What is it?
It is one of the four modules of Microsoft Viva and it gives access through Microsoft Teams to a SharePoint site which has been setup as an organisational intranet. Microsoft refers to this as the “gateway to a modern engagement experience designed to keep everyone engaged and informed”. Below is a screen shot and a brief description of the various components of Microsoft Viva Connections.
- This is the quick navigation tile that has been deployed by your organisation to Microsoft Teams to access your intranet. It can be branded to your organisation’s logo and colours.
- This is the navigation of the site and is the configured global navigation of a SharePoint intranet hub site. Notice the “My SharePoint” link, this is the SharePoint Start page that has been configured when enabling the SharePoint Home site.
- These are apps that your organisation has created and targeted for end users using audience targeting.
- This is the feed from the personalised feed web part for the logged-in user and shows the most relevant content for the current user from across Microsoft 365.
- These are links to the other upcoming/available Viva products; Insights, Learning and Topics.
- This is the existing SharePoint News web part within SharePoint Online. It rolls up news stories from all or selected sites connected to your intranet hub site and can be configured to show the news in differing layouts to suit your organisational needs.
How do I get it?
All users who are licensed for SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams will be able to use Microsoft Viva connections at no additional cost. There are three parts to getting Microsoft Viva Connections enabled and working on your tenant.
- Create an Intranet within SharePoint Online and configure a global navigation.
- Set the new Intranet as your organisational SharePoint Home site.
- Create a Viva Connections app package using PowerShell. This can then be deployed through the Microsoft Teams Admin Center and pinned to all users or even a set of selected users.
What next?
A few more updates to Viva Connections are penciled in for release this summer all around the mobile experience in Teams and improvements for administrators for the consolidation and configuration of deployments for both mobile and desktops users.
Get in touch with us to find out more about Microsoft Viva Connections. risual can also answer your questions around training, adoption, and the delivery of a SharePoint Intranet and Microsoft Viva Connections remotely, so don’t hesitate to get in touch!
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