Efficient collaboration with MS Teams and Zoom
Efficient collaboration with MS Teams and Zoom
18. June 2020
Reading time: 5 minutes
As a result of COVID-19, many companies have been forced to introduce tools for digital collaboration and communication to achieve effective results from the home office. Prejudices against inefficient working were put to the test by this crisis and partly cleared up thanks to initial successes.
Even after “normalization”, a significant part of the working world will remain remote. This requires a sustainable collaboration concept that gives a long-term direction to ad hoc measures and prevents splinter solutions from emerging as well as tools from getting out of hand.
In this article, I show how we at Qudits combine the use of MS Teams and Zoom – two of the leading solutions for collaboration and communication – and how you can apply them in your company to create an ideal collaboration landscape.
Learnings from this article:
How to efficiently integrate project work and data storage with MS Teams
Which use cases are covered additionally by Zoom
How to integrate Zoom into the existing MS Teams landscape
How to efficiently integrate project work and data storage with MS Teams
Which use cases are covered additionally by Zoom
How to integrate Zoom into the existing MS Teams landscape
The strengths of MS Teams
According to Business Insider MS Teams had an increase of 31 million users in March 2020 alone and is now with over 75 million active users daily. This rapidly growing popularity is certainly in no small part due to the fact that many companies already find it bundled in their Office 365 licenses. Seamless integration into the Office 365 world makes MS Teams a fully comprehensive collaboration and communication tool and increases transparency within a team through: Persistant team chats Document storage in SharePoint Online Clear task management in Planner When a team is created, an Office 365 Group (Identity in Active Directory) is generated, which gives all members access to all team resources (Outlook, SharePoint Online, Planner, OneNote etc.). In addition, these teams can organize themselves with different channels as desired. Individual members can thus be fully informed, and tasks can be completed on time and without redundancies. For the full use of MS Teams, the company should activate the Office 365 Cloud Services (SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Planner etc.) for the users. Thus, company data that is shared in channels is stored in SharePoint Online and files from individual chats are stored in OneDrive for Business respectively. Chat and channel messages themselves are stored in Exchange Online. This must be taken into account when using MS Teams and appropriate measures must be taken to protect sensitive company data according to Microsoft 365 Enterprise Mobility + Security Features.How Zoom comes into play now
MS Teams has some limitations with regard to audio and video conferencing, so an alternative such as Zoom can be a useful complementary solution. Especially when an organization is looking for intensive collaboration and has a "video first" culture, MS Teams quickly reaches its limits.
Graph:
Overview, in which use cases the use of MS Teams or Zoom respectively is recommended
Overview, in which use cases the use of MS Teams or Zoom respectively is recommended
In video conferences via MS Teams, currently only up to four people can be presented with video. This could mean that introverted people do not appear in conferences with a large number of participants. In this case, Zoom with its possibility to display all participants with video in the gallery simultaneously is the better alternative.
The strengths of Zoom are particularly evident in workshops: The tool allows participants to be divided into small groups in a very uncomplicated way, for example, for working on a topic together. Zoom provides each group with individual group rooms with whiteboards and documents. The moderator can easily move through the groups and support them. With MS Teams this functionality is only possible with detours and a considerable expenditure of time.
In addition, several people can share their screen simultaneously in Zoom meetings. Participants can then switch individually between the shared screens, which is useful for comparing different versions or designs, for example. This function is not available for MS Teams.
For live events such as webinars, press conferences or townhall meetings, Zoom is the better alternative as well, because MS Teams, in addition to technical requirements such as Microsoft Streams (for recording) and customization of the live event policies (permissions for setting up the events, participant restrictions, etc.), also requires Microsoft Enterprise E1, E3, or E5 licenses. For me, it is not comprehensible why companies with less than 300 employees cannot conduct live events with the Business Premium license. Therefore, from my point of view, Zoom is the clear favorite for this as well.
Another advantage of Zoom is that through a hybrid cloud setup, organizations can host all meeting traffic, including video, voice and data sharing in the private cloud. Only user and meeting metadata is managed in the public cloud.
In addition, it must be noted that Microsoft has already announced updates for MS Teams for the above-mentioned use cases and has created a possibility for users to submit wishes and requirements and to evaluate suggestions from other people through MS Teams UserVoice in a channeled manner.
Cost overview
Microsoft Teams is included in Microsoft 365 licenses, which has three levels, starting at 4.90 CHF per user per month for Business Basic, 12.30 CHF for Business Standard and 19.70 CHF for the full suite in Business Premium. All plans require a one-year commitment. Zoom offers a free Basic Plan. The Pro Plan for $14.99 per host per month allows meetings for up to 24 hours. The Business Plan costs $19.99 per host per month (same as the Enterprise Plan) and includes custom branding. (All data are list prices. Individual company discounts are not included).My conclusion
Zoom has struggled with privacy and security issues due to its popularity in recent months. The company has already announced measures to address these and has already implemented some of them. This is particularly important when discussing sensitive issues. Nevertheless, through my research and our own successful use at Qudits, I am convinced that MS Teams and Zoom complement each other ideally and should not be seen as “either or”. By using Zoom and MS Teams in combination - for example according to the overview above - companies can combine the best of both worlds. The integration of Zoom and Microsoft Teams has already significantly improved our collaboration at Qudits and that of our clients. I have compiled more information about efficient digital collaboration for you in the article 5 principles for collaborative working. What is your strategy regarding the different collaboration tools? Do you also use MS Teams and Zoom in combination? If so, for which use cases and where do you see the added value of Zoom for your organization?
Author
Yasinthan Easwarapalan
Yasinthans consultancy focus lies on implementing and improving digital workplaces, project management and business analysis. In recent years, he helped various organizations to fully realize the potential of Office 365.
Yasinthan Easwarapalan
Yasinthans consultancy focus lies on implementing and improving digital workplaces, project management and business analysis. In recent years, he helped various organizations to fully realize the potential of Office 365.
