How IT leaders and MSPs can help enterprises address Microsoft teams sprawl

Remote operations become the new norm for many businesses, reliance on Microsoft 365 and its workplace-collaboration platform Microsoft Teams has skyrocketed. In a survey of CFOs and finance leaders, Gartner reports that 74% of companies plan to shift some of their employees to remote working permanently.

This year, Microsoft reported Teams reached 250 million monthly active users, increasing from its previous reported milestone of 145 million daily active users in April 2021.

The widespread adoption may be a welcome sign for companies using this technology. But with the increased Teams adoption, a new challenge is arising: Teams user data sprawl.

In the push for quickly enabling remote operations, many companies deployed Teams without implementing governance rules and regulations, which became a secondary consideration. Now, many companies find themselves retroactively trying to manage the sprawl of data.

Defining teams sprawl

In a nutshell, Microsoft Teams sprawl is the uncontrolled overflow of unused, outdated, duplicated or irrelevant data within a Teams environment. Sprawl is often the result of a lack of policy or administrative enforcement for managing content within a Teams environment.

For instance, users may create channels or teams that are single-use or aren’t actively used, or they may save data in multiple places that include private chats, making it harder to find the most current version of a file.

Additionally, for companies planning a merger or acquisition, failing to appropriately consolidate and control the data in a migration can interfere with a seamless and successful integration of data, starting off the merger in precarious circumstances.

The problems sprawl creates

The sprawl of data can cause myriad issues for organizations; one of the biggest problems is confusion to end users. If multiple access points for data exist in your digital environment, or if there is a misuse of teams and channels, it will interfere with users accessing the information they need when they need it, hindering productivity.

A sprawl could potentially lead users to outdated information if multiple files exist, which can result in miscommunication internally and externally with partners or customers. A nightmare scenario is “content chaos,” where no one is sure where to find anything.

Similarly, if users are confused with how to use Teams and begin saving all their documents on their personal workstations, it further muddles the path toward the “source of truth” and eliminates the collaborative aspect that Teams should produce.

Finally, Teams sprawl can present serious data security issues. Suppose users are allowed to create numerous channels with varying access levels and that include guest users. Some users may not be aware of guest access.

If membership isn’t appropriately managed for those teams and channels, the wrong people might access sensitive, internal information they otherwise shouldn’t have, which can result in data leaks.

Steps for preventing sprawl

There are several steps that organizations can take to mitigate Teams sprawl. The first is to identify key stakeholders in your company to own and manage stopping sprawl from occurring by implementing effective governance policies.

This might include developing training plans for end users and developing best practices around Teams usage. It could be a designated channel for “Teams tips and tricks” that includes a forum for FAQs and answering user questions.

Next, on the IT side, native tools that Microsoft provides to help manage your Teams environment.  This can help with setting policies around the creation and management of Microsoft 365 groups.

Finally, establish moderators for teams and channels who can access all the data and moderate data as it comes in or gets deleted.

Given the rising adoption of Microsoft Teams, it can seem unavoidable that Teams sprawl will occur. For shrewd business leaders, the payoff is in being prepared to manage a sprawl of user data before it begins.

With careful planning, organizations can implement an effective plan to mitigate Teams sprawl before it becomes a problem, keeping their digital environment in order.

This article has been written by Brad Rosairo, APAC Managing Director, BitTitan