Neowin reports on Microsoft Places, their new Teams app that helps employees coordinate where to work from based on who else will be in/around. This lines Microsoft up to compete with some of the hybrid work platforms (like Gable, Desana, Deskpass, OfficeRnD Hybrid, Kadence, LiquidSpace and Café) – some of which may already built integrations with Teams to support enterprise customers.

Although Places was initially hinted at 2 years ago, I did note how this could impact coworking spaces here. In short: it may only be a matter of time before Places is extended to offer 3rd-party or third space bookings, access and visibility too.

Desana introduced a new product called FlexPay into their suite for companies shifting towards flexible real estate strategies. In short, the platform will offer a single procurement agreement, centralize payments and offer a dashboard for contract management.

The easier it is for large firms to procure, pay for and manage their flex space contracts, the more utilization we could see across participating spaces.

Holly Farmer shares that Desana are launching ‘Desana Events’ to make event booking and management more streamlined for global orgs.

Given that the platform doesn’t own or run their own spaces, this should mean more event-based bookings via them for participating spaces in their network.

This week we saw Desana sponsor/power a RunningRemote session delving into distributed workplaces, targeted at remote-first or increasingly-remote companies.

I often get asked which booking platforms workspaces should invest their time, energy and commissions to create and manage listings on. My best piece of advice is to look for the platforms who are growing the reach of flex space, and therefor your listings and business.

Dougal Shaw shares how coworking isn’t "going out of fashion" with highlights of UK local brands like Patch, ARC Club, Platform 9, Oru Space, and the Desana platform.