Slack
Summary
A cloud-based proprietary instant messaging platform that allows teams and businesses of all sizes to communicate effectively.
Parent organisation: Slack Technologies, Inc.
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: Market dominance
Pricing: Free-$12.50/user/month
Factors driving pricing: Additional features
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Parent organisation: Slack Technologies, Inc.
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: Market dominance
Pricing: Free-$12.50/user/month
Factors driving pricing: Additional features
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Pros
Open Source alternatives available
Releases new features regularly
Shares product roadmap
Transparent pricing model
Plain English TOS
Clear data policies
Allows data export
Allows data deletion
Has accessibility statement
Shares diversity data
Cons
Full Product Data Collection
Data collected January-February 2020
| Product name | Slack |
| Product URL | https://slack.com/ |
| Parent organisation | Slack Technologies, Inc. |
| Workflow category | Collaboration & editing |
| Date product founded | 2013 |
| Product description | A cloud-based proprietary instant messaging platform that allows teams and businesses of all sizes to communicate effectively. |
| What type of company or organisation is the product owned by? | Publicly-listed company (or group) |
| Is the company profit-making? | No, loss-making |
| How is this product funded? | Subscriptions, VC investment |
| What market share does the tool have? | Market dominance |
| Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space? | Yes. Mattermost, Zulip, Riot.im |
| When did the company last release new features? | Jan-2020. Emoji APIs, New Home tabs for custom apps, Give users a key to deep link to Home tabs. |
| Have they shared details of the product roadmap? | Yes. Autumn 2020 – WYSIWIG message editing for users, March 2020 – apps, custom integrations, bots, and users to use TLS 1.2 |
| Is there talk of the product raising further investment? | No |
| Is there talk of the product being acquired? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months? | No |
| Is there a pricing model listed on the website? | Yes |
| How clear & transparent is this pricing model? | Very: full pricing listed |
| What is the range of prices offered? | Free Standard – $6.67/user/month Plus – $12.50/user/month Enterprise Grid – contact sales |
| What factors drive higher pricing? | Additional features |
| What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs? | Has proprietary file formats but offers open options |
| Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years? | No |
| How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)? | Simplified, plain English TOS |
| Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)? | Yes, comprehensive. |
| Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”? | Yes, GDPR compliant globally |
| Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it? | N/A not an audience-facing tool |
| IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms? | N/A not an audience-facing tool |
| Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service? | Yes: Export/transfer publisher content, Yes: Export publisher metadata, Yes: Audience can data export |
| Does the public product website mention how to delete your data? | Yes: for publisher data only |
| Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years? | No |
| Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website? | Yes |
| Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce? | No |