Facebook has agreed to a deal with Microsoft which will give its employees access to Office 365 for internal collaboration.
The social network’s 13,000 employees will now be able to use some portions of Office 365, including its web-based email and calendar services. Before this move, they previously used on-premise Exchange-based solution.
However, access will be limited to other services from Office 365 including Skype and Yammer, as those services compete directly with Facebook’s services like Facebook for Work and Facebook Messenger.
Meanwhile, Facebook described email as “inherently top-down” compared to the collaborative nature of its own services like Facebook at Work, a workplace version of its social network platform.
Facebook at Work was introduced last year and it enables Facebook employees to send and receive information and content across the familiar web user interface. The said service is equipped with security and administration features for corporate technology managers.
Tim Campos, Facebook chief information officer, said in an interview that Facebook at Work will be utilized internally, but email still has its place.
Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Office 365 client applications, said that email will retain its position but its use has evolved.
(Photo Source: Facebook employees are moving to Office 365 (evolveip.net)
