Work Week | Microsoft Viva Changes Everything

Employee experience platforms, not intranets

I have been working for the past few months on a research project into intranets — the internal communications solutions that many companies use to inform and connect employees and to serve as a portal to company resources and work technologies. Many of the most forward-leaning vendors in the space have tried to differentiate their offerings by focusing on the needs of employees rather than the internal communications staff that rely on the platforms to distribute company news, make HR announcements, take surveys, or highlight company achievements. Those vendors have been adopting the goal of improving employee experience as opposed to the more managerial imperatives of company communications.

I have also been involved in trying to understand the specific capabilities of the players in the space, including an unusually enigmatic Microsoft. The company has relied on a variety of products to provide intranet-style capabilities, such as the workhorse Sharepoint (one of the least loved tools under the Microsoft marquee) and Yammer, a work media tool acquired in 2012, and now semi-eclipsed by Microsoft Teams, the newer work chat solution that has become the centerpiece of Microsoft 365. My efforts trying to get at what Microsoft was up to have been unrewarding, and now I know why.

As of 4 February 2021, everything has come into focus, as Jared Spartaro, the Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, has announced…