Guidance Available Now for Planning and Deploying Microsoft Teams!
David Branscome
September 25, 2017
For a couple months now, our partners and customers have been attempting to read the direction that Microsoft is taking with regard to Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business. I think it’s safe to say there’s been some confusion and *ahem*…. “gaps” in the guidance.
For example, the partners I’ve been working with have asked questions like:
“Is Microsoft Teams a replacement for Skype for Business?”
“How do I integrate Microsoft Teams into my Skype for Business infrastructure?”
“Are there best practices for how to configure my Teams and Channels?”
“How will Teams integrate with my existing audio/video systems?”
“Is there a certification program for Teams devices like there was for Skype for Business headsets, phones, etc…?”
These are especially important questions for partners because they have to (1.) be able to talk about how this will work with their own customers and (2.) they have to be able to deliver on those engagements.
Well, as of today, the clouds of confusion are beginning to part on many of these questions.
Partners can now go to /en-us/MicrosoftTeams/Microsoft-Teams and get lots of great guidance to help them start planning and deploying Microsoft Teams in their customer environments. For example:
- What are the identity models available for Microsoft Teams?
- /en-us/MicrosoftTeams/identify-models-authentication
- How do I put a Microsoft Teams user or team on legal hold?
- /en-us/MicrosoftTeams/legal-hold
- How do I manage Guest Access in Microsoft Teams?
- /en-us/MicrosoftTeams/guest-access
- Is there a Customer Success Kit to help me with the rollout of Microsoft Teams?
- /en-us/MicrosoftTeams/rollout-tools
- How do I troubleshoot this stuff?
- /en-us/MicrosoftTeams/faq-journey
- And of course, the one we’ve all been waiting for - how do I deploy Microsoft Teams side by side with Skype for Business?
- /en-us/MicrosoftTeams/journey-skypeforbusiness-teams
Now you might be saying, “That’s all well and good, David, but that’s just the technical considerations. I have people asking questions about the future of Skype, the licensing implications of moving to Teams from Skype for Business, and cloud video interop with Microsoft Teams. What am I supposed to tell them?”
Trust me, those questions have been on the minds of many partners and customers, and there is now some public guidance on these questions in the form of an FAQ, located here:
/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/faq-journey
Clearly, there are still many more questions that partners and customers will have as we roll out more features and capabilities for Microsoft Teams, so we’ll keep answering those questions and creating articles to help guide you along on this journey.
For now, there’s lots to digest, and lots to use as you work with your customers in planning and deploying Microsoft Teams.
Enjoy!