SharePoint - Power of Viva Connections App Bar

Key insights

• Viva Connections is seamlessly integrated into the SharePoint app bar, providing users with easy access to resources and content from any SharePoint site, enhancing user engagement and productivity.
• The integration offers several advantages, including Enhanced Accessibility, a Unified Experience across platforms like SharePoint and Microsoft Teams, and the display of Personalized Content such as sites, news, files, and lists.
• The SharePoint App Bar, a vertical navigation component in modern SharePoint sites, includes global navigation tabs for quick access to important intranet resources without leaving the SharePoint environment.
• Customization: While specific tabs cannot be disabled, the global navigation can be customized to reflect an organization's intranet structure. The integration requires a configured dashboard and enabled Viva Connections experience on the tenant.
• The rollout of Viva Connections in the SharePoint app bar began in January 2025 with automatic deployment for eligible tenants. This feature enhances synergy between intranet and Viva Connections for a more unified user experience.
• Future Developments: Continuous evolution of Viva Connection experiences will introduce new capabilities and cards to further integrate SharePoint and Viva Connections, improving overall functionality for users.

Introduction to Viva Connections in the SharePoint App Bar

Microsoft has introduced a new feature that integrates Viva Connections into the SharePoint app bar, aiming to enhance user experience by providing a seamless entry point to Viva Connections from any SharePoint site. This integration is designed to strengthen the connection between an organization's intranet and Viva Connections, making it easier for users to access important resources and content.

Overview of Viva Connections

Viva Connections is part of Microsoft's effort to improve user engagement and productivity within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It allows users to navigate to Viva Connections directly from the SharePoint app bar, which is a global navigation component available in modern SharePoint sites. This feature is particularly beneficial for organizations using Viva Connections to create a personalized and interactive intranet experience.

• Enhanced Accessibility: Users can easily access Viva Connections from any SharePoint site, streamlining their workflow and improving productivity.
• Unified Experience: The integration provides a consistent user experience across different platforms, including SharePoint and Teams.
• Personalized Content: The app bar dynamically displays personalized content such as sites, news, files, and lists, making it easier for users to find relevant information.
• Simplified Navigation: The global navigation feature allows users to quickly navigate to important intranet resources without leaving the SharePoint environment.

Basics of the Technology

The SharePoint App Bar is a left-hand vertical navigation component in modern SharePoint sites. It includes tabs for global navigation, sites, news, files, and lists. The new entry point for Viva Connections in the app bar requires a configured and published dashboard and an enabled Viva Connections experience on the tenant. While specific tabs in the app bar cannot be disabled, global navigation can be customized to reflect an organization's intranet structure.

What is New About This Approach?

The recent rollout of Viva Connections in the SharePoint app bar marks a significant enhancement in the integration between SharePoint and Viva Connections. This approach introduces a seamless way for users to access Viva Connections from any SharePoint site, enhancing the overall user experience and productivity.

• Rollout Timeline: The feature began rolling out in mid-January 2025 for Targeted Release and late January 2025 for General Availability, with completion expected by mid-February 2025.
• Automatic Deployment: No admin action is required for the rollout, as it will be automatically deployed to eligible tenants.
• Enhanced Synergy: The integration strengthens the connection between the intranet and Viva Connections, providing a more unified and accessible experience for users.

Overall, the integration of Viva Connections into the SharePoint app bar represents a significant step forward in creating a more cohesive and user-friendly Microsoft 365 environment.

Features and Capabilities

When Viva Connections have been configured in the tenant, there will be easy quick links exposed in the SharePoint app bar to access the Viva Connections experience easily. Initially, the app bar will expose three links as follows:

• Dashboard: This will link to the personalized dashboard in the Viva Connections.
• News: This will directly link to the Viva Connections news experience to easily access the latest updates within the tenant.
• Resources: This will link to the resources section of the Viva Connections landing page.

Viva Connections acts as a company-branded front door to employee experiences that allows them to access important apps, tools, and resources in one place, surfaces the most important news/updates, and enables them to take quick action on work-related tasks.

Future Roadmap and Feedback

The video presentation by Catherine Chuaga and Vesa Juvonen from Microsoft covers the new app bar feature with a live demo and also discusses the future roadmap. Microsoft is continuously evolving the Viva Connection experiences to provide new capabilities and cards for customers to take advantage of. They are exploring multiple other ways to get the SharePoint and Viva Connections experience more closely integrated together.

Microsoft encourages feedback from users, as it drives their internal prioritization. Therefore, they invite users to share their thoughts and questions in the comments section of the video or blog post.

In conclusion, the integration of Viva Connections into the SharePoint app bar is a strategic move by Microsoft to enhance the user experience within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. By providing easy access to personalized content and simplifying navigation, this feature aims to improve productivity and engagement for organizations using Viva Connections.

Keywords

Viva Connections, SharePoint app bar, Microsoft 365, employee engagement, intranet solutions, digital workplace tools, corporate communication platform.