What We Do Who We Serve How We Engage What We Know Case Studies About Us Careers Contact Us Part One: The Viva 'Trail System' March 2021 | Insights from the CEO I live in a place with beautiful mountains and rivers that is inhabited by people who love to hike, climb, bike, fish and camp. There are fantastic trails, trail heads, maps, signage and related amenities that have been developed over time to help people get to those mountains and rivers. These have been connected in a coherent network called the 'Main Street to the Mountains' trail system. One can (literally) start walking from the center of town and within minutes get to a trail that will lead to another trail, that will take you to almost any river or mountain in the surrounding valley. This trail system didn't, of course, create the mountains or the rivers - it just made it possible for many people to get to and spend time in them. As we've been learning about Viva, we've increasingly referred to it by using this trail system metaphor. Viva isn't a new system or app, rather it's a set of (digital) 'trails' that connect existing parts of the M365 ecosystem, making those existing places both easier to find and easier to get back and forth from. Connections is a trail (and some new amenities) to existing home and related sites and to existing highly refreshed Communities and Teams. Learning is a trail (and some new amenities) to existing internal and external learning repositories. Topics is a trail (plus signage, guidebook and AI-assisted advice) to the emerging Cortex knowledge topics. Insights is like the smart watch many of us now have that measures what we're doing, where we're going and how that all affects our well-being. (In fact my Samsung watch right now is suggesting I get away from this keyboard and take a walk! But before I do let me finish the thought.) Teams is then of course the ‘main street’ where we spend most of our time and to which we return. The value of Viva is like the value of the trail system. The trail system didn't create new mountains or rivers - it just made it much easier for more people to find and benefit from what was already there. Viva isn't a new set of places - it just makes it much easier for more people find and benefit from places that already exist in the ecosystem. You can read and watch more about it here. Ok, so now I'm going to accept the insight from my watch and get up and take a walk... If you would like to continue this discussion on Microsoft Viva, use the Contact Us button at the top of the page or reach out to us at info@realfoundations.net. Back to All CEO Insights What is a Digital Workplace? Part Five: The Viva Topics 'Trail' Part Four: The Viva Insights Smart Activity Tracker Part Three: The Viva Learning 'Trail' Part Two: The Viva Connections 'Trail' Authored by: Chris Shaida, CEO and Co-founder, RealFoundations About the Author Chris Shaida is an Enterprise Managing Consultant and founder of RealFoundations. Mr. Shaida founded RealFoundations to provide a place where like-minded professionals are able focus their deep industry and solution knowledge and passion to help improve the operations of our real estate industry and corporate real estate clients. About RealFoundations RealFoundations is the world's foremost professional services firm focused solely on the real estate industry. Through our delivery of Management Consulting and Managed Services, we help companies that develop, own, operate, service or invest in real estate make better, more profitable decisions. We are proud partners to over 450 real estate companies around the globe, providing accelerated solutions that solve real estate's most complex challenges. We Make Real Estate Run Better. Share COVID-19 Info Join Our Mailing List Dallas 13737 Noel Rd Suite 900 Dallas, TX 75240 +1 214 292 7000 New York 1411 Broadway 16th Floor New York, NY 10018 +1 212 750 9550 Orange County 18565 Jamboree Road Suite 540 Irvine, CA 92612 +1 949 258 4000 Chennai RF Managed Services India Pvt. Ltd. Regus Chennai Office Centre Pvt. Ltd. 3rd Floor, Shyamala Towers No: 136, Arcot Road, Saligramam Chennai- 600093 Tamil Nadu, India +91 44 6686 4544 Hong Kong Level 27, World Wide House 19 Des Voeux Road Central Central, Hong Kong +852 2810 5200 London RealFoundations Ltd. Finsgate 5-7 Cranwood Street London, EC1V 9EE +44 (0)20 7740 3260 Registered in England and Wales Registered Number 05786273 Melbourne 203-205 Blackburn Road Mount Waverley VIC 3149 +61 3 9847 6844 Singapore 1 Sophia Road #05-03 Peace Centre Singapore 228149 +65 6550 9776 © 2021 Real Foundation, Inc.