What is MS Graph API Enforcement and how is it different than the Outlook 2.0 API for O365?

In 2015 Microsoft released the MS Graph API to be the main API for O365. This has a number of benefits and is the recommended method of enforcement for O365 APD users. 

While the general operations of the enforcement method stays the same, there is some benefits of using MS Graph. 

Note: Microsoft will be retiring the Outlook 2.0 API in the fall of 2022 and all O365 customers will need to use the MS Graph Enforcement method by that time. You can read more about this change on Microsofts website here. 

Benefits: 

• Ability to use Outlooks default Junk Folder
  • With MS Graph, APD is able to identify the default Junk folder in Outlook.
    • Over the years Microsoft has changed the default Junk folder inside of Outlook (Junk Email, Junk E-Mail, Junk). It can also be in a different language depending on the users settings. With the previous API we did a 1:1 match, and if the folder name did not exist we created one. With Graph we are able to latch onto the Junk folders propriety to identify the users default junk folder. This will solve the confusion of possibly having duplicate Junk folders. 

•  Efficiency
  
  • MS Graph is more efficient than the Outlook 2.0 API
• Higher on-demand enforcement limit
  • With MS Graph API, APD is able to enforce on 10k messages at a time, vs the previous limit of 2k
• Ability for new features down the road
  • MS Graph is a feature rich API and is constantly being improved on and new features made available to us. This will allow us to also develop new features within APD as they are made available in the API. 

Configuration: 

To configure this go to Manage > Organizations > Microsoft API Permissions tab > Create, update, and delete email in user mailboxes > Enable and sign in with a MS Global Admin user.

Note: The Global Admin user is needed to create the Azure Enterprise Application. The APP itself will only have the roles requested (Mail.ReadWrite, User.Read.All)

Once enabled you will need to change the enforcement method used by going to Manage > Organizations > Enforcement Settings > Drop Down > MS Graph API. 

At any time you can switch methods by changing the drop down and selecting the other method.