Is The Workplace App on Borrowed Time?
With Microsoft Places moving from concept to reality, you have to wonder if the ground is shifting beneath the entire proptech landscape.
For years, dedicated apps have owned the niche of desk booking, meeting room management, and wayfinding. So, is Microsoft just entering the market, or leveraging its biggest advantage – the ecosystem – to redefine it entirely?
Places isn't just another app; it feels like a platform designed to fundamentally challenge the incumbent solutions.
But how real is the threat?
1. App-Switching - a Thing of the Past?
The most significant challenge seems to be its seamless integration. Places will live where employees already work: Microsoft Teams and Outlook. Will the minor friction of opening a separate app be enough to push users away, especially when they can book a desk or find a colleague directly within a calendar invite?
2. Is This True Intelligence?
Beyond simple booking, the promise of Microsoft 365 Copilot powering the experience is compelling. Can it truly deliver on suggesting the right space by analysing calendars, project teams, and meeting objectives? Will we see a genuine shift from reactive booking to a proactive, intelligent experience?
3. Will Consolidated Data Win Out?
For Corporate Real Estate (CRE) and Facilities leaders, the value proposition looks immense. But can Places genuinely merge space utilisation data with collaboration data from Teams and productivity patterns from Viva to offer that single, holistic view of how our workspace is really being used?
4. Can Anyone Compete with the 'Good Enough' Bundled Solution?
When a powerful solution is bundled into an existing Microsoft enterprise licence, it creates an enormous economic incentive to consolidate. Will the question for IT and CRE leaders soon become, "Why should we pay for a separate system when this is already part of our stack?"
So, is it game over? Surely not. Specialised providers have deep expertise and bespoke hardware integrations. But the challenge is undeniable. The value proposition must now evolve beyond simply booking a desk.
The next 18 months will certainly be fascinating to watch.
Will specialisation win, or will the all-in-one platform dominate the workplace tech space?
These are precisely the strategic questions we're exploring with our clients.
At Nu Xform, our focus is on helping organisations navigate this evolving landscape, ensuring your workplace technology strategy is ready for whatever comes next.