Author: Jonathan Stuckey
Is Microsoft Loop just adding to the confusion in M365?
Microsoft Loop was headlined in the tsunami of announcements at Ignite 2021. First glance shows a very glossy user-experience, but closer inspection leads to a very confused set of messaging on collaboration tools and services from Microsoft.
The mixed messaging, and the obvious overlap with Microsoft 365 services of Microsoft Teams | Whiteboard | Planner makes for a very frustrating time when it comes to how to position and recommend the toolset.
There is a massive underlying assumption that Microsoft Loop is serving a need by a (very large) segment of the working communities that need a fluid, ultra-flexible way of pooling information, content and communications. I'm not that convinced.
Understanding the background here is probably a pivotal piece of the puzzle. Microsoft Loop has spun out of multiple intern-projects and developer tools e.g. Project: Mocha (a.k.a. Outlook Spaces), Fluid UI components, and of course Microsoft's need to keep generating new revenue streams once everyone is on the top M365 plan.
The high-gloss video does a fantastic job of Nintendo Wii games meet Microsoft productivity suite - but I have to say there was very little to recommend it to me on first or second glance. Take a look for yourself... (starting at 1hr in)
So lets do a little assessment by the numbers...
Comparison
on the surface a high-level comparison shows remarkable similarities between the options:
Functionality | Microsoft Loop | Microsoft Teams | SharePoint/Office | Whiteboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Multi-party edit | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Content: Text, Images | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Content: Media | Y | Y | Y | P |
Content: Data | Y | P* | Y | N |
Integration M365 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
UX: Browser | Y | Y | Y | Y |
UX: Desktop app | P^ | Y | Y | Y |
UX: Mobile app | P^ | Y | Y | Y |
UX: MS Teams integration | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Publishing | P | N | Y | P |
^ not available at time of writing - but we informed 'coming soon'
If this is a next generation way of working, what about critical functionality that supports accountability ? You know, the stuff which allows us to track-back when things go disastrously wrong from decisions we made using this new way of working...?
Lets look at some underlying requirements and dependencies....
Functionality | Microsoft Loop | Microsoft Teams | SharePoint/Office | Whiteboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Stores content | No | No | Yes | No |
Microsoft Groups integration | Partial | Partial | Yes | Partial* |
Supports classification | No | Partial | Yes | Partial* |
Audit & History | No | No | Yes | Partial |
Version controls | No | No | Yes | Partial* |
* not natively, but leverages facility in underlying storage service e.g. OneDrive, SharePoint
Woops! ...not so good now, but then you need to understand that:
Microsoft Teams is a UI over-the-top of services, which store their content elsewhere
SharePoint is a repository for other apps with content editing and management services built-in
Whiteboard is a content creation tool (think Word, or Excel)
...so what is Microsoft Loop? Hmmm - a bit of everything? a bit of nothing?
Ironically if Microsoft Loop does end-up as content creation tool, then that content will get stored in OneDrive for Business (read: SharePoint) and SharePoint Online. Microsoft's primary unstructured/semi-structured content store.
If it remains a UI and container of references for other content then its an alternative to Microsoft Teams.
What do we conclude from paper-comparison
If you like pretty, without too much substance; Or grew-up playing Nintendo's Mario Kart and using a Wii and primary means of entertainment, then I think future of Microsoft Loop may have some legs.
There is no denying the level of flexibility for working is astonishing, but its also very gimmick-y. I would really like to see support for some of the more boring requirements before I jump in boots-an-all. You know, the functionality that keep people out-of-prison - like a means to version | snap-shot point in time pages or spaces, so you know what was being used to make a decision - that sort of stuff.
Also the auditability and change-logging needs some serious steroids to keep-up with the content Parkour that is possible with the Canvas and Fluid content components.
Where do Microsoft Teams and SharePoint fit in?
Well the important thing to bare-in-mind with Microsoft Loop is, it isn't creating or storing content. Well it is, but only as a means to reference content, data and communication from other services.
What that means is it requires a repository to store these pages (canvas's) in. It surfaces document and data from elsewhere, but people still need to edit and interact with the underlying content (documents, lists, tables etc). All this sounds like SharePoint and OneDrive territory to me.
This whizzy new user-experience also needs to be delivered in conjunction with the primary application model, and 'desktop' experience - which leads us back to Microsoft Teams.
But Microsoft Loop is still in swaddling-clothes at the moment, so lets see how the baby grows over next couple of years before we decide if this is just another passing fad.
Reference links
About the author: Jonathan Stuckey
Comments