Microsoft Teams vs. Slack: Which Makes Sense for Your Business?

Microsoft Teams and Slack have been battling it out for market share, but which is best for your business? It ultimately depends on the environment that you prefer and the features that you need. While MS Teams and Slack may seem similar at the outset, there are some notable differences that may make one solution better suited to your organization.

An Overview: What’s the Difference Between MS Teams and Slack?

Microsoft Teams and Slack are both collaborative environments that make it easy for employees to communicate with each other. Through MS Teams and Slack, employees can connect through instant messaging and chat, and share and collaborate on documents. Both Teams and Slack can integrate with other third-party apps.

But while they may have much in common, these two collaborative platforms also have some differences. MS Teams is centered around the Office 365 environment, empowering first line employees, and providing additional functionality such as project management and scheduling. Meanwhile, Slack integrates with more third-party solutions than Office 365 does, focusing on broadening its scope rather than specializing.

Businesses That Should Consider Teams

There are two main types of business that should consider Teams first: businesses that are already using the Office 365 environment, and businesses with many first-line workers who will benefit from Teams’ scheduling features. That certainly doesn’t mean that these are the only businesses that will benefit from MS Teams, but they are the businesses that will get the most out of it.

When it comes to the Office 365 environment, there’s really no argument. Microsoft has invested a lot into making MS Teams operate seamlessly with Office 365 products. Not only is the Microsoft Teams app intuitive to use for Office 365 users, but it makes it easy for teams to collaborate on Office 365 documents.

Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and Projects are all directly integrated into Office 365, including Microsoft’s scheduling processes which make the MS Teams service invaluable for companies such as retailers and call centers.

Finally, MS Teams offers conference calls of up to 80 individuals. That’s not something that everyone needs, but for large meetings, announcements, conferences, and seminars, it can be very useful. Comparatively, Slack provides support for up to just 15 individuals. If you need more than 15, you need to have MS Teams.

Businesses That Should Consider Slack

Organizations that don’t regularly use the Office 365 suite will not benefit from Teams’ strong Office 365 focus. It isn’t a detriment, but it’s also not a benefit. Organizations that rely on apps supported by Slack but not by Teams will benefit from Slack’s substantial library of third-party integrations.

Slack is certainly no slouch in the collaboration software market. It came on the scene before MS Teams, and the two have been in competition since Teams launched. If a company doesn’t need Office 365 integration, Slack is a solid alternative. Therefore, companies may want to take a look at their existing IT stack before making a decision, as this may be the deciding factor.

It should be noted that Slack is more expensive than MS Teams, but not significantly so: The lowest base price of Slack is $6.67, versus the lowest base price of MS Teams, which is $5.00.

Choosing Between MS Teams and Slack

So how do you choose between MS Teams and Slack? It’s going to come down to the following questions:

• Which solution better integrates with your existing third-party integrations? If you use many third-party apps, Slack may be the better option.
• Do you currently use the Office 365 ecosystem? If you don’t, Slack is more widely used, but if you do, the Microsoft Teams app will integrate more natively.
• Are you looking for a budget solution? Is cost important to you? If so, MS Teams is going to be more affordable, especially if you have a large workforce who will all need licenses.
• Do you need robust scheduling solutions? If so, MS Teams is going to offer more by way of scheduling software.

Ultimately, both MS Teams and Slack are extremely versatile, valuable solutions. Any business will see an increase in productivity by adopting these solutions. The important part isn’t so much Microsoft Teams vs Slack, as it is adopting a productivity and collaboration solution altogether.

Interested in putting Teams to work for your organization? Contact Red River today to see how we can help you get started with Microsoft’s productivity and collaboration solution.