Rob Helm

Rob Helm

Analyst

As managing vice president, Rob Helm covers Microsoft collaboration and content management. His 25-plus years of experience analyzing Microsoft’s technology and strategy allows him to discern the company’s overall direction from the sometimes confusing and contradictory signals it sends to customers and the industry.

Rob previously managed the Directions on Microsoft analyst team and its database management systems, developer strategy, and embedded platform research. His 13 years of prior experience in the computer industry include research on advanced developer tools, optimization of cluster applications, design of network protocols at the University of Oregon, and design and implementation of databases for the U.S. Navy.

Rob received a B.S. in computer science and mathematics from the University of Puget Sound and an M.S. in computer science from the University of Oregon.

Latest Content by Rob Helm

  Analyst Report
Updated: May 15, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Exchange Online Roadmap 2025-2029 Changes to Exchange Online in 2025-2026 improve security, management, and control over capacity, but some could be disruptive.
  Roadmap
Updated: May 15, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Exchange Online Roadmap Changes to Exchange Online in 2025-2026 improve security, management, and control over capacity, but some could be disruptive.
  Analyst Report
May 12, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Microsoft 365 Mobile Apps Add Copilot, Purview Hooks Office apps for phones and iPads will integrate more Copilot natural language processing and Purview data loss prevention features.
  Analyst Report
May 6, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Exchange Online to Block Basic Senders in Sept. 2025 Exchange Online will block Basic Authentication for SMTP client submission beginning in Sept. 2025, cutting off some devices and applications.
  Roadmap
Updated: May 1, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Microsoft 365 Mobile Apps Roadmap The Microsoft 365 Mobile Apps provide file editing and viewing for Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Word on iOS, iPadOS, and...
  In Brief
April 29, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Publisher Support Ends Oct. 2026 Publisher is being removed from Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise and it will lose all product support in Oct. 2026.
  Analyst Report
April 27, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Directory Ties Cloud Customers to Exchange Server Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 customers will have 90 days or less under product support to migrate to Exchange Server...
  Roadmap
Updated: April 18, 2025 · by Multiple Authors
To Do Roadmap Roadmap for To Do, a Microsoft-hosted, personal task management application, available in most Office 365 plans.
  Roadmap
Updated: April 18, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Purview Message Encryption Roadmap Roadmap for Microsoft Purview Message Encryption (formerly Office 365 Message Encryption), a Microsoft-hosted service that automatically encrypts e-mail messages based...
  Charts & Illustrations
Updated: April 18, 2025 · by Rob Helm
Exchange Message Encryption Options Illustration summarizes Microsoft options for Exchange message encryption.