This week, Microsoft announced the launch of Microsoft Teams, a “chat-based workspace” that will now be embedded in the Office 365 suite of products along with industry leaders Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The addition of Teams allows team members seamlessly to collaborate with each other via real-time messaging, file sharing, and other broadly used productivity functions.
Microsoft Teams appears to be an Office-based version of Slack, one of the most popular team collaboration tools currently on the market. From sending messages and receiving notifications to sharing files and setting up subject-based virtual groups, Microsoft’s new product seems to offer the full spectrum of capabilities offered by Slack. There is one significant difference, however: Microsoft Teams allows users to “Skype” with other team members. Given that many Slack users have complained about not being able to video or voice chat with colleagues while using Slack, Microsoft Teams has offered a valuable new feature.
“Microsoft Teams” chat-based workspace introduced by Microsoft
Five years after Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype for a mere $8.5 million in cash, it now offers the company a significant competitive advantage as a productivity feature. Combined with the family of Office products, including Outlook and Office Exchange, the new Teams integration now makes it possible for Skype’s 74 million users to access the platform to schedule and carry out virtual meetings.
In addition to allowing users to share files from within the chat interface, Microsoft Teams offers the convenience of switching easily between Office products. For example, if a user receives a Word document file, he or she can jump right into the document rather than having to download it and open the Word software program. There is one thing the product is still lacking. It has yet to incorporate Google Docs’ ability to collaborate in real time with colleagues and see modifications in process.
In a corporate blog post announcing the launch, Microsoft highlighted the positive feedback Teams has been receiving from customers. According to Andrew Wilson, CIO of Accenture, “Microsoft Teams is the digital cockpit we’ve been waiting for.” Teams is currently available for preview in 181 countries and in 18 languages and across Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and web platforms.
In yesterday’s New York Times, Redwood City-based Slack, which has raised $540 million for its widely used productivity tool, took out a full-page ad “welcoming” Microsoft to the online collaboration space.