Slack: Microsoft Teams not only copies our product but our ads too
.jpg)
Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but it's not so pleasant when the mimicry is performed by an 800lb gorilla who wants to eat your lunch.
Microsoft this week announced that its answer to messaging platform Slack, Microsoft Teams, now has 20 million daily active users (DAU), making it almost twice the size of Slack. Teams has achieved that in just two years since its launch, thanks in part to being bundled with Office 365.
Slack has argued that DAUs don't reflect user engagement and says users from its paid customers spend more than nine hours a day connected to Slack, and more than 90 minutes per day actively using it.
Microsoft defines DAUs as "as "the maximum daily users performing an intentional action in the last 28-day period across the desktop client, mobile client and web client".
Needless to say, competition is fierce in the enterprise chat space but Teams is an existential threat for Slack, whereas for Microsoft it is just a part of a much bigger pie in Office 365 and Microsoft 365.
In a Twitter post titled 'ok boomer' – a reference to younger generations who feel ripped off by the Baby Boomer generation – Slack draws attention to the similarities between its own ad for the Slack Frontiers conference in April and later promotional videos, and Microsoft's 'The Art of Teamwork' ad, which was published in November.
The Verge sourced the videos for Slack's Frontiers ad and Microsoft's Teams promotional video. There are similarities between the two but they are perhaps not as significant as Slack claims.
Nonetheless, both videos depict balls travelling along grooves, intersecting at various points to create something bigger. In other words, teamwork enabled by collaboration software.
Soon after Microsoft launched Teams, Slack placed an ad in The New York Times congratulating Microsoft and said it was "genuinely excited to have some competition".
At the same time, it stressed that Microsoft can't create something people really love by making a "big list of Slack's features and simply checking those boxes".
Slack's promotional videos – and to an extent Microsoft's November ad – reflect Slack's message at the time: "We've spent tens of thousands of hours talking to customers and adapting Slack to find the grooves that match all those human quirks. The internal transparency and sense of shared purpose that Slack-using teams discover is not an accident. Tiny details make big differences."
Megan Quinn, general partner of Spark Capital, an early investor in Slack, joined Slack's campaign to question the substance of Microsoft's DAU numbers.
After Microsoft announced its 20-million DAU milestone, she retweeted a post from October stating that "not all DAUs are created equal". The post included an image of the top five rising 'related queries' for Microsoft Teams on Google Trends. The results don't look flattering for Microsoft.
Google Trends shows that interest in Teams has steadily increased over the past year. However, the top four rising 'related queries' for Microsoft Teams currently are: How to get rid of Microsoft Teams; how to disable Microsoft Teams; Microsoft Teams keeps reinstalling, and stop Microsoft Teams from opening.
source zdnet
Industry: Unified Communications

Latest Jobs
-
- Sailpoint IIQ Consultant
- London
- Up to £75,000
-
SailPoint IIQ consultant- London We are looking for a strong SailPoint IIQ consultant to work for this global enterprise, in this position you will be the lead consultant in regard to the IAM and PAM tools Duties include Responsible for designing, developing, testing, implementing, and integrating IAM (SailPoint) systems and solutions. Assessing requirements for Identity and Access Management solutions to meet stakeholders needs. Provide support for production IAM infrastructure systems and processes. Ensures the maintenance, patching, operating, and monitoring of IAM systems. Ensures senior management and staff are informed of any changes and updates in a timely manner. Experience with Maintaining and supporting SailPoint IIQ Assessing requirements for Privilege Access Management solutions to meet stakeholders needs We are looking for someone with the following experience SailPoint IIQ experience Expertise working with SailPoint Identity IQ platform - Access Lifecycle Management, Certifications, Role Management Expertise in onboarding applications with various connectors like Active Directory, JDBC, SCIM 2.0, Azure Active Directory Expertise in developing APIs (SCIM, REST) leveraging Java based developmentExperience of Privileged Access Management concepts and use cases Unfortunatly we are unable to provide sponsorship for this opportunity, therefore applications will need to be able to work in the UK
-
- SailPoint Consultant- Netherland-
- Netherlands
- upto €700 per day
-
We are looking for a highly skilled SailPoint IIQ Consultant to work on a major deployment project. The ideal candidate will have experience with all aspects of SailPoint IIQ, including development, configuration, and administration. They will also be able to work independently and as part of a team to deliver high-quality results. · Responsibilities · Develop and configure Sailpoint IIQ solutions · Integrate SailPoint IIQ with other systems · Support SailPoint IIQ deployments · Provide technical support to users If you are a highly skilled SailPoint IIQ consultant who is looking for their next project, we encourage you to apply. look forward to hearing from you!
-
- Lead CyberArk deployment Consultant
- London
- Upto £80,000 plus benefits
-
CyberArk Consultant is needed to be responsible for leading the deployment of CyberArk solutions for this expanding IT services business, You will work with customer both pre and post sales, getting involved in CyberArk Solution Design, helping to create CyberArk Strategic Roadmaps, on-boarding accounts, product and process integration into the CyberArk Solution and Proviso of Installation and technical Documentation. We are looking for this individual to have experience in: Installation of CyberArk PAS for V11.X and V12.X (Vault, DR Vault, Central Policy Manager and Password Vault Web Access) Upgrade of CyberArk from V9 and V10 (Vault, DR Vault, Central Policy Manager and Password Vault Web Access) Installation and Upgrade of Privilege Session Manager and Privilege Session Manager Proxy As some of your client will be government site, all individual will need to be put through SC clearance, therefore you must be eligible to receive this and happy to be put through(With a British Citizen or to have lived in the UK for the past 5 years) We are unable to provide work visa sponsorship for this opportunity
-
- Senior Business Analyst - Outside IR35 Contract, SC Clearance Required, London
- London
- £400 per day outside IR35
-
Senior Business Analyst - Outside IR35 Contract, SC Clearance Required, Based in London Project- to engage with colleagues and stakeholders to investigate and model business functions, processes, information flows and data structures, using a range of business analysis techniques. • You will translate the solution to the business problem into detailed requirements by creating user stories and well-defined acceptance criteria. • Elicit end-to-end business requirements for a live cross-government service • Working across the Government departments to bring together varied business and operational outcomes to form a holistic overall set of service requirements Current SC clearance is required. As is the ability to travel to London.