Microsoft News: Will Microsoft Teams Pose a Big Threat on Slack? Details About The Corporate Messasing Platform Here

By Tony Park - 02 Nov '16 21:01PM

Microsoft Teams, a messaging platform, has been unveiled by Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella at an event in New York City. Teams is developed by the U.S. software company as digital forum where organizations can create content, says Nadella. The chat service will offer users a Web-based Internet Relay Chat-like text chat experience that is offered by market leader Slack.

Microsoft Teams is a workplace collaboration tool that is integrated with Microsoft Office's 365 suite which includes the company's office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Teams are also integrated with Skype, enabling group video conferences.

Forbes magazine reported that Microsoft Teams would be backed by the company's 85-million-person customer base from Office. Microsoft plans to onboard those existing customers into the new product. Teams are now available to those paying for the Business and Enterprise Suites.

In response to the launch of Microsoft Teams, rival messaging service Slack took out a full-page ad on the back of the "New York Times" offering Microsoft an unprompted advice. Slack congratulated Microsoft and stated in the ad that "We're genuinely excited to have some competition."

Wow slack just took out a full page NYT ad towards a Microsoft product that hasn't even been announced yet pic.twitter.com/d32307dWm4

— Sumanth (@SuMastodon) November 2, 2016

Slack is popular among the millennials and was developed as a digital platform where users can have idle office chit-chat and where teams can discuss projects. According to Arstechnica, Slack promotes an informal form of communication that is more fluid compared to the e-mail and conference calling.

Microsoft forayed into corporate social media when it acquired Yammer, which is a virtual noticeboard and an enterprise social network. Microsoft Teams is designed due to the failure of Yammer to take on Slack.

Techcrunch provided a preview of Microsoft Teams in its review of the messaging service. It commended Teams' meetings feature that incorporates Skype functionality. According to Techcrunch, Microsoft Teams will keep Slack on its toes. Teams will be launched for the public early in 2017.