Visio Online Expands Diagram Viewing for Office 365

[Oct. 3, 2017 note: A more recent version of this report can be found at www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/research/secured/2017/10/visio-services-replaced-sept-2018.]

Visio Online, a Microsoft-hosted service, repackages the Visio Services browser-based diagram viewing component to reach more Office 365 users. Visio is Microsoft’s line of software and services for creating business and technical diagrams, such as flowcharts. Shown in this screen shot is a Visio diagram accessed through a browser and Visio Online. Browser access can make Visio diagrams more useful by allowing them to be distributed to users who do not have the Visio application installed.

Visio Online, generally available as of Mar. 2017, enables users to view, find text in, view shape data, and comment on (but not modify) Visio diagrams with recent browsers, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. It also enables users to refresh Visio-based reports (such as a network diagram with component status information) from data sources. These capabilities are similar to those of Visio Services, a component of the SharePoint Online service and SharePoint Server software since 2012.