Microsoft Teams Consulting – A Strategic Investment?

Yes, it 100% is.

Not to overquote the fact that collaboration has become a necessity of time with changing work cultures and environments, but an investment in making collaboration effective is worth considering as strategic.

And, we aren’t even stating it in the air, here are the stats to back the claim up.

The team collaboration tools market is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 18% from 2021 to 2026 ~ As per BusinessWire

Microsoft Teams consulting services isn’t a magic wand that resolves all your collaboration worries in a swamp; no, it certainly isn’t!

But, with Microsoft Teams consultants by your side, you experience a simplified and seamless collaboration environment with reduced friction and technological breakouts.

To be honest there is more to it.

Glimpse through what all MS Teams consultants assure you of, will discuss it in detail in the latter part of the conversation.

• Enhanced Accessibility of Resources
• Boosted Employee Productivity
• Seamless Brainstorming
• Reduced Dependencies
• Empowered Security
• Improved Diversity
• Peaking Agility

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Let’s get started!

Are the ROIs justifiable against an investment in MS Teams Consulting Services?

Before we touch base on the ROI equation to set out with your MS Teams consultants, it is essential to set the expectations right.

As discussed before, your Teams consultants are no magicians. They are human beings just like you, with some additional exposure and experience with Microsoft Teams – the collaboration utility we are discussing.

It would be unrealistic to set outright ROI expectations of them.

Thinking about how you should go about it?

Here’s a 4-step framework to set forth the right expectations and achieve justifiable ROI of your Teams consulting investments.

Follow the lead from here.

Step 1 – Setting the right expectations with MS Teams Consulting Services

Setting the right expectations will set the tone of your Microsoft Teams implementation strategy right. Having extravagant expectations without specific measures or bounds will lead to disagreements and disappointments.

You may start thinking, “How do I set the expectations correctly?”

In simple words – entrust any goal-setting technique that you find reliable to put your expectations across the Microsoft Teams consulting services.

For instance, let’s assume you go ahead with SMART goals setting technique.

That means your goals for seeking MS Teams consulting should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result-Driven, and Timely.

Thinking about how to put this into perspective?

Let’s look at both “SMART Goals the Right Way” and “SMART Goals the Wrong Way”

SMART Goals the Right Way

Here’s the goal – “We need to achieve increased team collaboration efficiency by 20% with successful implementation of Microsoft Teams, by the end of next quarter. The ROI of the MS Teams consulting will be measured by timely project completion, reduced communication disruptions, and enhanced productivity.”

Let’s debrief it –

Specific – Achieve Increased Team Collaboration

Measurable – Increase collaboration efficiency by 20%

Attainable – The team knows the ROI Metric clearly – On time project completion, reduced communication disruption, and improved productivity

Result-Driven – Successful Microsoft Teams implementation with performance metrics to record scores

Timely – By the end of the next quarter

Now, let’s look at SMART Goal the Wrong Way

Here’s the goal – “Enhance team collaboration using Microsoft Teams consulting services”

Looking at this unclear goal which has no specificity, no measures to track the ROI and no timeline, it becomes unrealistic and unambiguous to achieve.

Now, with that idea, you are well-versed to set out the right expectations about the ROI from the Microsoft Teams consulting services.
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Step 2 – Let MS Teams Consultants Assess Your Collaboration Activities

With the clarity on your ROI expectations, let MS Teams consultants in on your

• Microsoft Teams usage
• Your team’s collaboration needs
• Third-party integrations required by your team
• Your business workflows that rely on collaboration
• Spot pattens and loopholes that your team experiences
• Trace the features & functions rapidly used by your team
• Analyze your IT infrastructure and environment for enhancements
• Identify opportunities for optimization and customizations required

An in-depth assessment of your team’s collaboration activities and overall collaboration environment, inclusive of third-party integrations and IT infrastructure, empowers Teams consulting experts to gauge your ROI expectations, imperatively.

Step 3 – Identify Areas where MS Teams Consultants can Help You Improve

This is where you will have to burn a bit of your brain oil with your Microsoft Teams consultants.

You may start thinking that as they only identified the gaps, can’t they help us improvise?

Sure, they can! But your participation will help them prioritize and right-size the improvisations to be made.

Thinking about what could be the key areas for improvement?

Let us walk you through some high ROI KPIs that your MS Teams consultants can help you achieve.

Customization and Configuration

Customization is key and meeting the unique workflow needs of an organization is the highest KPI to attain for a Microsoft Teams consulting partner.

Successful configuration of channels, tabs and integrations represents positive ROI with customization and configuration.

Integration with Other Tools

Microsoft Teams is compatible for integration with Microsoft 365 and third-party tools.

An MS Teams consultant’s job is to ensure that the data flows seamlessly through the integrated platforms. Seamless data transfer is a sign of positive ROI in this case.

Security and Compliance

Security and compliance are top priorities for any organization. Especially, when relying on a collaboration platform like Microsoft Teams, it becomes necessary to protect the sensitive data being accessed by multiple authorities.

Establishment of security standards compliant with the industry regulations and organizational policies, signals a positive ROI for your investments toward Microsoft Teams consulting services.

Governance and Administration

Managing user access and permissions ensures unwavering integrity of data and resources.

Establishing adept governance and administration policies is yet another sign of precise return on your investment into MS Teams consulting services.

Migration and Upgrades

An upgrade from a legacy system to Microsoft Teams, the modern-day collaboration platform is a technological leap.

A professional Teams consulting expert ensures swift migration of data from the legacy system to Microsoft Teams, and upkeep with the upgrades catering latest functionalities and security patches.

The smooth transition from the legacy system to Microsoft Teams denotes success with a positive ROI.
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Troubleshooting and Support

Last but not least, troubleshooting and support for addressing technical glitches and day-to-day operational hiccups weighs high contribution in the ROI metric.

The readiness of Microsoft Teams consulting partner to offer guidance on the best practices, training the in-house team on the common challenges and use-cases represents a positive ROI.

Step 4 – Unveil the ROI Growth Path with Microsoft Consulting Services

Now, you will have anecdotes contributing the formulation of adept ROI calculations across your investments in Microsoft consulting services.

Now, as you are confident of the ROI of your Microsoft Teams consulting investments, let’s look at the adept approach for Microsoft Teams implementation.

What is the preferred approach for Microsoft Teams Implementation?

You will never achieve the set ROIs with Microsoft Teams implementation done the wrong way.

You may start thinking what is the right way to adopt Microsoft Teams?

You need to set the right tone of adoption with the Microsoft consulting services partner of your choice.

How do I do that? – you may ask.

Let’s look at an ideal Microsoft Teams adoption strategy that can ladder you to success.

Adopt the Change in Phases

To exercise a seamless Microsoft Teams adoption, it’s ideal to adopt it in phases, starting out with a pilot project at a departmental level.

Rolling it out to the whole organization won’t be a good idea as the IT support team will suffer in the absence of a reliable Microsoft Teams consulting partner to support.

When you roll it out for a department first as a pilot project, you leverage the bandwidth to assess the usability and understanding of the product features, across the team.

Based on the same approach, you can adopt Microsoft Teams in phases for every department in your organization. This allows your IT team or MS Teams consulting partner the room to address specific concerns, at department level.

Gain Management Support

With the ever-evolving work culture where remote and hybrid working styles are more than normal, a collaboration tool like Microsoft Teams is more than just a product.

If you lack the support from the top management, there are more chances of end-users opting out from collaborating using Microsoft Teams, encouraging the same old communication/collaboration patterns.

Have the top management aligned with the new collaboration approach, the reason for the change and the justifiable ROI metrics, shared by Microsoft Teams consulting partner of your choice.

Think About Long-Term

Thinking of Microsoft Teams adoption as a project with a start date and end date, with desired milestones might sound like a deal, but trust us, it’s not.

Switching from a legacy collaboration environment to a cloud-powered Microsoft Teams collaboration environment is more than just adopting the technology.

The adoption also includes –

• Training them on the functionalities & features
• Understanding your team’s comfort with the product
• Analyzing the changing patterns in the collaboration activities
• Implementing latest features & functionalities released by Microsoft

A reliable Microsoft consulting partner helps you navigate the challenges effectively, by backing you up.

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Provide Use Case Based Training

Use case-based training empowers departments and individuals, making Microsoft Team’s adoption easier.

Different departments and respective team members share use cases which are not all common. In this case, the standard training conducted by Microsoft Teams consulting experts might not prove helpful.

To combat the consequences beforehand, it’s ideal to customize the training and adoption based on varied use cases.

This will have two major advantages –

1^st – All the departments and respective users will have a sense of inclusivity in the decision-making process.

2^nd – With customized training, MS Teams adoption will be easier and efficient

Identify Your Star Adopters & Empower Them!

Your Star Adopters will stow an onset of your MS Teams adoption success.

Trying to figure out who Star Adopters are and how they will be responsible for your MS Teams adoption?

They are nothing but the early birds in your MS Teams adoption process.

The ones who won’t fear the change but embrace it.

The ones who are enthusiastic in untangling MS Teams potential.

The ones who can put up with MS Teams really quickly and build the expertise.

As you spot your Star Adopters, encourage them to join hands with Microsoft Teams consulting experts, to make the adoption process smoother.

They can be of a great help as –

• They will bring you the real-time feedback about MS Teams adoption
• They will be ones leading with an example, encouraging others
• They will be the firsts that other users will approach for help

Going a step-ahead, build a team of Star Adopters from every department. These individuals will not only lead the adoption process for MS Teams but will also be of great help to the MS consultants in rolling out updates and upgrades.

Now, as you are aware of the best route to take for Microsoft Teams implementation, let’s look at the key questions to ask your Microsoft Teams consulting partner.

What are the Key Questions to Ask Your MS Teams Consultant?

Before you delve into the nitty-gritty of what questions to ask your Microsoft Teams consulting partner, answer this one question for yourself.

We are sure it’s a strategic alliance with a futuristic vision.

If that is so, then do you really think asking basic qualifying questions will derive the truest nature of MS consulting partners that you are talking to?

If you ask them questions around –

• Implementation process
• Integration with existing systems
• Security procedures and measures
• User adoption and training provisions
• Feasibility of customization & configuration
• Worries around the scalability & performance
• Intricacies of compliance and governance policies
• Doubts about the cost structure and plans available
• Queries around the legitimacy of troubleshooting & support

Remember, they will all have the answers powerful enough to partner them as your Microsoft Teams consulting help.

You need to break through the shackles and ask for something out of the box.

You need to question around the outcome they can come up with.

You need to question the partnership they are offering you!

Remember why you started out in the first place – You are looking for a technology partner who is ready to be a part of your strategic alliance.

You are looking for someone who can help you build an empowered collaboration culture using Microsoft Teams.

Thinking about what to ask to qualify the right MS Teams consulting company?

Here’s what you can ask –

What indicates a positive ROI of a successful Microsoft Teams adoption?

A positive ROI of successful Microsoft Teams adoption isn’t justifiable by vague parameters such as increased team collaboration, streamlined communication, and enhanced productivity.

You can’t really put those things into a metric and track, right?

Then, what translates your MS Teams investments into positive ROI?

Here are some of the parameters that denote the outcome achieved –

• Reduced number of emails
• Accelerated project completions
• Faster and improved decision-making

These parameters, when tracked correctly denote the outcome that you are achieving through your MS Teams adoption.

In other cases, if your team used to travel for meetings for efficient collaboration, then declining travel costs is a sign of positive ROI, with improved remote collaboration using Microsoft Teams.

Your Microsoft Teams consulting partner should be able to draw a clear distinction to denote the positive ROI of your MS Teams investments.

How do you ensure a smooth transition and minimize disruptions during the implementation process?

As a technology leader, you would not wish for any disruptions during Microsoft Teams implementation process, would you?

Yet, transforming from a legacy collaboration platform to the new edge collaboration tool, Microsoft Teams, isn’t going to be frictionless.

If you hear from a Microsoft Teams consulting partner promising “No disruptions” – stay away from them. Because they are promising you something that is alien!

You don’t need us to break this to you, but a change isn’t easy. It takes time. It has its repercussions. And, with human involvement, it will take time to settle.

You have two choices – Deny the change OR accept the change and manage it well.

You must question your Micrsoft Teams consulting partner on their approach for a smoother transition and minimizing disruption, through the journey.

Their approach ensures the success of your Microsoft Teams implementation.

What collaboration features within Microsoft Teams do you find most beneficial for organizations similar to ours?

As a technology leader, you don’t want to make a wrong choice while finalizing a Microsoft Teams consulting partner, do you?

And this question is a surefire way to validate their credibility!

Microsoft Teams is renowned for its impeccable communication and collaboration features.

Whilst you are prospecting for a reliable technology partner who understands your line of business, and can fulfill your collaboration needs, must list you down opportunities that MS Teams opens for you and not just features that enhance your collaboration.

These questions will help you assess the fitment and capabilities of a Microsoft Teams consulting partner, ensuring that they align with your business objectives and delivers a successful and robust solution tailored to your unique needs.

Integrative Systems – Microsoft Teams Consultancy Services Partner of Your Choice

As the true technology leader that you are, we understand you would choose nothing less than the best for your organization.

We believe that you are ready to take your collaboration environment to the next level with Microsoft Teams. And we are confident that you have developed a strong understanding of the righteous approach for Microsoft Teams implementation and choosing Microsoft Teams consulting partner.

With 10+ years of expertise in deploying various Microsoft products & services, we would take immense pride in becoming the technology partner of your choice.

Have the feeling that we are the match?

Drop us a line at [email protected] and we shall circle back in 2 business days, to take it from there.