Enterprise Software Provider Extends Secure File Sharing to Customers from Microsoft Teams

Challenge

An enterprise software solutions provider had deployed Microsoft Teams for internal collaboration and customer video conferencing, but wanted to extend that productivity to customer file sharing. Teams' Guest Access model is all-or-nothing: a guest gets access to the entire Team they're invited into, not a single channel. Because the company already ran individual Teams channels per customer for internal communication, Guest Access couldn't limit a customer to only their own files. Restructuring Teams around Private Channels was rejected for its change-management cost, and waiting on Microsoft's Shared Channel capability would have required customers to run a federated O365 tenant.

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Solution

The company adopted eSHARE to share specific folders within existing Teams channels directly with customers, without restructuring anything. Each customer-specific Teams channel got a "Shared with Customer" folder; Customer Success Managers create a Trusted Share for that folder using the customer's email address and a chosen sharing policy, while internal teams keep working natively inside Teams.

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Results

• Customers can now co-author and redline documents with the company in a modern, secure workflow — without needing Teams guest access
• Customers retain access to shared files even when their own organization, a regulated business, a government agency, or the Great Firewall of China would otherwise block SharePoint Online links
• Email notifications keep both internal and external participants informed whenever a shared file changes, and the customer-facing experience is fully branded to the company