In December last year, a report by Spiceworks pegged Microsoft Teams as the second most used business chat app, ahead of Slack and behind Skype for business. This incredible growth and fast adoption of Teams has been phenomenal, especially considering that the app just launched two years ago.
So, how did Microsoft Teams go from just a fringe chat app with minimal adoption to being the fastest growing business app in Microsoft’s history?
Real-time collaboration and chat applications have become new age communication tools which append the usefulness of workplace emails by providing a secure and team-based platform. These new applications work across multiple operating systems and offer multi-disciplinary functionalities including group chat, video conferencing, meetings, and data sharing. For any organization big or small, a single tool which is resourceful enough to replace various internal disparate communication systems, brings immense value.
From 2016 to 2018, Microsoft Teams grew from 3 percent to 21 percent in terms of app penetration. This growth was amplified by Microsoft’s decision in 2017 to make the app available to business users of Office 365, for free. While other competitor applications like Slack also offer free versions, Microsoft amped the product with functionalities which specifically targeted industries like healthcare. This led to Microsoft Teams defining its own niche within the business app category and beating the competition at its own game.
A good example of this strategy from Microsoft is the schedule-management feature that debuted with rave reviews. Using the schedule-management feature in Teams, managers can create, share, and edit staff schedules within employee groups. The employees too can swap shifts, and request time off using this functionality.
Another example of Teams as an innovator in niche industries like healthcare is the new patient-care coordination offering. Although right now in private preview, the new offering integrates the platform with electronic health records and provides secure messaging which is highly relevant in the healthcare industry. Secure messaging helps healthcare professional stay HIPAA-compliant when sharing patient data and information through chat apps.
“New experiences for Firstline workers will roll out to Teams over time. With this expanded feature set, Teams is the hub for teamwork for all workers,” a spokesperson had said back in September 2018. These new features coupled with the fact that 87 of the Fortune 100 companies are currently on the platform establishes Teams as the go-to workplace collaboration app.
A string of new functionalities provided a shot in the arm for the Teams app, but its success is based on more than just workplace productivity features. Teams is the perceived leader for security, manageability, and cost-effectiveness, which makes it the preferred choice over Slack, even though both apps are neck-to-neck in terms of reliability, compatibility, and user-friendliness.
While it’s difficult for collaboration apps to replace conventional communication tools like emails completely, applications like Teams help in making workplace communication faster and efficient. The end goal for business users, therefore, is to leverage apps like Teams for real-time group collaboration without worrying about the security of such communication.
Integrating FHIR-enabled electronic health records with Microsoft Teams is now available in exclusive Private Preview. To learn more and register, click here.
