Join +750K new investors every month who copy stock picks from billionaire's portfoliosSign Up Free

Microsoft debuts free tier in competitive workplace chat app market

Published 12/07/2018, 19:19
Updated 12/07/2018, 19:20
© Reuters.  Microsoft debuts free tier in competitive workplace chat app market
MSFT
-
CSCO
-
GOOGL
-
META
-
GOOG
-

By Salvador Rodriguez

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Thursday introduced a free tier of its workplace collaboration software Teams to better compete against rival Slack Technologies Inc in a market analysts view as a main battleground in the world of enterprise software.

Previously, businesses without Office 365 subscriptions that have wanted to try out Teams have been limited to a month-long trial. The free version of the product is intended to make it easy for potential customers, typically teams of workers and small businesses, to start using Microsoft's products and become embedded in them.

"We naturally want customers who are using the free version to upgrade to the full Office 365 version,” Lori Wright, general manager of Microsoft 365 Teamwork, told Reuters in a June 28 interview.

Microsoft has been competing with Slack since introducing Teams in early 2017. The product is used by 200,000 organizations, the company said in March. Slack in May said that Slack is used by 70,000 paying organizations.

Slack, Microsoft and companies including Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc’s Google, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Atlassian Corp PLC have launched products in the fast-growing workplace collaboration market.

The market is forecast to be worth $3.2 billion (£2.4 billion) by 2021, according to research firm IDC.

Ahead of the Teams announcement, Slack on Tuesday announced improvements to its own chat app's search features that the startup said will make it easier for users to find messages. The improved search features apply to all versions of Slack and will roll out to users in the coming weeks, the company said.

While the free version of Teams will not offer the same functionality as the Office 365 version, it will include some features not offered in the free versions of Slack that could lure prospective customers, including unlimited search and unlimited app integrations.

"The goal is to get Teams to be used by as many people as possible," said Alan Lepofsky, analyst with Constellation Research. "While this could put pressure on Slack to lift their restrictions, it’s not that simple as they play a key part in Slack’s freemium to premium monetization."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.