If you use Microsoft 365 in your company, you may have already found a so-called “briefing email” from Microsoft in your inbox and wondered what it was all about.
Microsoft has equipped its well-known cloud platform Microsoft 365 with new functions, which also include a new employee experience platform called “Microsoft Viva”. We would like to explain to you below what this is all about:
WHAT IS MICROSOFT VIVA?
Microsoft Viva brings together communication, expertise, learning, resources and insights for an organization on a common platform and integrates them into every user's daily workflow. For this purpose, Microsoft Viva has four modules, each of which focuses on specific focus topics:
VIVA TOPICS
Topics that are relevant to your own activities
VIVA INSIGHTS
Recommendations for organizing your own activities
VIVA CONNECTIONS
Better collaboration with colleagues
VIVA LEARNING
Employee training to build knowledge
WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN BRIEFING EMAILS AND MICROSOFT VIVA
In the case of the briefing emails already mentioned, it is a service from the Microsoft Viva Insights module, which analyzes certain information in your Exchange Online mailbox with the help of artificial intelligence. The information is then aggregated based on the analysis result into individual insights and recommendations to support your productivity and well-being while working. These results are sent to the relevant users in the form of an email, among other things.
HOW DOES MICROSOFT VIVA AFFECT MICROSOFT 365 SUBSCRIPTION USERS?
Some of the features of Microsoft Viva Insights are included in certain Microsoft 365 subscriptions. In practice, it can be observed that Microsoft's function is activated automatically by default, but activation for customers has apparently occurred or will continue to occur gradually.
CAN MICROSOFT VIVA BE USED IN A DATA PROTECTION COMPLIANCE?
This question cannot currently be answered clearly due to the legal situation in the USA: Even if Microsoft itself declares that Microsoft Viva Insights meets the requirements of the GDPR, Microsoft, as a company based in the USA, is obliged to comply with the laws applicable there. This may require the company to disclose personal data to investigative authorities and secret services, which is why complete data protection compliance cannot be guaranteed. Nevertheless, Microsoft 365 is now considered the standard solution, which is why the prevailing opinion is that the risk associated with using Microsoft 365 is manageable. Nevertheless, we recommend that those responsible think intensively about the issue of data protection if you are considering using Microsoft 365.
IS PERSONAL DATA SAFE IN MICROSOFT VIVA?
According to the provider, Microsoft Viva Insights meets the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Insights and recommendations from Microsoft Viva Insights in conjunction with a Microsoft 365 subscription without additional extensions are only accessible to the respective users, but not to supervisors and administrators . Microsoft also provides a comprehensive data protection agreement (DPA) and offers security measures such as: B. Transport encryption, data encryption at rest and data processing in European data centers for customers from Europe.
WHAT IS INFORMATION SECURITY?
When it comes to information security, there is currently no clear answer: By using a cloud application such as Microsoft 365, data is always transferred from an organization to the provider's data center via the Internet. In addition, despite encryption, your own data is also processed in the provider's data center. Theoretically, this means that data leaves the company this way and the company must also trust the provider's security measures. Security cannot be guaranteed with regard to the Internet transmission route. Here we recommend that those responsible take a close look at Microsoft's security measures and, if necessary, consider their own measures such as organizational encryption of files before placing their own data in the hands of the service provider.
