Evaluating Microsoft 365 Collaboration Services

• Several Microsoft 365 services allow communication and content sharing between users so they can collaborate.
• Some of these collaboration services have overlapping functionality, and others are best suited for specific tasks.
• Customers planning a collaboration strategy should consider additional costs and potential future investments in a service.

Microsoft 365 is the center for Microsoft’s investment in collaboration spaces, which are virtual workspaces that can offer persistent discussions, file sharing, and other real-time shared activities. These services are sometimes classified based on their scope (one-to-one, team-level, organization-level), but customers evaluating collaboration offerings should also consider their suitability to task, potential additional costs, and marketplace longevity.

Evaluating Collaboration Offerings

When evaluating Microsoft 365 services, customers have many factors to consider, including functionality, security, compliance, and licensing cost. Many can make an initial cut based on two factors: