Slack puts out full-page ad just as Microsoft readies to enter team-based chat service

Photo from the Verge

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

In a move reminiscent of old-school passive aggressive tech company taunting, Slack took out a full-page ad on the New York Times to "Welcome Microsoft," and offer some advice as the Redmond Giant unveiled its competing Microsoft Teams collaborative chat service.

Slack is the darling communications app of the technology teams and one of Silicon Valley's most beloved services and it was long rumoured to be in Microsoft's sights as a company to be acquired. There may have been some back-channel negotiations that somehow fell through. Anyway, when a company pulls a stunt like this, they're not really just talking to the recipient (in this case, Microsoft), but the world at large in order to tout their features and brag about their achievements. 

Still, Slack knows what makes them tick and what makes their users so loyal. "If you want customers to switch to your product, you're going to have to match our commitment to their success and take the same amount of delight in their happiness," the ad says. This is the x-factor for Slack (and, frankly any software product that grows a loyal base). Competition is good, choice is good and Slack is an impressive service, built from the ground up to make group messaging seamless and fun.

Microsoft is converting its Skype Teams into Microsoft Teams, which is now a preview coming to Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and web apps. The preview is in 181 countries and 18 languages. Microsoft  says it is aiming for general availability in the first quarter of 2017.

With Microsoft Teams, Office 365 has now become the universal toolkit for addressing the needs of today’s dynamic teams. This includes:

• Chat for today’s teams
• A hub for teamwork
• Ability to customize for each team
• Security teams trust

More information on Microsoft Teams can be found here.