Since the mid 1990's, when the late, great Bob Hoskins told us all that "it's good to talk" in the iconic BT ad campaign, how we communicate has been becoming increasingly important and nowhere more so than in the workplace. It might have been almost 25 years since then but rightnow, talking is powering a revolution in how we collaborate in the modern workplace.
Collaboration is at the very heart of the technology and platforms that have evolved to power digital transformation over recent years. Our need to share documents, data and information via electronic mail (a capability which, in itself, seemed transformational in the mid-90’s), is rapidly giving-way to a suite of new collaboration tools and experiences that enable data, messaging, chat, phone calls and video conferencing to all fluently combine; mirroring the way that we, as users, work across multiple devices in locations that are often transient.
Whilst very few of us will mourn change, if it means not having to trawl through a jam-packed inbox, those embracing the modern collaboration toolsets can enjoy a hugely enhanced user experience, which pulls directly on the most recent advancements in mobile app technology, user experience and design. With Microsoft’s focus on building global cloud platforms, such as Office 365, it will come as little surprise that they are also leading the charge when it comes to modern collaboration.
Microsoft Teams is defined as “a complete chat and online meetings solution” but even that definition struggles to embrace the breadth of capabilities and business impact that Teams is having. Teams combines what were previously multiple technology spaces (workplace chat, meeting spaces, phone calls, conferencing, notes, attachments and documents) into one seamless space and experience, bringing together colleagues across and even beyond the organisation, with the ability to invite external parties to collaborate.
Launched in 2016, Microsoft recently crowned Teams as its “fastest-growing business app, ever”; by the Autumn of last year it was already being used by 330,000 organisations worldwide. This unequalled pace of adoption is further highlighted by the fact that in 2016 just three percent of organisations used Teams, today that figure is rapidly approaching twenty-five percent but this balance is set to soar rapidly as existing Skype for Business users (currently forty-four percent of organisations) take advantage of the smooth transition across to Microsoft Teams.
The platform is rapidly becoming a ‘must-have’ thread to Microsoft cloud strategies across our region but to successfully adopt Teams and reap the benefits of collaboration within your organisation takes careful planning and a willingness to embrace a completely new way of doing things. It’s often very useful to see solutions in action and talk through an adoption strategy with an experienced partner and that’s very much the focus of our collaboration practice at Synergi.
Based in Gateshead, Synergi is a Microsoft Gold Partner with a dedicated focus on cloud-based digital strategies, helping organisations of all sizes across the region and the UK to transform by focussing on five key outcomes Collaboration, Automation, Security, Insight and Operations.
Look out for our future columns throughout 2019 which will expand on each of these areas.
If you're interested in learning more about Teams and how it can transform your collaboration, I'd recommend attending our free seminar on 22nd March where we'll be explaining it all through, without the geek speak', over a warm coffee and a croissant, (contact enquiries@synergi.it or call us on 0191 477 0365 for further details)
