Slack pulls it all together with new product for large firms

Single-layer Enterprise Grid platform already rolled out by IBM, Paypal and Capital One

Slack offers a number of tools to users of its regular product offering – search, instant messaging, shared channels, voice and video calling – that can also be used in Enterprise Grid
Slack offers a number of tools to users of its regular product offering – search, instant messaging, shared channels, voice and video calling – that can also be used in Enterprise Grid

Software-as-a-service firm Slack is taking on the enterprise market with a new product aimed at large-scale corporations.

The new platform, Slack Enterprise Grid, is aimed at companies with 500 to 500,000 users, and adapts to how each firm is organised. It offers centralised controls to keep data secure, integrates with other applications in use by teams, and has features such as unlimited workspaces for teams and shared channels for collaboration. Data retention settings and other policies can also be configured for each workspace.

“Previously, large organisations tended to have multiple teams that used separate, unconnected instances of Slack,” the company said in a post on Medium. “Now, with Grid, a new single layer spans the entire company and enables people to find each other, information and workspaces relevant to their role or team.”

Slack offers a number of tools to users of its regular product offering – search, instant messaging, shared channels, voice and video calling – that can also be used in Enterprise Grid.

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Control permissions

“What’s different is that at the organisational level, administrators can control permissions and configure integrations on a per workspace basis,” the company said. “This gives each team a focused place to work, where they can access the people, information and applications that matter most to their projects.”

The firm had signalled its intention to tackle the enterprise market sometime ago. Among the companies that have already rolled out Enterprise Grid are IBM, Paypal and Capital One.

The new platform also brings integration with SAP's products, including Hana Cloud Platform, SuccessFactors and Concur, which will join existing partnerships with Salesforce, IBM, Box, Adobe and GSuite.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist