Microsoft Teams has finally broken down one of its last major blocks to world domination

Microsoft has announced (opens in new tab) a supported version of its video conferencing app which is now available in China through its local partner, 21Vianet.

While Microsoft Teams has been a staple for many video callers in the People’s Republic, it has required a complex workaround to work with the country’s unique Internet architecture, often requiring a risky VPN connection.

But in a blog post on the Chinese version of Microsoft’s website, the new 21Vianet-distributed Teams is described as a “global-connected, and local-operated” solution.

Microsoft Teams is now supported in China

It’s hard to imagine life without Microsoft Teams, given how much we’ve relied on it, and its alternatives, since the pandemic. However, it’s a fairly recent addition to the company’s portfolio, as of early 2017, so the fact that a China-specific version hasn’t arrived until now isn’t all that surprising.

That said, having trailed behind local competition for many years, it’s unlikely that Teams will prove as much of a hit as other external companies have, like Tesla. 

Western sanctions on China also raise questions about whether it will prove as much of a hit when it comes to multinational business operations, with the nation instead looking to do business with new partners.

Its availability through 21Vianet (opens in new tab) – the country’s exclusive distributor of Azure and Microsoft 365, allows the platform to satisfy local and government stipulations with regard to data security and personal information, however the blog post indicates that this is indeed the full version of Teams with video and voice calls, instant messaging, and connection with third-party apps.

Besides a handful of tweaks here and there, new announcements regarding Teams have been fairly thin on the ground recently, while key rival Google continues to focus on the education sector with its tool, Meet. However, with so many studies showing that remote work is here to stay, updates to hybrid working tools and expansions to more markets can only be a good thing.

• Need to bypass restrictions? Check out the best business VPN options

Via The Register (opens in new tab)