Microsoft's Copilot Chat, Google's and Zoom's stride with AI and more....

Hello all,

Welcome to the 96th edition of the weekly digital workplace and Future of Work newsletter. AI-related announcements dominated the past week, especially in the collaboration space. Let's have a look.

End-user technology

ControlUp introduces ControlUp ONE platform

ControlUp announced strong results in 2024 and a new platform. More details here:

The record results were particularly attributed to partner-driven channels. ControlUp invested in improving its partner ecosystem significantly last year and clearly, it has paid off. Also, regarding the new platform ControlUp, it looks promising. It combines Secure DX (announced last year), Edge DX and Realtime DX solutions. In addition, ControlUp continues to offer its EdgeDX (for physical endpoints) and VDIDaaS (ControlUp's strongest area) solutions separately as well. This is a good structure to address clients priorities w.r.t. ControlUp, whether its virtual desktop management or physical endpoints or all in one.

Citrix announces new partnership with Arrow for SMB segment

Citrix announced it has formed a new partnership with 艾睿电子 to target SMB and mid-market clients in North America and Europe. More details here:

Citrix and Arrow signed a partnership for CSP distribution in these regions in August last year. This new partnership strengthens Arrow and Citrix's reach to SMBs and mid-market clients. Citrix has been working towards improving its licensing and acquiring firms since last year. Citrix's recent acquisitions including deviceTRUST, Strong Network and uberAgent, all have good client base in this segment.

AI in future of work

Microsoft introduces Copilot Chat

微软 made (yet another) new announcement regarding Copilot. More details here:

Now, I must admit I was a bit confused about Microsoft 365 versus Copilot versus Copilot Chat and how they differ from each other. After a bit more research, I realized that Bing enterprise search is now called Copilot Chat. Microsoft is realizing that while AI has immense potential, enterprises still need to adopt it, and cost is really a prohibitive factor. We found the same in our voice of customer research at ISG. Copilot Chat is for clients that want to start small with AI and then gradually scale to Microsoft 365 Copilot (there was a logo and branding change as well, did you notice? They just added "365" underneath the Copilot logo!). Also, the pricing structure for Copilot Chat is a bit weird and depends on the "messages" or responses, with each response costing 1 cent. I found this pricing way too complicated, and the consumption rate with messages was too low as the usage of autonomous agents increased. There is another concern that the big tech is already providing too many options and complicated pricing with AI when the RoI with the tech is not really well defined at the moment. I also came across some messages on LinkedIn where their existing M 365 instance had been changed to a Copilot option without prior notice, and they were finding it challenging to roll it back to the edition they were using (without any AI feature). Some of them are looking for alternatives, especially the SMBs and mid-market clients.

Google provides AI with Workspace at no additional cost

Speaking of alternatives, 谷歌 announced that it will provide AI free for all its Google Workspace users after a marginal increase of $2 per user per month in the pricing. More details here:

This is a great way to retain customers, increase confidence and let clients proceed with AI at their own pace. However, I didn't see the option to create a customized AI agent within Workspace.

Slack brings Agentforce

One company that may have a comparatively smoother ride with a chat-based AI interface will be Slack , which announced this week that it has integrated Agentforce capability within its platform. More details here:

Agentforce could be a way for Slack to reclaim its role as the vendor revolutionizing the digital workplace and collaboration. I expect Slack users to contribute better differentiating examples of agentic AI usage.

Zoom enhances Zoom Team Chat

Continuing with chat-based AI enhancements, Zoom announced enhancements to Zoom Team Chat. More details here:

Zoom's progress with AI is worth noting. How it transformed from just being a video conferencing solution to a complete workplace solution vendor, how it integrated AI companion within its platform, added the capabilities within its own productivity solution portfolio, and, most importantly, provided AI Companion without additional cost for its users. The new chat interface simplifies the design, and the associated AI chat helps users come up to speed with key AI-generated updates based on conversations and meetings.

That's all for the week, folks. Please feel free to share your thoughts and feedback in the comments and share the newsletter with anyone you think would be interested in the content. Thank you so much for your consistent support!

Thanks

-M