MicrosoftWOW! Finally, a list of how Skype for Business measures up to Teams - I mean this - even though there are a few (cough)(cough) corrections that should be made (IMEO). For those of us old enough to remember, an emoji is just an overly fantastical way of presenting emoticons...I guess someone felt they were limited, boring, etc. And while some may argue that being the truth, I would counter this position by questioning the real motivation for needing the peach and/or eggplant in a work environment. As for GIF's and memes, these can also be "included" in a Skype for Business conversation. As with emoji's, I'm not sure how the use of these contributes to the bottom line of ones business operation, unless of course, you're in the business of making fun of things or making people laugh. I like laughing, but work is no joke.
Anyway, and more importantly, I won't deny that TEAMS is one heck of a platform and, in many regards, it may have a leg up on all competition. Regardless, the fact STILL remains...Teams is farther reaching, more robust and employs a great deal more features/functions, but Microsoft has forgotten (or is in denial) that, with all of the WOW factor that Teams brings to the table, it also comes with complication and confusion in terms of its adoption - even for the big companies. In true Microsoft "wash, rinse, repeat" fashion, pushing a platform onto the subscriber before it's ready for primetime and, at the same time, ignoring the fact that MANY small businesses (we don't have deep pockets or large-scale departments to take on such shifts in the IT paradigm) who are just now getting comfortable with being able to entertain the concept of and transitioning to technology that was once only available to (afforded by) the big entities (e.g., Exchange/Outlook, SharePoint, etc.) is both concerning and laughable. You know, like that of a GIF or meme. OK, stop laughing, I'm being serious.
For those of us who work in micro-to-small businesses, where it's not uncommon to have "teams of one" and/or use a simple product like Skype for Business to its fullest (i.e., we need nothing more than text/video chat and the occasional screen sharing situation), how on earth does everyone at Microsoft fail to recognize the ridiculousness of Teams being touted, promoted and marketed as "Skype for Business, only better"? Poppycock! While Teams employs a good number of features and functions we have come to know and enjoy in Skype for Business, the fact remains, Teams is not simply a replacement "and then some" to Skype for Business. No, no, no, it's a completely different animal. And yet, here we are, the small companies, buried under this marketing manusha, welcoming the magic of Skype for Business being up updated to Teams (the successor to Skype for Business) only to determine, after countless hours of problems and setbacks, the very (sad) reality that Teams is "no upgrade". It's a business-focus shift -- from the short-term, one-off and impromptu one-on-one relationships, towards the planned, coordinated, scheduled and collaborative one-to-many and many-to-many relationships -- relationships a vast majority of large scale, multi-regional, national and worldwide entities desire so that they might be more/better connected.
At the end of the day, I've been doing this a VERY long time and have always appreciated the evolution and advancement of technology -- it's what drove me to establishing a career in technology. That said, I appreciate the need for such features and functions a platform like Teams has to offer. But the reality and response to the outcome and experience of those living this so-called transition/upgrade shouldn't fall on deaf ears. I implore anyone and everyone at Microsoft, specifically the Teams team, to consider all that I've laid out and consider the following:
1) Skype for Business is a lot closer to Skype than Teams (why is Skype staying put, yet Skype for Business is going buh-bye?)
2) Many of my colleagues (I'm not alone) believe this announcement is another sad day in technology
3) If Microsoft used this same "list" to disable/hide the unnecessary components of Teams (i.e., Skype for Business = Teams Lite), the small companies would breathe a sigh of relief as opposed to hoping/praying Microsoft extends (or cancels altogether) this announced deadline
Lastly, per other Microsoft-produced resources, there still remains numerous functions within Skype for Business that are (currently) non-existent, and yet equally important, in Teams. Why not include these in your list as well (to level the playing field)?
