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Yesterday, @SlackHQ khq filed an antitrust complaint against #MicrosoftTeams. Not totally unexpected, there’s reasons why Slack CEO @Stewart is regularly asked about anti-competitive behavior. Time for a #TweetThreadz 1/14
The pandemic has accelerated many things, including product development, adoption, and this inevitable legal complaint 2/14
There is no question that these products compete or that Microsoft was inspired by Slack. That's not illegal. MSFT gets to primarily sell to existing customers. Not to mention Microsoft has held the title of most valuable company on the planet multiple times (2018-2020) 3/14
The complaint argues that Microsoft is practicing illegal tying with Teams - a nuanced, anticompetitive form of bundling. Slack argues that the result encourages Microsoft customers to select Teams (for “free”) without evaluating alternatives 4/14
Tying is insanely complex - and a long shot legal argument. Slack may be at more risk trying to prove this, but then maybe it didn’t perceive it had a choice. However, I would not be surprised if other firms join the complaint 5/14
There is no question that Microsoft has numerous bigco advantages with Teams. The question is if it is abusing those advantages in a way that stifles competition. This will take years to conclude legally 6/14
MS Response: It’s video services that’s driving the success of Teams (Slack doesn’t have strong native video). I disagree. I posted “Teams is actually holding back the adoption of MS Meetings.” https://talkingpointz.com/when-75m-isnt-enough/ Latest avail figures show Teams meetings still lags Zoom 7/14
There is little difference between a strong integration and a unified application. Teams has many integrations. Slack has meetings integration with Zoom and others. Many apps, incl Teams, integrate with Outlook/Exchange 8/14
Also, Microsoft has been oddly aggressive about beating Slack (and Zoom). This is mostly indirect via Forbes and others that chant "Fight" https://talkingpointz.com/forbes-is-sensational/. Microsoft did not reveal usage figures until they were higher than Slack (Slack then stopped reporting DAU) 10/14
Microsoft just reported a strong quarter citing Azure, Surface, and Xbox revenue. Teams doesn’t really have meaningful revenue despite its rapid growth. MS cross-subsidizes the costs of Teams (selling, dev, and hosting) https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/22/21334725/microsoft-q4-2020-earnings-azure-surface-xbox-gains-growth-profits-sales 11/14
A big part of the value of O365 is seamless integrations. Increasingly, the value of integrated apps and workflow beats the value of Best-of-Breed. This can apply to UCaaS, video, CRM, and more 12/14
This is what I am examining in a new research note about the threat to UCC Best of Breed. The main outcome of this complaint will be that Microsoft tones-down its competitive posturing 13/14
Search on Twitter for other ‘ @DaveMichels #TweetThreadz’ for enterprise comms news and insights. For more enterprise comms coverage see http://TalkingPointz.com 14/14
