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SOC Rotate vs Microsoft Shifts

The Shifts app inside Microsoft Teams: manager-built schedules, swap and time-off requests, a time clock, included with a Teams licence.

Shifts is already installed, already licensed and already where the team talks, which is why so many SOCs start there. It is a schedule people can read and request changes to; it is not one that builds itself or checks itself. Managers create the shifts, staff swap or offer them and request time off, and the on-shift tag reaches whoever is working. What it does not have is any notion of what a shift needs: no minimum staffing, no tiers, no rest rule, no fairness. Those are the four things a SOC manager spends the month on.

At a glance · 21 rows
  • SOC Rotate has17/21
  • Microsoft Shifts has6/21
  • Not stated by Microsoft Shifts5/21
Where Microsoft Shifts is ahead
  • Time clock and attendance
  • Microsoft Teams and Outlook integration
  • Single sign-on
Every row, with notes
SOC Rotate
Microsoft Shifts
Fit
Built for, or marketed to, security operations centres
YesEvery feature came from a SOC floor; tiers, coverage and handover assume one.
NoFrontline retail, healthcare and field teams.
Building the rotation
Rotation generated from a repeating pattern
YesWatch bands, staggered across the crew, extended nightly.
NoManagers create every shift.
Rules-based solver (demand + rules, solved per window)
YesRule mode: demand by tier, role or qualification; rest, pairing, shaping, balance.
No
Working-time law presets (UK, EU, US, Australia)
YesPer office, the floor under every roster; override is a recorded decision.
Not statedNot stated
Rest check on every leave approval and swap
YesSwaps arrive with the rest check done; cover is ranked with rest risk shown.
Not statedNot stated
Coverage
Minimum staffing per shift
Yes
Not statedNot stated
Seniority tiers (T1 / T2 / T3) inside the coverage rule
Yes"Two T2 and one T1 on nights", enforced.
Not statedNot stated
Skills or qualifications inside the coverage rule
YesNamed qualifications with expiry, used in rule-mode demand.
Not statedNot stated
Client SLA target and a coverage report the client can open
YesPer client; a report link with no login.
No
Follow-the-sun chain across offices, with hand-off gaps shown
YesGaps before you save; nightly sweep alerts both ends.
No
People
Fairness ledger for nights, weekends and holidays
YesWeighted, per analyst, rolling 30 to 365 days, every total comes apart.
No
Leave with the shifts it empties and who could cover
YesPlus an allowance per type per year, granted or accrued monthly, counted in calendar or working days, with carry-over and a balance on every request.
PartlyTime-off requests; no coverage impact stated.
Shift swaps and an open board
YesTo a colleague or an open board; manager approval; rest checked.
YesSwap and offer requests.
Structured handover with acknowledgement
YesBuilt-in fields or your own form; only the shift taking over can mark it read.
No
On-call schedules checked against the shift rotation
YesRoles and rotations — weekly, daily, hourly, monthly, repeating patterns — checked against leave, nights and rest; gaps reported; cover and swaps approved.
PartlyShift-based tags reach on-call staff; no on-call schedule type stated.
Platform
Audit trail of every schedule, leave, swap and settings change
YesSearchable and exportable.
YesVia the Microsoft Purview audit log.
Time clock and attendance
No
Yes
Demand forecasting from historical volume
No
No
Microsoft Teams and Outlook integration
NoNotifications in-app, by email or Slack webhook. No Teams app.
YesIt is a Teams app.
Single sign-on
NoNot yet. Email and password today.
YesYour Microsoft identity.
Published pricing
YesPer seat per month, one plan, 10-seat minimum. See pricing.
YesIncluded with a Teams licence.

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The case for them

Choose Microsoft Shifts when

  • The team is already in Teams all day and the rotation is simple enough to build by hand.
  • The budget is zero: Shifts comes with the Teams licence you already pay for.
  • What you need is visibility and requests, not generation, coverage rules or a fairness record.
For a SOC

Where Microsoft Shifts stops

  • No auto-scheduling. Every shift is placed by a manager, every month.
  • No coverage rule. A night with the wrong seniority mix looks exactly like a night with the right one.
  • No rest check on a swap, no fairness ledger, no handover, and nothing that understands a client SLA.
FAQ

SOC Rotate vs Microsoft Shifts: common questions.

Something about Microsoft Shifts this page gets wrong? Tell us and we will fix the row.

Does SOC Rotate integrate with Microsoft Teams?
No. Notifications reach people in the app, by email or by Slack webhook. There is no Teams app and no sync to Shifts.
Can we keep Shifts for the team and build the rota in SOC Rotate?
Only by hand. SOC Rotate exports the schedule as CSV or XLSX, but nothing pushes it into Shifts, so you would maintain two copies.
Is Microsoft Shifts free?
It is included with a Teams licence. SOC Rotate is priced per seat per month with a ten-seat minimum; see pricing.
What does Shifts not do for a SOC?
It does not generate the schedule, enforce minimum staffing or a tier mix, check rest rules on a swap, or keep a fairness record. Managers place every shift.
Does SOC Rotate support Microsoft single sign-on?
Not yet. Sign-in is email and password today.
Moving from Microsoft Shifts?

See it on your own rotation, not a demo tenant.

Bring the rotation you run in Microsoft Shifts today. We'll build it in SOC Rotate, walk through where coverage and fairness land, and tell you plainly if Microsoft Shifts is the better fit for your floor.

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  • RotationA month of 24/7 coverage in one action.
  • CoverageEvery gap flagged before it reaches a client.
  • ComplianceEvery change logged, every override on record.