2025 Buyer's Guide: Top Organizational Network Analysis Software for Microsoft 365 Collaboration Data

Introduction

Microsoft 365 collaboration data holds the key to understanding how work truly gets done in your organization. With the average executive spending 23 hours a week in meetings, nearly half of which could be cut without impacting productivity, the need for sophisticated organizational network analysis has never been more critical. (Worklytics)

By 2025, AI-driven features are expected to be fully integrated across Microsoft 365 products, including Word, Excel, and Teams, making the analysis of collaboration patterns even more complex and valuable. (Intradatech) Organizations need robust analytics platforms that can transform raw Microsoft 365 data into actionable insights about team productivity, manager effectiveness, and AI adoption patterns.

This comprehensive buyer's guide evaluates the top organizational network analysis platforms specifically designed for Microsoft 365 environments. We'll examine must-have evaluation criteria including data connectors, real-time dashboards, privacy controls, and AI-ready metrics to help IT and HR leaders choose the right solution for their tenant size and security posture.


The organizational network analysis landscape at a glance

Platform Best for Stand-out feature (2025) Starting price*
Worklytics Privacy-first analytics Real-time AI adoption tracking with 400+ metrics across 25+ integrations Contact for pricing
Microsoft Viva Insights Native M365 integration Built-in wellbeing and productivity insights with AI transformation tracking $6/user/month
Glint (Microsoft) Employee engagement Survey-based insights with collaboration pattern analysis $3-12/user/month
Humanyze Organizational design People analytics with network mapping capabilities Enterprise pricing

*Pricing as of August 2025, subject to change


What makes the best organizational network analysis platform?

Data Connectors and Integration Depth

The foundation of any effective organizational network analysis platform lies in its ability to seamlessly integrate with your existing Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Leading platforms should offer native connectors that can analyze collaboration patterns across Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, and other Microsoft applications without requiring complex API configurations.

Worklytics exemplifies this approach by seamlessly integrating with Microsoft Teams data to provide comprehensive visibility into organizational dynamics. (Worklytics) The platform extends beyond basic Microsoft 365 integration, connecting with over 25 tools in your tech stack to provide a holistic view of organizational performance. (Worklytics)

Real-Time Dashboards and Analytics

In today's fast-paced business environment, waiting weeks for collaboration insights is no longer acceptable. The best platforms deliver real-time analytics that help leaders make immediate adjustments to team dynamics and work patterns.

Modern organizational network analysis platforms generate and push 400+ metrics to stakeholders, providing comprehensive coverage of collaboration patterns, meeting effectiveness, and communication flows. (Worklytics) This real-time capability becomes especially crucial when monitoring AI adoption patterns, where organizations need to track which departments are embracing new technologies and which are lagging behind.

Privacy Controls and Compliance

With increasing regulatory scrutiny around employee data, privacy-first design has become a non-negotiable requirement. Leading platforms use data anonymization and aggregation techniques to ensure compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other data protection standards while still delivering actionable insights.

Worklytics demonstrates this commitment by building privacy at its core, using advanced anonymization techniques to protect individual employee data while providing meaningful organizational insights. (Worklytics) This approach allows organizations to gain valuable collaboration insights without compromising employee privacy or regulatory compliance.

AI-Ready Metrics and Future-Proofing

As AI adoption in companies surged to 72% in 2024 (up from 55% in 2023), the ability to track and measure AI usage has become essential for organizational success. (Worklytics) The best platforms provide comprehensive AI adoption metrics that help bridge the gap between lofty promises and tangible outcomes.

Key AI usage metrics that business and tech decision-makers should track include Light vs. Heavy Usage Rate, AI Adoption per Department, Manager Usage per Department, and New-Hire vs. Tenured Employee Usage patterns. (Worklytics) These metrics reveal critical insights, such as why Engineering and Customer Support departments might have 80% of staff actively using AI while Finance or Legal departments lag at 20%.


Detailed platform reviews

Worklytics

Why choose Worklytics: Worklytics stands out as a workplace insights platform that leverages existing corporate data to deliver real-time intelligence on how work gets done, without relying on surveys. The platform excels in providing comprehensive AI adoption tracking and privacy-first analytics.

Key strengths:

Comprehensive integration ecosystem: Worklytics seamlessly integrates data from over 25 tools in your tech stack, including deep Microsoft Teams analytics that provide visibility into organizational collaboration patterns. (Worklytics)
AI adoption leadership: The platform provides sophisticated tracking of AI usage metrics, helping organizations understand patterns like why 85% of employees hired in the last 12 months use AI weekly versus only 50% of those with 10+ years at the company. (Worklytics)
Privacy-first design: Built with privacy at its core, Worklytics uses data anonymization and aggregation to ensure compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other data protection standards. (Worklytics)
Real-time insights: The platform generates and pushes 400+ metrics, providing comprehensive coverage of workplace dynamics and collaboration patterns. (Worklytics)

Advanced capabilities:

Outlook calendar analytics: Worklytics transforms calendar data into productivity insights, helping organizations understand meeting patterns and optimize time allocation. (Worklytics)
Hybrid work modeling: The platform offers innovative approaches to modeling work, including Workday Intensity measurements that track time spent on digital work as a percentage of overall workday span. (Worklytics)
Retention analytics: Worklytics provides insights into remote and hybrid teams while monitoring retention and turnover factors to understand key drivers and develop strategies to retain top talent. (Worklytics)

Considerations:

• Enterprise-focused pricing model may not suit smaller organizations
• Requires dedicated implementation support for complex integrations

Best for: Organizations prioritizing privacy compliance, comprehensive AI adoption tracking, and real-time collaboration analytics across large, distributed teams.

Microsoft Viva Insights

Why choose Viva Insights: As Microsoft's native workplace analytics solution, Viva Insights provides seamless integration with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and offers built-in wellbeing and productivity insights.

Key strengths:

Native Microsoft integration: Viva Insights leverages AI to provide actionable insights to organizations, aiming to increase productivity, engagement, and AI transformation directly within the Microsoft ecosystem. (Microsoft)
Wellbeing focus: The platform emphasizes employee wellbeing alongside productivity metrics, providing a balanced approach to workplace analytics.
AI transformation tracking: Viva Insights helps organizations understand the impact of hybrid work on people and business while tackling organizational challenges. (Microsoft)

Advanced capabilities:

Collaboration analysis: The platform allows organizations to analyze collaboration, meetings, wellbeing, and coaching trends to uncover improvements. (Microsoft)
Manager insights: Provides managers with actionable data to improve team effectiveness and employee engagement.
Personal productivity insights: Offers individual-level insights while maintaining privacy through aggregation.

Considerations:

• Limited integration with non-Microsoft tools
• May lack the depth of specialized analytics platforms
• Privacy controls may be less granular than dedicated solutions

Price: Starting at $6/user/month for basic insights, with premium features available in higher-tier Microsoft 365 plans.

Best for: Organizations heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem seeking native integration and basic collaboration analytics.

Glint (Microsoft)

Why choose Glint: Recently acquired by Microsoft, Glint combines traditional employee engagement surveys with collaboration pattern analysis, providing a hybrid approach to organizational insights.

Key strengths:

Survey integration: Combines quantitative collaboration data with qualitative employee feedback
Microsoft ecosystem alignment: Benefits from Microsoft's broader workplace analytics strategy
Engagement focus: Specializes in understanding employee sentiment alongside collaboration patterns

Considerations:

• Relies heavily on survey data, which may introduce response bias
• Limited real-time analytics compared to data-driven platforms
• May not provide the depth of collaboration analysis needed for complex organizations

Price: $3-12/user/month depending on feature set and organization size.

Best for: HR-focused organizations that value employee sentiment data alongside basic collaboration metrics.

Humanyze

Why choose Humanyze: Humanyze focuses on organizational design and network mapping, providing detailed insights into how information and influence flow through organizations.

Key strengths:

Network analysis: Sophisticated mapping of organizational networks and communication patterns
Organizational design: Helps leaders understand and optimize organizational structure
Research-backed approach: Founded on academic research in organizational behavior

Considerations:

• Enterprise-only pricing model
• May require significant implementation and change management support
• Limited AI adoption tracking capabilities

Price: Enterprise pricing available upon request.

Best for: Large enterprises focused on organizational restructuring and network optimization.


Essential evaluation criteria checklist

Data Integration and Connectivity

• [ ] Native Microsoft 365 connectors (Teams, Outlook, SharePoint)
• [ ] Real-time data synchronization capabilities
• [ ] Support for additional productivity tools beyond Microsoft
• [ ] API flexibility for custom integrations
• [ ] Data quality and cleansing capabilities

Analytics and Reporting Capabilities

• [ ] Real-time dashboard updates
• [ ] Customizable metric definitions
• [ ] AI adoption tracking and measurement
• [ ] Collaboration pattern analysis
• [ ] Manager effectiveness insights
• [ ] Team productivity metrics
• [ ] Meeting optimization recommendations

Privacy and Security Features

• [ ] GDPR and CCPA compliance
• [ ] Data anonymization and aggregation
• [ ] Role-based access controls
• [ ] Audit trails and data governance
• [ ] On-premises deployment options
• [ ] Data residency controls

AI and Future-Readiness

• [ ] AI usage tracking across departments
• [ ] Light vs. heavy AI usage metrics
• [ ] Manager vs. individual contributor AI adoption
• [ ] New hire vs. tenured employee patterns
• [ ] Integration with AI tools (Copilot, ChatGPT, etc.)
• [ ] Predictive analytics capabilities

Implementation and Support

• [ ] Time to value (weeks vs. months)
• [ ] Training and onboarding support
• [ ] Change management assistance
• [ ] Technical support quality
• [ ] Documentation and resources
• [ ] Community and user forums

Weighted scoring template for platform selection

Criteria Category Weight Worklytics Viva Insights Glint Humanyze
Data Integration (25%) 25% 9/10 8/10 6/10 7/10
Analytics Depth (20%) 20% 9/10 7/10 6/10 8/10
Privacy Controls (20%) 20% 10/10 7/10 7/10 8/10
AI Readiness (15%) 15% 10/10 6/10 4/10 5/10
Implementation (10%) 10% 7/10 9/10 8/10 6/10
Cost Effectiveness (10%) 10% 7/10 8/10 9/10 5/10
Weighted Score 100% 8.65 7.35 6.35 6.95

*Scores based on feature analysis and market positioning as of August 2025


Implementation best practices

Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-4)

• Establish data governance policies and privacy controls
• Configure Microsoft 365 connectors and validate data flow
• Set up basic dashboards for key stakeholders
• Train initial administrator team on platform capabilities

Phase 2: Expansion (Weeks 5-8)

• Add additional data sources and integrations
• Customize metrics and KPIs for different departments
• Implement AI adoption tracking workflows
• Expand user access to department heads and managers

Phase 3: Optimization (Weeks 9-12)

• Analyze initial insights and adjust metric definitions
• Implement automated reporting and alerting
• Conduct manager training on using insights for team optimization
• Establish regular review cycles and governance processes

Phase 4: Scale (Ongoing)

• Expand to additional business units or regions
• Integrate advanced AI and predictive analytics features
• Develop custom dashboards for executive leadership
• Establish center of excellence for workplace analytics

Measuring success: Key performance indicators

AI Adoption Metrics

Successful organizational network analysis platforms should help you track critical AI adoption patterns. For example, understanding why Sales departments might show 90% of frontline reps using AI-driven CRM assistants while only 40% of Sales managers do the same. (Worklytics)

Collaboration Effectiveness

Platforms should provide insights into meeting optimization, with the ability to identify and reduce the nearly half of executive meeting time that could be cut without impacting productivity. (Worklytics)

Organizational Health

Effective platforms help organizations understand and improve manager effectiveness, team productivity, and overall work experience by analyzing collaboration patterns and communication flows. (Worklytics)

Performance Measurement in the AI Age

As organizations increasingly adopt AI tools, measuring employee performance requires new approaches that account for AI-augmented productivity and changing work patterns. (Worklytics)


Future trends and considerations

The AI Maturity Curve

Organizations are at different stages of AI adoption, and understanding where your organization falls on the AI maturity curve is crucial for selecting the right analytics platform. (Worklytics) Platforms that can track and measure this progression will become increasingly valuable.

Hybrid Work Evolution

Hybrid work has fundamentally changed the shape of the workday, elongating the span of the day but also changing the intensity of work. (Worklytics) Future platforms must account for these new work patterns and provide insights that help organizations optimize for both productivity and employee wellbeing.

GitHub Copilot and Developer Productivity

With GitHub Copilot seeing rapid adoption with over 1.3 million developers on paid plans and over 50,000 organizations issuing licenses in under two years, tracking developer AI adoption has become crucial for technology organizations. (Worklytics)


Making your final decision

Choosing the right organizational network analysis platform for your Microsoft 365 environment requires careful consideration of your organization's specific needs, privacy requirements, and growth trajectory. Based on our analysis, here are key decision factors:

Choose Worklytics if: You prioritize privacy-first analytics, need comprehensive AI adoption tracking, require integration with 25+ tools beyond Microsoft 365, and want real-time insights with 400+ metrics. The platform excels for organizations serious about understanding and optimizing their collaboration patterns while maintaining strict privacy controls.

Choose Viva Insights if: You're heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, prefer native integration, and need basic collaboration analytics with built-in wellbeing features. It's ideal for organizations seeking a simple, integrated solution within their existing Microsoft investment.

Choose Glint if: Your HR team values employee sentiment data alongside collaboration metrics, and you prefer a survey-enhanced approach to organizational insights.

Choose Humanyze if: You're a large enterprise focused on organizational restructuring, network optimization, and have the resources for extensive implementation support.

The organizational network analysis landscape continues to evolve rapidly, with AI adoption tracking becoming increasingly critical for business success. Microsoft's Workplace Analytics service provides insights into communication and collaboration trends, helping businesses make more effective decisions by addressing collaboration overload and improving manager practices. (Microsoft)

Regardless of which platform you choose, the key to success lies in establishing clear governance policies, training your team effectively, and continuously optimizing your approach based on the insights you gather. The investment in organizational network analysis will pay dividends in improved productivity, better AI adoption, and more effective collaboration across your Microsoft 365 environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is organizational network analysis software for Microsoft 365?

Organizational network analysis software analyzes Microsoft 365 collaboration data to reveal how work gets done in your organization. These platforms examine email patterns, meeting behaviors, Teams usage, and document collaboration to provide insights into productivity, team dynamics, and workflow efficiency. They help identify collaboration bottlenecks, optimize meeting culture, and improve overall workplace effectiveness.

How does Worklytics compare to Microsoft Viva Insights for collaboration analytics?

Worklytics offers broader integration capabilities beyond Microsoft 365, connecting with HRIS systems, Asana, Bitbucket, and other productivity tools for comprehensive workforce analytics. While Viva Insights focuses primarily on Microsoft 365 data and wellbeing metrics, Worklytics provides deeper organizational network analysis and AI-ready metrics. Both platforms offer privacy controls, but Worklytics specializes in measuring complex metrics like workday intensity and manager effectiveness across hybrid work environments.

What key metrics should I track for employee AI adoption in 2025?

Essential AI adoption metrics include usage frequency, feature utilization depth, productivity impact measurements, and user engagement patterns. Organizations should track GitHub Copilot adoption rates, Microsoft 365 AI feature usage, and downstream efficiency gains. Worklytics recommends segmenting usage by team, department, or role to identify adoption gaps and measure the correlation between AI tool usage and productivity outcomes.

How can organizational network analysis reduce meeting overload?

Network analysis reveals that the average executive spends 23 hours weekly in meetings, with nearly half being unnecessary. These platforms analyze calendar patterns, meeting frequency, attendee overlap, and collaboration efficiency to identify redundant meetings and optimize schedules. They provide insights into meeting culture, help establish focus time blocks, and recommend meeting-free zones to improve work-life balance in hybrid environments.

What privacy controls should I expect from workforce analytics platforms?

Leading platforms like Worklytics and Viva Insights implement privacy-by-design principles with data anonymization, aggregated reporting, and role-based access controls. They typically provide individual privacy protection while delivering organizational insights, comply with GDPR and other regulations, and offer configurable privacy settings. Organizations should look for platforms that separate individual identity from behavioral patterns and provide transparent data governance frameworks.

How do I measure workday intensity and work-life balance in hybrid teams?

Workday intensity is measured as time spent on digital work as a percentage of overall workday span - for example, 7 hours of digital work over a 10-hour period equals 70% intensity. Platforms analyze email timestamps, meeting patterns, and application usage to understand when and how intensely employees work. This helps identify burnout risks, optimize hybrid schedules, and ensure sustainable productivity levels across distributed teams.

Sources

1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/workplace-analytics-service-description
2. https://www.intradatech.com/information-technologies/tech-talk/microsoft-predictions-for-2025
3. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-viva/insights
4. https://www.worklytics.co/blog/4-new-ways-to-model-work
5. https://www.worklytics.co/blog/adoption-to-efficiency-measuring-copilot-success
6. https://www.worklytics.co/blog/measure-employee-performance-in-the-age-of-ai
7. https://www.worklytics.co/blog/outlook-calendar-analytics-the-hidden-driver-of-productivity-in-the-modern-workplace
8. https://www.worklytics.co/blog/outlook-email-analytics-for-smarter-collaboration-productivity
9. https://www.worklytics.co/blog/the-ai-maturity-curve-measuring-ai-adoption-in-your-organization
10. https://www.worklytics.co/blog/top-workforce-analytics-metrics-every-business-should-track
11. https://www.worklytics.co/blog/tracking-employee-ai-adoption-which-metrics-matter
12. https://www.worklytics.co/how-it-works
13. https://www.worklytics.co/integrations
14. https://www.worklytics.co/integrations/microsoft-teams-data-analytics