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Intranet Microsoft SharePoint

Teams vs. Groups – Microsoft moves their vision forward a few more steps

Office 365 continues to develop, and it seems like something changes more or less every fortnight. This isn’t a bad thing, as long as Microsoft continue to make reasonable business decisions about the features and functionality; though the pace of change continues to present some challenges for partners and users alike.

One of the most recent announcements is the release of Microsoft Teams, an apparently new component in Office 365. Actually, not quite so new as this looks an awful lot like the immediate successor to Groups.

Groups was always a little odd; it started out as exactly that, pretty much a permissions group on to which Microsoft then tagged some collaborative functionality, initially as a shallow end alternative to a SharePoint collaboration or team site; this has evolved over a few iterations to now usefully include Skype-based group Conversations, Files (actually a SharePoint library, but with limited customisability), Calendar, OneNote Notebook (we really approve of that), Planner (their Trello competitor) and a related SharePoint Site. However, the Groups strategy was clearly work in progress. For example they got as far as introducing them into the Outlook online client and OneDrive for Business, though not really into SharePoint, which was odd. There are mobile apps, but no Group tile in the O365 App Launcher. Jeff Teper shared some of this thinking early in 2016 and indicated that there would be a change that would see Groups becoming Teams, removing the confusion between permissions groups and collaborative sites. It’s good to see this come to fruition.

Microsoft are describing it as an entirely new experience…

With the introduction of Microsoft Teams, Office 365 now has mail, social, and chat connections to SharePoint and OneDrive. When you create a team, you create or connect to an existing Office 365 group, and the group gets a SharePoint team site.

msteams

It is worth reading Dan Holmes pleasantly marketing-spin-free  description.

So with the imminent launch of Microsoft Teams (it is currently in preview) there have already been some changes. Groups appears to have disappeared from most places and Microsoft continue to tweak the positioning against full-blown SharePoint Online.

Microsoft Teams is available in preview to eligible Office 365 commercial customers beginning November 2, 2016. We expect the service to become generally available in the first quarter of calendar year 2017.

There have been some immediate refinements to the Office365 offering plans:

  • Business Essentials  explicitly  references  including Teams,  with no mention of SharePoint
  • Enterprise plans such as E1 take business essentials and adds SharePoint Online, Delve, Video Portal, Skype Broadcast, without the 300 user limit.

It’s not yet clear whether Business Essentials no longer includes SharePoint at all or whether it simply hidden away as being perceived as too complicated for simpler use cases. Whether you agree with that or not, is likely that Teams are here to stay for a while and they do provide a simpler means of creating a rich collaboration and team site than ever before.

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By Simon

Simon Hudson is an entrepreneur and health sector specialist. He formed Cloud2 in 2008 following a rich career in the international medical device industry and the IT industry. Simon’s background encompasses quality assurance, medical device development, international training, business intelligence and international marketing and health related information and technology.

Simon’s career has spanned both the UK and the international health industry, with roles that have included quality system auditing, medical device development, international training (advanced wound management) and international marketing. In 2000 he co-founded a software-based Clinical Outcomes measurement start-up in the US. Upon joining ioko in 2004 he created the Carelink division and, as General Manager, drove it to become a multi-million pound business in its own right.
In 2008, Simon founded Cloud2 in response to a need for a new way of delivering successful projects based on Microsoft SharePoint. This created the first commercial ‘Intranet in a Box’ solution and kickstarted a new industry. He exited that business in 2019, which has continued to grow as a leading provider of Power BI and analytics solutions.

In 2016, he co-founded Kinata Ltd. to enable effective Advice and Guidance in the NHS and is currently guiding the business beyond its NHS roots to address needs in Her Majesty’s Prisons and in Australasia.

In 2021, Simon founded Novia Works Ltd.

In 2021 he was invited to become Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Hull.

In 2022 he was recognised as a Microsoft MVP.

In 2025 he founded Sustainable Ferriby CIC, a community energy not-for-profit to develop energy generation, energy & carbon reduction, and broader sustainability & NetZero projects in the West Hull villages.

Simon has had articles and editorials published in a variety of technology, knowledge management, clinical benchmarking and health journals, including being a regular contributor to PC Pro, as well as a presenter at conferences. He publishes a blog on areas of interest at noviaworks.co.uk. He is a co-facilitator of the M365 North User Group. He is a lead author and facilitator on the Maturity Model for Microsoft 365. He is the author of two patents relating to medical devices. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physical Science and a PGCE in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Hull.

Simon is passionate about rather too many things, including science, music (he plays guitar and octave mandola), skiing, classic cars, narrowboats, the health sector, sustainability, information technology and, by no means least, his family.

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