Knowledge will also play a key role. Viva Learning brings together educational resources from services such as LinkedIn Learning and Coursera, as well as courses from the company itself. Viva Topics adds a “knowledge discovery” system that presents relevant information for conversations and documents while you use Microsoft 365 and Teams.
It will take a while for all the Viva pieces to fall into place. Only Topics is widely available now as a complement to the Microsoft 365 business plan. Insights and Learning are currently limited to public and private views, respectively. The connections will not be available in a public view until the first half of 2021 and will have a mobile app later in the year.
Microsoft has a clear motivation to launch Viva. If you can cover more aspects of working life outside of work, companies may be more likely to join 365 and Teams instead of switching to alternatives like Google’s G Suite. However, it also addresses a real problem with remote work. At the moment, companies often rely on a patchwork of apps and services to keep you connected and informed. If Microsoft can offer a more elegant and unified experience, your employer will be more happy to keep you working from home.