A practical plain-English guide to Microsoft Viva — covering all six modules, licensing, and whether it's the right fit for your Perth business.
What Is Microsoft Viva? A Plain-English Guide for Australian Businesses
Microsoft Viva is built into the Microsoft 365 you already pay for — but most businesses have never turned it on. Here's what it actually does, module by module, and whether your team will benefit from it.
The employee experience platform hiding in your Microsoft 365
Microsoft Viva is an employee experience platform built directly inside Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365. It's not a separate app you install or a standalone subscription you have to budget for — most of it is already part of the Microsoft 365 licence your business is paying for right now.
Think of Viva as a collection of six tools, each solving a specific workplace challenge: keeping people connected, building company culture, understanding team wellbeing, making learning accessible, aligning everyone to business goals, and getting important messages to actually reach people.
Individually, each module is useful. Together, they create a digital workplace where your team is better informed, better connected, and less likely to burn out — without having to leave Teams.
Viva Connections, Viva Engage, and the personal version of Viva Insights are included at no extra cost in Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, and Business Premium. You're likely already paying for them — they just haven't been switched on.
Six tools. One platform. All inside Teams.
Microsoft Viva is made up of six distinct modules. Each one solves a different workplace problem — and they all live inside Microsoft Teams so your team doesn't need to switch between apps.
Lives inside Microsoft Teams & Microsoft 365
What each module actually does
Here's an honest, plain-English breakdown of every Viva module — what it solves, what's included, and who it's best suited for.
Your company intranet — inside Teams
Viva Connections brings your company intranet directly into Microsoft Teams. Employees get a personalised dashboard with company news, HR updates, policies, and links to the tools they use most — all without leaving Teams.
- Branded home base inside Microsoft Teams
- Personalised news feed and announcements
- Quick access to HR portals, IT helpdesks, and tools
- Mobile-first — great for deskless or field workers
- Connects SharePoint content to Teams seamlessly
The internal social network your team will actually use
Viva Engage is Microsoft's enterprise social networking tool — think LinkedIn, but private and just for your organisation. Teams share updates, celebrate wins, ask questions, and build community across departments.
- Community groups based on interests, projects, or teams
- Storyline — a personal feed for each employee
- Leadership Corner — executive communications and town halls
- Virtual events: town halls and Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions
- Scales from 10 to 100,000+ employees
Data-driven wellbeing and productivity analytics
Viva Insights analyses how your team works — meeting loads, focus time, after-hours activity, and collaboration patterns — then surfaces private, actionable suggestions to improve wellbeing and reduce burnout.
- Personal insights: focus time, email habits, wellbeing check-ins
- Manager insights: how your team is tracking, no individual data exposed
- Leader insights: organisation-wide trends and culture metrics
- AI-powered 'Briefing emails' to start the day with priorities
- Privacy-first — individual data is never visible to managers
Training your team will find — not lose
Viva Learning brings training content directly into Microsoft Teams so employees can learn in the flow of work. It connects Microsoft Learn, LinkedIn Learning, and your own internal content into a single searchable hub.
- Microsoft Learn and Microsoft 365 training library built in
- LinkedIn Learning, Pluralsight, Cornerstone integrations
- Upload your own internal training content
- Managers can assign and track learning progress
- Recommendations based on role and interests
Everyone aligned — from the exec team to the front desk
Viva Goals brings OKR-style goal management (Objectives and Key Results) into Microsoft Teams. It links individual work to team goals, and team goals to company strategy — so everyone can see how their work contributes to the bigger picture.
- Set company, team, and individual OKRs in Teams
- Real-time progress tracking with visual dashboards
- Connects to Microsoft Planner, Azure DevOps, Jira, and more
- Check-ins and status updates without leaving Teams
- Keeps remote and hybrid teams aligned on priorities
Internal campaigns that actually reach people
Viva Amplify is Microsoft's internal communications campaign tool. It lets HR, marketing, or leadership teams publish a single message across email, Teams, and SharePoint simultaneously — then measure how far it actually reached.
- Create and publish campaigns across email, Teams, and SharePoint
- Editorial calendar for scheduling communications in advance
- Reach and engagement analytics — see who read what
- Writing suggestions and sentiment analysis powered by AI
- Designed for HR, comms teams, and leadership announcements
Does your business actually need Microsoft Viva?
Honest answer: not every module is useful for every business. Here's how to think about it by team size and situation.
1–20 employees
For small teams, the free modules are worth switching on — especially Viva Connections (your intranet in Teams) and Viva Engage (company-wide chat and announcements). They cost nothing extra and remove the need for separate tools.
- Viva Connections — yes, free and useful
- Viva Engage — yes, replaces scattered group chats
- Viva Insights (personal) — yes, helps individuals
- Viva Learning — worth exploring
- Viva Goals / Amplify — probably not yet
20–100 employees
This is the sweet spot for Viva. You're large enough to have internal communication problems, team culture challenges, and training gaps — and Viva solves all three without adding more apps to your stack.
- All free modules — absolutely
- Viva Insights (manager) — high ROI
- Viva Learning — great for upskilling
- Viva Goals — connects strategy to teams
- Viva Amplify — HR and leadership comms
100+ employees
At this scale, Viva becomes a core part of your digital workplace strategy. Wellbeing analytics, structured internal comms, and OKR alignment are no longer nice-to-haves — they directly impact retention and performance.
- Full Viva Suite strongly recommended
- Viva Insights (leader) — essential for HR/exec
- Viva Amplify — critical for consistent comms
- Viva Goals — strategy alignment at scale
- Consider a phased rollout module by module
If you have fewer than 10 people and everyone sits in the same office, Viva probably won't change your day-to-day. But if your team is hybrid, remote, spread across locations, or growing fast — Viva solves real problems that show up as meeting overload, missed announcements, unclear priorities, and quiet burnout.
What's free and what costs extra
Three of the six Viva modules are included in standard Microsoft 365 plans at no extra cost. The remaining modules are available individually or as part of the Viva Suite bundle.
| Module | Included in | Standalone cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viva Connections | M365 Business Basic+ | Free | Included in most M365 plans |
| Viva Engage | M365 Business Basic+ | Free | Included in most M365 plans |
| Viva Insights (Personal) | M365 Business Basic+ | Free | Personal insights included free |
| Viva Insights (Manager/Leader) | Viva Suite | ~$12/user/mo | Requires premium licence |
| Viva Learning | Viva Suite | ~$4/user/mo | Basic included; premium for LMS integrations |
| Viva Goals | Viva Suite | ~$6/user/mo | Part of Viva Suite bundle |
| Viva Amplify | Viva Suite | Included | Included with SharePoint Premium |
Pricing shown in AUD estimates based on Microsoft's published USD pricing as of April 2026. Contact StartCloud for current Australian pricing and volume discounts.
How StartCloud helps you get Viva working
Microsoft Viva is powerful but it doesn't configure itself. Getting the right modules switched on, integrated with your SharePoint, and adopted by your team takes planning. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner based in Perth, we've helped businesses across Western Australia unlock the Microsoft 365 value they're already paying for.
Microsoft 365 Health Check
We audit your current Microsoft 365 environment and identify which Viva modules are available under your existing licence — no surprises.
Quick Wins First
We start with the free modules (Connections, Engage, Insights) so your team sees value fast before committing to any additional spend.
SharePoint Integration
Viva Connections needs SharePoint to work well. We build or tidy up your intranet so the experience your team sees is clean and useful.
Privacy Configuration
Viva Insights handles sensitive wellbeing data. We configure privacy controls so individuals feel safe and managers get actionable insights — not surveillance.
Change Management & Training
New tools don't get adopted on their own. We run tailored training sessions and create a rollout plan that brings your team along.
Ongoing Support
As part of our Microsoft 365 managed service, we manage updates, monitor adoption, and evolve your Viva setup as your business grows.
References
- Microsoft Viva — Official Product Page
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-viva - Microsoft Learn — Microsoft Viva Overview
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/microsoft-viva-overview - Microsoft Learn — Viva Connections Overview
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/connections/viva-connections-overview - Microsoft Learn — Viva Engage Overview
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/engage/overview - Microsoft Learn — Viva Insights Overview
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/insights/introduction - Microsoft Learn — Viva Learning Overview
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/learning/overview-viva-learning - Microsoft Learn — Viva Goals Overview
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/goals/intro-to-ms-viva-goals - Microsoft Learn — Viva Amplify Overview
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/amplify/overview-viva-amplify - What's New in Microsoft Viva — March 2026
https://teams.handsontek.net/2026/04/06/whats-new-microsoft-viva-march-2026/ - Microsoft Viva Suite Enterprise Guide 2026 — EPC Group
https://www.epcgroup.net/blog/microsoft-viva-suite-enterprise-guide
Document prepared April 2026 by StartCloud (Start Technologies Pty Ltd). Information is current as of the date of preparation and is subject to change as Microsoft continues to evolve the Viva platform.