LIZ: BREAKING AT THIS HOUR.
UBER POPULAR GROUP CHECK
COLLABORATION SOFTWARE SLACK
TECHNOLOGIES, LIKE GROUP CHATS
FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM OF
WORKERS, LOTS OF BUSINESSES AND
STARTUPS USE IT TO COMMUNICATE,
IS NOW BACK UP AND RUNNING BUT
THE SHARES OF THE COMPANY BEST
KNOWN AS GROUP CHATROOMS FOR
CORPORATE TEAMS SUFFERED A
MESSAGE SENDING AND LOADING
OUTAGE SO WIDESPREAD THAT #SLACK
IS DOWN WAS THE NUMBER FOUR
TRENDING TOPIC ON TWITTER
NATIONWIDE.
WHILE THE COMPANY SAYS THAT ALL
FUNCTIONALITY HAS BEEN RESTORED,
SHARES OF SLACK ARE SUFFERING
AFTER THEIR OWN OUTAGE, DOWN
MORE THAN ABOUT 1.5% BEFORE THE
PROBLEM, THEN LOSSES MORE THAN
DOUBLED, DOWN ABOUT 4.6%.
AT THIS HOUR RECOVERING JUST A
BIT OF THAT, STILL DOWN 3% AT
$33.
>>> WE CANNOT BE SURE BUT
SLACK'S DOWN DAY PROBABLY HAS
MICROSOFT JUMPING FOR JOY.
THE TECH TITAN ROLLED OUT A
COMPETITOR TO SLACK TWO YEARS
AGO CALLED TEAMS.
AS WE SPEAK, CORPORATIONS ARE
TAKING SIDES AND MAKING PICKS.
TEAM SLACK OR TEAM TEAMS?
WHO WILL WIN?
FOR TEAM TEAMS, WE BRING IN DAN
RUBINO, IN CHARGE OF THE LARGEST
REVIEW SITE FOCUSED ON ALL
THINGS MICROSOFT CALLED WINDOWS
CENTRAL.
FOR TEAM SLACK, MARKET WATCHER
TECH VETERAN JOHN SWARTZ.
I GET TO PLAY REF HERE.
IF WE ARE GOING BY FIRST IN
WINS, SLACK, THE YOUNG GUTSY
STARTUP FOUNDED IN 2014 HAS IT
BY A LONG SHOT BUT IF YOU ARE
GOING BY NUMBERS, WHILE SLACK AS
OF JANUARY REPORTED TEN MILLION
USERS, TEAMS NOW HAS 13 MILLION
USERS.
SO I GO TO TEAM SLACK AND JOHN,
WHAT HAPPENED?
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, TODAY DIDN'T
HELP MY ARGUMENT VERY MUCH, DID
IT.
THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON
OCCURRENCE FOR SLACK TO HAVE
THESE OUTAGES.
THEY MIGHT LAST 20 MINUTES, THEY
MIGHT LAST A COUPLE OF HOURS.
I THINK THIS UNDERSCORES THAT
CORPORATIONS, ESPECIALLY CTOs
LIKE THE IDEA OF WORKING WITH
MICROSOFT TEAMS AS PART OF A
PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTION.
SLACK'S APPEAL IS AMONG THE RANK
AND FILE, THE YOUNGER, THE GO-TO
PEOPLE WHO WANT TO COMMUNICATE,
THEY LOVE SLACK.
I DID AN INFORMAL SURVEY ON
FACEBOOK AND I ASKED, I THINK 50
PEOPLE RESPONDED AND ABOUT 48 OF
THEM CHOSE SLACK BECAUSE OF ITS
EASE OF USE AND THE FACT IT'S
GOOD TO USE ON MOBILE DEVICES.
BUT I THINK WHAT'S HAPPENING,
THEY ARE WORKING WITHIN
ENVIRONMENTS WHERE THEY ARE
BEING FORCED TO USE TEAMS.
I DON'T THINK IT'S BY THEIR
CHOICE.
I THINK IT'S KIND OF GOING BACK
TO THAT MAC VERSUS PC ARGUMENT
FROM SO LONG AGO.
LIZ: HE JUST CALLED MICROSOFT
TEAMS USERS OLD FOGEYS.
THAT'S WHAT I READ BETWEEN THE
LINES.
WHAT'S THE ADVANTAGE FOR
MICROSOFT AND ITS TEAMS?
>> YEAH.
ACTUALLY, I DON'T DISAGREE A LOT
WITH WHAT JOHN JUST SAID.
THAT'S PRETTY ACCURATE.
THAT SAID, WITH TEAMS, ITS
ADVANTAGE IS SIMPLE.
IT'S BUNDLED WITH OFFICE 365 AND
THAT'S JUST USED BY ALL THE
BIGGEST COMPANIES, INCLUDING 91%
OF THE FORTUNE 100 COMPANIES WHO
ARE NOW USING MICROSOFT TEAMS.
THAT'S REALLY A BIG THREAT HERE
TO SLACK, MICROSOFT HAS, IN MY
OPINION, EFFECTIVELY CUT OFF
THEIR ABILITY TO GO ANY HIGHER.
SO YEAH, THEY WILL DO SMALL
ORGANIZATIONS, SMALL COMPANIES,
THEY WILL LOVE SLACK, BUT THEIR
ABILITY TO GO UP HIGHER, GO TO
THE PAYING CUSTOMERS WHICH IS
WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT HERE, IS
IN MY OPINION, BEEN REALLY CUT
OFF BY MICROSOFT'S
AGGRESSIVENESS WITH TEAMS AND
BEING BUNDLED WITH OFFICE 365.
LIZ: JOHN, I WENT ON BOTH
WEBSITES AND TEAMS IS ALL ABOUT
HEY, COMING SOON, WE'VE GOT
THIS, WE ARE SCALING UP THIS.
THEY SAID THEY HAVE SOMETHING
CALLED CHANNEL CROSS-POSTING
WHERE YOU POST A SINGLE MESSAGE
IN MULTIPLE CHANNELS AT THE SAME
TIME.
FOR ANYBODY WHO WORKS IN GROUPS
LIKE OUR TEAM "COUNTDOWN" HERE
AT FOX BUSINESS, WE WERE USING
SLACK BUT WHAT WOULD BE THE
ADVANTAGE, WHY SHOULD WE SWITCH
AND ONCE PEOPLE ARE WORKING WITH
SLACK, IS IT TOO STICKY --
>> YEAH, THAT'S THE ARGUMENT,
RIGHT, CULTURAL DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN, IT'S LIKE A BOTTOM-UP
USE OF TECHNOLOGY, LIKE THE
MACINTOSH OR SLACK OR POPULAR
APPS.
IT STARTS FROM THE BOTTOM UP AND
MANAGEMENT THEN EITHER EXPANDS
ON IT OR IF THEY HAVE A BETTER
DEAL OR BETTER OPTION, AND YOU
KNOW WHAT, MICROSOFT I THINK IS
THE BEST-RUN TECH COMPANY IN THE
WORLD.
THEY OFFER THINGS THAT SLACK
CAN'T.
IN A SENSE, IT REACHES A CERTAIN
THRESHOLD AND THEN TO TAKE IT TO
THE NEXT LEVEL, MAYBE YOU DO
MOVE TO TEAMS.
MAYBE THIS WILL BECOME MORE OF A
TREND, ESPECIALLY AMONG
ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE HUNDREDS
IF NOT THOUSANDS OF USERS ON
THESE CHANNELS.
LIZ: WELL, WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING
AS AN INVESTMENT, MICROSOFT IS A
TRILLION DOLLAR MARKET CAP,
YOU'VE GOT SLACK AT $6.5
BILLION.
THAT'S NOT MY CONCERN.
MY CONCERN MAYBE IS THAT SLACK
IS TRADING BELOW ITS IPO DAY
WHERE IT HIT ABOUT $38, OPENED
AT $38.50.
WHERE DO WE GO AS AN INVESTMENT?
>> I THINK SLACK WILL BE AROUND
FOR A LONG TIME.
I DON'T SEE ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT
HAPPENING TO THEM.
THEY DO NEED TO FOCUS ON GROWING
SUBSCRIBERS WHO ACTUALLY PAY FOR
THE SERVICE VERSUS THE FREE ONE.
THAT'S GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE
WITH MICROSOFT OUT THERE.
THAT SAID, I THINK SLACK'
THAT SAID, I THINK SLACK OFFERS
A GOOD PRODUCT.
THEY DELIGHT THEIR USERS WHEN
THEIR SERVICE ISN'T GOING DOWN.
I DON'T WANT TO HARP ON THAT TOO
MUCH, THOUGH.
THESE ARE ALL CLOUD-BASED
SYSTEMS, ALL SE
SYSTEMS, ALL SUSCEPTIBLE TO
THAT.
SLACK, IT'S GOOD TO HAVE THE
COMPETITION OUT THERE.
IT KEEPS MICROSOFT ON THEIR
TOES.
IT'S GOOD FOR WORKERS TO HAVE A
CHOICE WHEN THEY CAN, AT LEAST.
LIZ: DAN, JOHN, WE WILL SEE WHO
WINS THIS ONE.
AT THE MOMENT, MICROSOFT HAS
MORE EVEN AFTER BEING FOUNDED