Microsoft Teams is still the go-to collaboration platform for operational teams, both inside and outside the organization. But while internal collaboration often feels seamless, cross-company work can quickly become chaotic.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to structure your Teams environment with intention. This article explains how to manage people and projects separately, and how Shared Channels and AI-powered governance in 2025 make cross-company collaboration both effective and secure.

The Problem: What Happens When You Mix the Two?

Let’s say Marketing wants feedback from Development. You could simply add developers to the marketing Team, but that breaks structure and leads to two major issues:

1. Loss of confidentiality – Developers now see all internal marketing channels.
2. Access confusion – Marketing ends up managing users they don’t normally oversee.

In short: you’ve blurred the line between people and projects. That’s where things start to unravel.

The Solution: Use Shared Channels (Still the Gold Standard in 2025)

Instead of inviting people into your Team, create a Shared Channel dedicated to the task and share it with a specific person or Team (both internal and external).

Why Shared Channels Work:

• Separation of people- and work management
• “Oversharing” is avoided.
• Each team manages its own people.
• No extra guest accounts or admin headaches.

Bonus: Everyone sees the shared work in the context of their own Team, keeping the user experience consistent.

What About External Partners?

Cross-company collaboration in 2025 is easier than ever, but you still need to configure the right settings.

“Shared Channels allow users from external organizations to work together in Teams without being added as guests using their own credentials and security policies.” – Microsoft Docs, 2025

Here’s how to make it work:

Summary: Your 2025 Checklist for Cross-Company Teams Collaboration

Bergen, Norway – 03 September 2025 — Epsis, the Norwegian software company behind the Enify platform, today announced the launch of Enify Control, a new software-first approach to building and operating control rooms and operations centres.

Enify Control replaces hardware-heavy setups with a software-defined orchestration layer, enabling teams to design, run, and adapt workflows digitally. By reusing existing PCs, displays, and networks, Enify Control allows organizations to modernize without costly “rip-and-replace” upgrades — delivering clarity, speed, and flexibility from day one.

“Running a modern operations centre shouldn’t depend on racks of custom hardware,” said Jan-Erik Nordtvedt, CEO of Epsis. “With Enify Control, every screen becomes a decision tool. Teams gain the freedom to operate smarter, faster, and from anywhere — without being locked into one vendor’s box.”

What’s New in Enify Control

• Real-Time Source Control
  Orchestrate live feeds from any PC, app, or window. Combine multiple sources into a shared view — on a desktop, video wall within your local network, using software.
• Built on the Full Enify Platform
  Includes Enify’s one-click Boards, role-based workspaces, links across apps and screen layouts. For saving and reusing.
• Collaboration Everywhere
  Operators, planners, and specialists share the same live context — onshore, offshore, or remote.
• Software-Defined Scaling
  Start small, grow as needed. From a single desk to a global operations centre.

Two Paths, One Solution: Whether upgrading an existing room or planning a new one, Enify Control adapts to your needs, without vendor lock-in.

Rethinking the Control Room

The term “control room” often focuses on screens and walls. Enify Control reframes it as a workflow environment for the entire operations team, operators, planners, coordinators, and specialists working together in real time.
“Behind every operation are teams who need structure, clarity, and context, wherever they’re working,” Nordtvedt added. “Enify Control closes that gap and brings the control room experience to everyone, not just those in the room.”

Availability

Enify Control is delivered as SaaS, builds on the Enify platform. Alongside Enify Flow, it gives organizations two ways to modernize operations. from daily workflows to mission-critical control rooms.

About Epsis

Epsis is a Norwegian consultancy and software company with more than 20 years of experience in digital workflows and operations centres. Its flagship platform, Enify, is the engine behind two solutions: Enify flow (for hybrid teams and daily operations) and Enify Control (for control rooms and operation centers). Together, they enable faster decisions, better structure, and a smarter path to scalable operations.

Media Contact:
Astrid Torsteinson, CMO & Principal Consultant
pr@enify.io | +4798607484
enify.io

A Scalable Framework for Global Operations

The VOR environments were designed to enable secure and efficient collaboration across disciplines and organizational boundaries. As part of the implementation:

• Over 60 vendors have been onboarded into shared channels within Equinor’s Microsoft Teams environment.
• More than 12,000 users are included across the collaboration environments (some users are active in multiple rooms).
• Epsis has supported the onboarding of more than 800 internal and external teams.

This work reflects a growing need for structured digital collaboration that supports real-time operation regardless of geographical location.

We are pleased to announce that Equinor has renewed our framework agreement for an additional two years, with the option for extension (one + one year). This framework agreement is a collaboration between IFE, StepChange, and Epsis. This collaboration has strengthened our joint efforts for innovation, change, and efficiency in the energy sector through technology and operational improvements.

Eivind Madsen, CEO of StepChange, expresses great joy over the renewal of the agreement:

“It is exciting to have the opportunity to continue our productive collaboration with Equinor. This collaboration has already set high standards in the industry, and we are ready to take new steps together toward new technological and operational improvements. Equinor granting us this extension confirms that we have delivered high-quality projects together with an innovative customer. We are very proud of that!“