I actually wrote a blog post about Kaizala for my company, but it has yet to be posted yet.... I will put the text in here for my thoughts!
What is Kaizala: Microsoft Kaizala Pro is a new mobile application, available for apple and android products that is being rolled out to Office 365 consumers. It is Microsoft answer to how to manage mobile task workers inside your organization, as well as the immediate groups and partners you work with. It is designed to allow organizations to handle large group communication and work management in a safe and secure manner, using mobile devices as the source of information.
Who is the target user: Kaizala Pro is targeted at organizations with an extremely mobile workforce, who either do not carry, or rarely use a traditional computer for their job. Kaizala was developed and grown primarily through Microsoft India, where large portions of the mobile workforce have grown up tied to their mobile device rather than a traditional desktop or laptop.
What is it replacing: Kaizala Pro is not a direct replacement for any current Microsoft product. It does handle some of the same basic tasks and problems as StaffHub, but with a mobile focus that allows integration with outside partners and organizations. Kaizala’s design more closely resembles a replacement for social media and communication applications such as Twitter, Instagram, Group Texts, and similar mobile message services that may be used to fit the same need for users today. Kaizala Pro brings better security and governance than you see with these public applications, as well as targeted analytics and reporting.
When is it being released: Microsoft began notifying Office 365 users of the upcoming available of Kaizala to first release Office 365 tenants this week. You can expect the roll-out to continue through the next several weeks or months to the rest of the Office 365 commercial users. There has been no official announcement for when, if ever, GCC and High GCC customers can expect to see Kaizala Pro.
Is it Right for You: The main distinguishing feature of Kaizala Pro is its mobile nature. Designed to be exclusively consumed and used through a mobile application, this is the latest, and perhaps boldest move yet of Microsoft to fully embrace their mobile journey. In today’s world many people are not sitting at desks on computers, they are out working on job sites, or traveling for most of the day. Kaizala embraces this hyper mobile work-style and empowers its users by offering integrations into not only the co-workers, but other companies and partners they work with every day. Up until now this void has been filled by free alternatives that were not purpose built for commercial workforce consumption. Furthermore, Microsoft has reinforced its inclination towards security and data analytics seen throughout the last few years, adding good features for both when compared to the other alternatives your users may look too without the structure of an official application.
But with all that said, this is targeted at an extremely niche market and need. If you have a construction company where most of your users are never at a desk, and their location changes weekly, they constantly work with partners who are delivering materials, or inspecting progress, then with all that considered this could be great, and truly change how your company works day to day. This could be your one stop shop for chat and communication for your entire workforce, filling a need traditional tools like SharePoint, or Teams, simply could not. But for most companies that is simply not the reality of their workforce. To most companies Kaizala pro is going to be another messaging service in an already crowded product suite of messaging services, which the introduction of is going to likely cause more harm and confusion, than productive collaboration.
