ETEC 522
VENTURE ANALYSIS BY AMANDA KONG
THE MARKET & BUSINESS MODEL
Microsoft in the 1990s had a monopoly in the market place. In 2020, the main competition in the PC market is Apple. This analyst report will focus on Microsoft Team as a type of infrastructural distance synchronous learning offering.
MARKET SHARE AND COMPETITION
Revenue and Usage Statistics
Microsoft Teams’ brand strength is related to integration with Office 365. Teachers and students can use OneNote, PowerPoint, and Word. Teams have been growing at a steady space with 20 million active users in November 2019. By April 2020, there are 75 million active users. However, some users may either be using a free trial or version.
Microsoft’s revenue is all-inclusive of personal and commercial Office 365 where Teams are used by 30% of Office 365 users. Estimation revenue of $5-10 billion.
Economic Impact
A Microsoft Teams study by Forrester in 2019 found that implementations of Teams decreased overall costs. The savings came from a reduction of telephone charges, travel costs, IT support, and licensing from other applications.
The participants were asked in a survey whether they agreed with the various benefit categories. Key MS Teams benefits:
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88% of users stated easier and more secure communicate
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86% of respondents feel MS Teams has better privacy controls
The graphs below highlight that most participants noticed the benefits of using MS Teams.
MS Teams created a work culture where workplace productivity and efficiency were significantly improved from enhanced collaboration through virtual meetings and web-conferencing solution online meetings. Unnecessary face-to-face meetings and emails are eliminated.
Main Competitor: Slack
Slack is an online collaboration tool that is comparable to Microsoft Teams. They are both channel-based messaging platforms. Microsoft Teams and Slack have been more popular than ever as the work-from-home market increased due to COVID-19.
The free version of Teams in 2018 is comparable to Slack's pricing options.
In comparison, Microsoft Teams is a free add-on for companies that have a subscription to Microsoft 365 Business. In terms of DAUs (Daily Active Users), MS Teams have surpassed Slack in 2018 onwards.
CUBE ANALYSIS
Market Focus:
Microsoft Teams is available for K-12 public schools, higher education, corporate market. However, this report's market focus is on public schools (K-12).
Types of Offerings:
Microsoft Teams is cloud-based collaboration software and an e-learning platform.
Buyer:
A diverse set of buyers which is reflective of their target markets. In public schools, districts will pay for a Microsoft license depending on the number of users (administration staff, teachers, support staff, students, and parents).
Global Target:
Microsoft Teams reaches a global market worldwide. Since changing languages is possible, MS Teams can be used anywhere with internet access. Translation tools for messages received in multiple languages and international calling create a global demand as users is able to converse in multiple languages.
Market Status:
With the rise of remote and online learning, educational platforms such as Team will become more important. COVID made unprecedented changes in the field of education. For instance, the global response and demand for online and blended learning increased substantially.