Mio enables cross-platform collaboration through partnership with Google Workspace and SADA

I’m delighted to announce the general availability of Mio’s cross-platform collaboration solution for Google Workspace. 

The coexistence of Google Workspace alongside Microsoft 365 or Slack is very common in large organizations. Our partnership with Google means that Workspace users can now collaborate with colleagues regardless of which app they use.

In addition, I’m thrilled to announce Mio’s partnership with SADA, the cloud solutions provider for Google Workspace customers. Together, Mio and SADA will deliver a powerful combination of software and services designed specifically for organizations with hybrid collaboration environments.  

To celebrate our partnership, I will be participating in a breakout session at the Google Cloud Next ‘24 conference in Las Vegas this week. Along with John Veltri, Managing Sales Director for SADA, and Linda Huang, Strategic Partner Development for Google Cloud, we’ll dive into how Mio is bridging the collaboration gap with Google Workspace and SADA. 

Why cross-platform collaboration? 

Almost all large organizations, if they have more than a few thousand users, use multiple collaboration tools for internal communication. It’s not uncommon for companies to have some users on Google Workspace and some users on Microsoft Teams.

What’s the problem with this scenario? It’s siloed collaboration. 

To date, these users have been unable to collaborate with each other unless they’re using the same productivity suite. Historically, Google Chat users have been limited to communicating with other Google Chat users. The same goes for Microsoft Teams users, Slack users, or any other collaboration users. 

The fact that Google Chat users have no way to communicate with colleagues who use Microsoft Teams poses a huge challenge for enterprise IT leaders. The inability to collaborate across platforms is not only bad for productivity – missed messages, delayed responses, and miscommunication are all associated symptoms – but also negatively impacts the employee experience. 

Enter Mio, the only native interoperability solution for communication between Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Slack. 

Pieces of the cross-platform puzzle 

To unblock siloed communications and boost user productivity, Mio enables four elements of cross-platform collaboration. 

The first is chat interoperability, enabling Google, Microsoft, and Slack users to exchange real-time direct messages with each other. 

The second is cross-platform channel communication, enabling users to collaborate across platforms on a company-wide scale. 

The third is the ability to synchronize user identities. Identity management plays a key role in maintaining an organized workspace. Mio’s Directory Sync feature maintains an always updated, bidirectional user directory to represent your workforce across Google and Microsoft, making them discoverable by colleagues for cross-platform communication. Teams can stay connected without placing an additional burden on IT administrators.

Finally, Mio enables users to share files with users on different platforms. File sharing is critical in the modern workplace, a key tool to facilitate productivity. 

You may ask why an organization might be using multiple collaboration tools. After all, it seems easier to simply choose one tool and stick to it. 

A persistent need for interoperability 

There are three primary reasons that organizations are unable to consolidate all users onto a single platform. The first is Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). 

Each year, there are over one thousand mega-mergers that cost enterprises over a billion dollars. But, pulling together two separate enterprises means dealing with two separate chat ecosystems. It’s likely that the acquired company does not use the same chat platforms as their new parent organization.  

In the context of post-acquisition IT integration, a forced migration is a nightmare for IT departments and end users alike. It is much more desirable for IT leaders to choose a period of coexistence after an M&A transaction closes. 

A second reason for a multi-vendor collaboration environment is frontline workers. It is not uncommon for us to see frontline workers using Google Chat in order to collaborate with their knowledge worker colleagues on Microsoft Teams. 

Finally, there are many large organizations – particularly multinationals, joint ventures, and federated organizations like universities – where different business units or lines of business are committed to using different tools. This fragmentation tends to be long-term and caters directly to the different needs of each department. While commendable for prioritizing the employee experience, challenges arise when communication between departments grinds to a platform-confined halt. 

Mio: the only native interoperability solution

So what does cross-platform communication actually look like?

In the following video demo, you’ll see how a Google Chat user natively collaborates with a colleague on Microsoft Teams. 

All basic chat functionality is supported cross platform. Sending and receiving messages are a given, but the capacity to edit, delete, and send rich text formatted messages is also supported by Mio’s integration. 

Threaded replies can be posted in Google Chat and received as threaded replies in Microsoft Teams, and vice versa. The same goes for emojis, reactions, sharing files and images, @mentioning colleagues on different platforms, and third-party integrations like Giphy. 

Designed with security in mind 

When considering an interoperability solution for your organization, there is nothing more important than security.

To ensure the security of your data, Mio is not storing any of your message or file content. Your data is stored by Google, and by Microsoft, but not by Mio.

Built with security at front of mind, all user data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Mio is SOC 2 Type II certified, GDPR compliant, and adheres to the CCPA framework.

You can download a full package of security documentation in our Security Center. 

Conclusion

The Mio team has been hard at work over the past two years to turn the dream of Google Workspace interoperability with Microsoft 365 and Slack into a reality. I could not be more happy to be embarking on a new era of collaboration with our partners at SADA and Google.

Please visit our website to learn more about how Mio makes Google Workspace interoperable with Microsoft 365 and Slack.