Through the partnership, Mesh for Microsoft Teams will be brought to Meta Quest devices, Microsoft 365 apps will be available on Meta Quest devices, and Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory will support Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2.
These update aims to help people gather virtually in the place where work happens on any device, as well as enabling people to interact with content from productivity apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and SharePoint within VR.
In addition, IT administrators will be able to provision Quest devices for users with a Quest for Business subscription from Meta, providing security and management options for VR that are in line with what is possible on PCs and mobile devices.
Bola Rotibi, chief of enterprise research at CCS Insight, put this announcement into context. He said, “Meta’s partnership with Microsoft is hugely significant given how pervasive Microsoft products are in the workplace. We expect this will be a catalyst for many companies to dip a toe in the water on how virtual and augmented reality technology can be used in everyday business.”
“These announcements underline Zuckerberg’s determination to make the metaverse a credible domain for the enterprise. It’s an important next step given most of the population automatically associate virtual reality with gaming and consumer applications.”
Writing on Microsoft’s blog, Jeff Teper, the company’s president of collaborative apps and platforms, stated, “our approach to workplace productivity and collaboration is to ensure the software experiences we deliver can benefit users on all their favourite devices.”
He added, “All of this advances our efforts to build the foundations of a responsible metaverse, with security, compliance and enterprise-grade experiences as foundational to how we will continue to unlock new possibilities for the future of work.”
CCS Insight’s Rotibi also commented on the company’s enhanced productivity features. He explained, “The improvements to Meta’s Workrooms productivity features have come a long way. There are now more relatable use cases that will help lower the barriers to entry for some users. Meta will hope the prospect of working in this way will become more appealing as the experience develops.”
In the future, Windows 365 will be available on Meta Quest devices, with the ability to stream a Windows Cloud PC including personalised apps, content and settings.