easier to act on—step by step. There’s more ahead as we keep shaping Automate365 into a place where clarity leads and control follows naturally.