Who Owns Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams was launched on November 2, 2017, by Microsoft as part of its Office 365 productivity suite. The platform was created in response to the growing popularity of Slack, which had been rapidly gaining adoption in enterprise environments since its launch in 2013. Microsoft recognized that workplace communication was shifting from email to real-time messaging and collaboration platforms, and Teams was designed to be Microsoft's comprehensive answer to this trend.

The development of Teams was led by Brian MacDonald and a team of Microsoft engineers who built the platform on Microsoft's existing infrastructure, including SharePoint for file storage, Skype for Business for video calling, and Exchange for calendar integration. This integration with existing Microsoft services was a key strategic advantage, as it allowed Teams to offer a more comprehensive collaboration experience than standalone tools like Slack.

The initial version of Teams combined persistent chat channels, video meetings, file storage, and integration with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote). The platform was designed to serve as a central hub for teamwork, bringing together communication, collaboration, and productivity tools in one interface. Microsoft offered Teams as part of Office 365 subscriptions at no additional cost, which was a significant competitive advantage over Slack's paid model.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Teams gained significant traction in enterprise environments. Microsoft's existing relationships with enterprise IT departments and the inclusion of Teams in Office 365 subscriptions drove rapid adoption. By mid-2019, Teams had surpassed Slack in daily active users, a remarkable achievement given that Slack had a multi-year head start.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was a transformative moment for Teams. As organizations worldwide shifted to remote work virtually overnight, demand for video conferencing and collaboration tools exploded. Teams' daily active users grew from approximately 20 million in November 2019 to 75 million in April 2020, and continued growing to over 270 million monthly active users by 2022.

Microsoft has continued to invest heavily in Teams, adding features including breakout rooms, live captions and transcription, Teams Phone (replacing traditional phone systems), Teams Rooms (conference room hardware), and Copilot AI integration. In 2023, Microsoft began separating Teams from Office 365 in some markets in response to European Union antitrust concerns about bundling.