Microsoft has announced that Teams applications are now available outside of the collaboration platform for the first time.
In a blog post, the company revealed that members of the Targeted Release early access program can now use a small number of Microsoft Teams apps from within email service Outlook and Office.com.
“With this enhancement, apps built for Teams not only run everywhere Teams runs, but also in more of the places that users spend their time in Microsoft 365,” Microsoft explained.
Microsoft Teams apps
Since the start of the pandemic, Microsoft has fought to establish Teams as the central hub for working. The objective was to give workers access to all the tools they need in one place, by integrating a variety of first- and third-party services into the platform.
And the strategy appears to have paid dividends. The latest data suggests Teams has racked up more than 270 million monthly active users (MAUs), up from fewer than 50 million daily active users before the pandemic began.
However, Microsoft has now shifted its approach to focus more closely on creating fluid experiences that streamline the transition between various Microsoft 365 services. The introduction of Teams applications to other Microsoft platforms can be seen as part of this process.
At first, there will only be a handful of Microsoft Teams apps available outside the regular client; some from Microsoft itself (e.g. Power BI) and some from third-party vendors like Zoho and Mural. And these apps will also only be available to a small number of users in preview.
However, the company has promised to double down on the program, with a raft of Teams apps migrating to other Microsoft spaces in the months to come.
Microsoft says IT administrators can control which “enhanced Teams apps” are available to employees from within the regular Teams admin center.
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