Microsoft Teams change means free users can’t transfer data to new free option

Microsoft Corp.’s enterprise communication platform Groups has grown rapidly over the previous couple of years, pushed partly by the COVID-19 pandemic, however a brand new change to the service shall be poorly obtained by some prospects.

Microsoft announced yesterday that it was retiring Groups Free (basic) on April 12 and really helpful that customers improve to a paid model of Groups to proceed accessing their chats, recordsdata groups and assembly knowledge. That in itself could also be a considerably controversial transfer however what got here subsequent is arguably weird – Microsoft can also be launching a brand new model known as Microsoft Groups (free) however customers can’t switch their present knowledge from Groups Free (basic) to Groups (free).

Noting that the naming nomenclature is considerably weird in itself, Home windows Central reports that the one technique to transfer chat, recordsdata, groups and conferences created in Groups Free (basic) is to transition to both the Groups Important plan, which prices $4 per person per thirty days or a Microsoft 365 Enterprise Primary Plan that prices $6 per person per thirty days.

Firms that both don’t wish to pay or can’t afford to pay to improve can join the brand new Microsoft Groups (free), however there isn’t any technique to import their present knowledge from Group Free (basic) until they manually save recordsdata after which save them in Groups (free).

The requirement to change to a paid model of Groups to retain firm knowledge comes as many establishments are reducing prices and employees because of the broader macroeconomic scenario. Whereas little question some firms will change to the paid model and Microsoft is probably going relying on that, not all firms could have the posh of having the ability to afford to take action.

The shortcoming to switch the info additionally raises questions on knowledge possession and siloed knowledge.

“A walled backyard holding your knowledge to ransom – is anybody actually shocked?” Matthew Hodgson, the co-founder of open supply mission Matrix and chief govt officer of safe communications supplier Element, informed SiliconANGLE. “That is the age-old situation with utilizing proprietary centralized platforms like Groups; you’re beholden to the seller. All of your eggs are in a single basket and now the basket has modified its phrases and circumstances.”

Hodgson means that Microsoft’s actions could also be a basic case of bait and change, saying that “in a rush to reply to the pandemic, firms have been lured onto a free – bundled – product now rebadged as Groups Free (basic). It’s a basic certainly. The outdated, ‘make it free, lock ‘em in, then cost ‘em to maintain their knowledge’ basic that monopolies hold repeating.”

“There’s a distinction between ‘don’t be evil’ and ‘can’t be evil,’” Hodgson added. “Microsoft in the course of the pandemic was all ‘let’s bundle a free product out of the goodness of our hearts’ and is now taking its alternative to cost locked-in customers.”

Picture: Microsoft