What you need to know
- Microsoft officially rebranded Yammer to Viva Engage.
- All platforms under Yammer will now be under Viva Engage.
- This change won’t impact Yammer URLs and APIs until the end of this year.
- Microsoft will hold a virtual event highlighting the next steps after the rebrand next month.
During Microsoft’s Inspire event last year, the company announced its plans to expand Microsoft Viva with a new Engage module integrated into Microsoft Teams to enhance networking and the flow of communication within an organization.
The module hit broad availability featuring many features such as a Communities Hub, Storyline, Stories, and more. Following these changes to the platform, Microsoft announced that it would transition Yammer to Viva Engage.
And on June 29, 2023, Microsoft officially closed the curtains on the Yammer web experience and is now clocking a new dawn with Viva Engage, which sports a modern and refreshed look.
The Yammer web and desktop apps have finally changed to ✨Viva Engage✨The apps have had small tweaks to their appearance, including the branding and name, but otherwise still function the same. pic.twitter.com/mn7vm7Nlg5June 29, 2023
That said, the change will cut across all Yammer-branded platforms. That is, Yammer SharePoint webpart, Yammer Embed, Outlook notifications, and Yammer mobile app are now under Viva Engage.
Notably, Microsoft has indicated that Yammer URLs and APIs won’t implement this change immediately, but it should be in full effect by the end of this year. But you’ll be automatically redirected to the new Viva Engage address whenever you click these links.
This also applies to Outlook notifications, as Yammer will still be featured in them. However, the emails will be displayed as Viva Engage.
Yammer will still be shown as the email sender for Outlook notifications, but the actual emails will be shown as Viva Engage. To that effect, Microsoft has indicated that:
When existing Yammer Desktop PWA users open the app, they’ll get a prompt asking them to reinstall the app. Users will have to click “OK” and the app will reinstall and renamed to “Viva Engage (Yammer)”.
Microsoft
The company has also indicated that there might be instances where the prompt doesn’t display the Engage logo. Instead, it will still feature the Yammer logo. Microsoft recommends users uninstall and reinstall the app in such instances.
Next month, Microsoft is set to hold a virtual event dubbed Viva Engage and Yammer Rebranding: What’s Next on July 11, 2023, at 9:00 AM PT, where we expect it to walk us through the next phase of the transition and perhaps new features and capabilities that might be on the way.
