Microsoft 365 Toronto User Group February 2021

Editor's Notes

1. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/introducing-microsoft-viva-the-employee-experience-platform-in/ba-p/2111481
2. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/the-case-for-exp
3. The Massive Market Impact of Microsoft Viva – JOSH BERSIN
4. The Massive Market Impact of Microsoft Viva – JOSH BERSIN
5. Microsoft Viva Topics automatically organizes content and expertise across your organization, making it easy for people to find information and put knowledge to work. The Viva Topics app provides the means to surface expertise within an organization via so-called "Topic Cards." It'll also show information on things like an organization's project names and the definitions used, which will pop up in a card-like fashion in context via "highlights" in text as people use Office 365 apps. These Topic Cards are automatically created from Microsoft 365 and Teams use via artificial intelligence. Viva Topics is now at the general availability release stage. It's offered as an "add-on to Microsoft 365 commercial plans." Viva Topics seems a lot like the "topic intelligence" or "Topic Cards" phase of Project Cortex, which Microsoft had briefly described last year when it announced the release of SharePoint Syntex, the first Project Cortex product. This topic intelligence product was supposed to have been available last year, but it apparently got delayed. Microsoft's announcement didn't exactly say that Viva Topics is the next Project Cortex release, but it did indicate that it "works with our other content management tools, including Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance and SharePoint Syntex.“ https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-viva-blog/introducing-microsoft-viva-topics/ba-p/2107007
6. Microsoft Viva Topics automatically organizes content and expertise across your organization, making it easy for people to find information and put knowledge to work.
7. Microsoft Viva Learning empowers employees with formal and informal learning when and where it’s needed, making it easier for people to learn while working. https://resources.techcommunity.microsoft.com/viva-topics/faq/
8. Microsoft Viva Learning empowers employees with formal and informal learning when and where it’s needed, making it easier for people to learn while working.
9. Microsoft Viva Connections is your gateway to a modern engagement experience designed to keep everyone engaged and informed . The Viva Connections app is the Viva central landing page consisting of a company news feed and a general dashboard view, which is reminiscent of a SharePoint Communication Site. It will be available as a Teams client desktop application "in the first half of 2021," with mobile app support expected in "summer 2021." Viva Connections is "powered by SharePoint," Microsoft explained, but it also lets organizations "extend your SharePoint intranet content, including your home site, into Microsoft Teams." It's also possible to customize the Viva Connections app using "Power Apps, SPFx [SharePoint Framework], and the third-party solutions you already deployed," Microsoft added. The app works with Yammer for chats, OneDrive for file storage and Microsoft Stream for videos. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-viva-blog/microsoft-viva-connections-helps-everyone-to-stay-engaged-and/ba-p/2107009
10. Microsoft Viva Learning empowers employees with formal and informal learning when and where it’s needed, making it easier for people to learn while working.
11. Microsoft Viva Insights helps people and business thrive with data-driven, privacy-protected insights and recommendations to improve productivity and wellbeing. The Viva Insights app measures how employees use their time. These measures get served up in a dashboard view for individuals and managers. Microsoft claims the information gets aggregated and depersonalized in the view seen by management. The Insights app for use in Teams is now available at the preview stage, Microsoft indicated. The Insights app pulls data from Microsoft 365 services, but it also will work with other non-Microsoft software products. "Microsoft Viva Insights uses data and signals from Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and other Microsoft 365 apps and services, but managers can also access data from an existing ecosystem of collaboration tools and services, including Zoom, Slack, Workday, and SAP SuccessFactors," the announcement explained. Microsoft additionally announced a preview of LinkedIn's Glint solution with the Microsoft Power BI dashboard, which is an internal integration of sorts since Microsoft owns LinkedIn. This integrated Glint solution is available now as a preview in Viva Insights, but just for Microsoft's Workplace Analytics customers. The Viva Insights app seems very similar to Workspace Analytics, which also measures employee time, but Microsoft's announcement had referred to them as two products. Future additions to the Viva Insights app will include "personal wellbeing experiences, including a virtual commute, an integration with Headspace for meditation and mindfulness, and an integration with Microsoft Viva Learning," Microsoft explained. Those additions will arrive "in the coming months.“ https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-viva-blog/microsoft-viva-insights-helps-people-nurture-wellbeing-and-be/ba-p/2107010