Microsoft Viva Will Disrupt the HR Tech Market in 2022

by Jim Lundy

This month Microsoft made a clever move and announced new employee experience platform called Viva. Viva leverages both SharePoint and Microsoft teams to offer a new, curated way to engage employees and to allow them to learn. This move will clearly catch the rest of the talent management market off guard and it has put others on notice. This blog discusses some of the aspects of Viva and why this move by Microsoft is both bold and strategic.

What Is Microsoft Viva?

Microsoft positions Viva as a new employee experience platform. It is really a new applications that leverages Office 365 platform, which includes Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Teams. Viva has four modules:

Microsoft Viva Insights
Microsoft Viva Topics
Microsoft Viva Connections
Microsoft Viva Learning

Most of the apps are in preview mode right now, but the platform looks good. For those who are new to Microsoft from the HR side of the house—the apps are new—the platform is not.

Viva Insights is leveraging Microsoft Workplace Analytics and Microsoft MyAnalytics together, and it is focused on employees. Meanwhile, Viva Learning allows access to Content Libraries and provides a social learning environment so employees can share best practices.

Analysis

Microsoft has cleverly taken advantage of the remote work era by essentially repacking existing services for a targeted use case. While most of the modules are still in preview mode, We expect Viva to be well received by buyers even though it will put pressure on IT staff to support the modules. The Topics module, while in preview mode, should prove to be very valuable to associates and to the enterprise itself. Many Learning providers will feel pressure to integrate with or to offer similar capabilities.

Cloud Tech Providers Struggle with Learning

Even though Viva has been met with much fanfare—learning Content, including LinkedIn learning content—can sometimes be too basic and not specific enough. Software providers often underestimate the level of effort it takes to develop in-depth learning modules. Enterprises should evaluate the content from a provider before signing a contract.

Bottom Line

Viva will be a successful product , but we would advise enterprises to carefully evaluate it to ensure it will meet expectations. As the modules become available, we will have more to say.