Enterprise Skills Initiative
Welcome to the ESI program
Review, prepare, and continue your learning path
Arabic
Brazilian Portuguese
Chinese, Simplified
Chinese, Traditional
English French German Italian Japanese
Korean Russian Spanish
Preparing for Microsoft courses
To help ensure your success, please review this guide before the course.
About this event
Enterprise Skills Initiative (ESI) courses are active, instructor-led learning experiences that include lectures,
hands-on labs, group activities, and more.
When you attend one of our courses, you get dedicated, personal attention and support from a Microsoft
Certified Trainer (MCT) who is a technical subject matter expert in the course topic.
Table of contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Important reminders and key info
Access your course content
Prepare for your course’s hands-on labs
Your commitment
Virtual class attendance using Microsoft Teams
Your steps to success
Need support?
Important reminders and key info
Before the course
• All courses are delivered using Microsoft Teams. Be sure you test your environment.
• Some courses split across multiple days. Look for calendar invitations to see details for each day.
• Make sure you accept each invitation so that the training is on your calendar. If you have not received
them, check your junk mail or go to ESI Support and have your event ID handy.
• Be sure to review the course information and prerequisites in the Learner Experience Portal (LxP). Find
more details in the ESI Azure Training Journey and the ESI Security Training Journey.
• Review your course content in Access your ESI training content.
• Check your hands-on lab setup—some courses may not include labs.
• If your plans change and you cannot attend, be sure to cancel your registration.
The day(s) of the session
• If your course is split across multiple days, be sure to join using the link on the calendar invitation specific
to each day.
• To get the most out of your course, make it your top priority. Avoid reading email, making calls, or
attending any side meetings. Please commit to actively participate in the full duration of the course.
• Remember to join the session 15–30 minutes before the course starts. This guarantees that your
attendance is registered.
• If you have any technical issues, go to ESI Support and have your event ID handy.
Back to top
Access your course content
Course content is a key component of your learning experience. Created by Microsoft, this content is designed
to teach you the skills and capabilities that you need for the job and to help prepare you for certification.
The content for most ESI courses is available online on Microsoft Learn. Feel free to explore it to get familiar
with the different topics that the course addresses. As the training progresses, your trainer will advise you on
which modules to review.
Review your course content at Access your ESI training content.
Back to top
Prepare for your course’s hands-on labs
Most ESI courses have hands-on labs so you can practice what you are learning. Your trainer provides lab
information on the first day of the course.
Here is what to expect and how to prepare for hands-on labs:
• ESI classes provide access to labs through a portal hosted by Skillable on behalf of Microsoft. Review how
to access the labs portal.
• For a better understanding of what is key to the performance of your online labs, we highly recommend
that you read the Connectivity Requirements.
• In addition, Skillable has a Speed Test tool for analyzing users’ connections to our datacenters. This
test provides a set of measurements that are optimized for online labs, and it provides straightforward
guidance on how to read the test results.
• To test your connection’s ability to support an online lab, go to the Lab Orientation & Connectivity Check
and launch a fully functional lab.
• If you encounter issues, you can run the Speed Test and talk with the Skillable Support Team about your
results.
• For some of the labs, you need a Microsoft Azure Pass subscription. Review how to redeem and use the
Microsoft Azure Pass subscription.
• If you need technical support, go to ESI Support and have your event ID handy, along with detailed
information on the step that failed.
Back to top
Your commitment
•
•
To respect the privacy of all participants, recording the training sessions is not allowed.
In a Microsoft Teams training, your name, email address, phone number, or title may be viewable by other
class participants. By joining the training, you agree to this experience.
Your invitation is exclusive and not transferable. If you want to share with others, you can refer them to
your learning point of contact so they can enroll. Sharing links or the Teams meeting invitation is not
allowed.
If you do not attend a course for which you are registered, you might be restricted from enrolling in future
courses. If your plans change, be sure to cancel your registration.
•
•
Back to top
Virtual class attendance using Microsoft Teams
You can attend a Microsoft Teams meeting even if your organization has not deployed Teams.
Just install the Microsoft Teams Desktop Client on any machine, and join the meeting as a non-authenticated
guest. If you cannot install the full desktop client, use the Microsoft Teams web client. When you start the class,
select Join Microsoft Teams Meeting, which opens the web version. Then choose to either install the full client
or continue with the web client.
We encourage you to use the Microsoft 365 network connectivity test to check your network for the use of
Microsoft Teams. This tool downloads and runs an app to test the network from your learning location. It tests
for a variety of Microsoft 365 items.
Technical requirements
• If your work computer does not meet the following requirements or you do not have permission to install
software onto your work laptop, consider using your personal laptop (non-corporate joined or managed)
for successful lab completion.
• You should not use a virtual private network (VPN) or SSL. Use of VPN connections to join the trainings are
strongly discouraged on workstations.
Your computer must meet the following technical requirements.
Technical requirement
Recommended specifications
Operating system
Windows 8.1 or newer.
Mac OS X 10.13 (High Sierra) and two earlier versions.
Linux with supported internet browser (not supported for taking the
certification exam).
RAM
Minimum 4 GB of RAM.
Display
Minimum resolution: 1024 x 768 in 16-bit color.
Recommended resolution: 1920 x 1080 or higher in 32-bit color.
Dual monitors are recommended.
Internet browser
Latest version of Microsoft Edge, Chrome, or Safari.
Microsoft Teams ports
The Microsoft Teams desktop client needs ports 80 and 443, and UDP ports
3478 through 3481. The web client only needs 80 and 443. Of course, proxy
servers can also block access to ports and URLs.
Internet connection
Access to public or guest Wi-Fi with limited restrictions is recommended for
training deliveries unless the organization network allows outbound RDP and
SSH.
Note: Some guest networks have limited bandwidth, which is insufficient for
use by a large audience. Bandwidth/QoS needs to be comparable to that used
in standard corporate networks.
Browser settings
Internet cookies do not need to be enabled for delivery on Windows
machines, but accepting them provides a better user experience.
Firewalls
Unblock RDP and SSH/allow outbound HTTPS/443 network traffic. (The
trainer must check in advance with the customer point of contact because this
requirement varies by lab provider.)
Back to top
Your steps to success
1.
2.
3.
4.
Review your event details.
Make sure you have reviewed this document and are prepared.
Celebrate your new skills.
Go to the Learner Experience Portal (LxP) to continue learning.
Back to top
Need support?
If you have any issues with the LxP or if you have questions about these resources, go to ESI Support. Have the
event ID handy. You can find it in your event calendar invitation.
Back to top
© 2022 Microsoft Corporation