Microsoft launched a new product named Microsoft Teams. Teams is a new secure, chat-based workspace in Office 365 for dynamic, fast-paced collaboration among employees. Microsoft Teams is currently in the preview for all Office 365 customers with an E-Suite (E1, E3, E4, and E5) until the calendar year 2017 Q1 when it will be generally available – and will be included for all Office 365 E-Suite customers at no additional cost.
Microsoft Teams directly competes with existing dynamic and virtual team collaboration tools like Slack. Slack released a statement congratulating Microsoft on their announcement of teams, but also highlighted key themes to the success of Slack.
Employees are struggling with too many tools, some sanctioned by IT and many times like Slack that are not. This happens because end users are confused by what corporate tools to use; Email, Groups, Planner, Slack, drop, one drive, SharePoint….the list is exhausting. At Netrix, we believe in starting with the End User by understanding their unique culture, approach, and dynamic collaboration needs, ultimately driving towards online productivity tools. I believe that Microsoft Teams will help consolidate these tools, and cut through some of the confusion. This will help drive organic adoption, with the security and identity benefits of a tool using Office 365.
