Leading workplace collaboration firm Slack Technologies, Inc announced a strategic partnership with Amazon Web services (AWS) building deep integrations between the two services. Both enterprises will also extend product integration and deepen interoperability to help developer teams manage their AWS resources in Slack channels and Amazon Chime chat rooms with greater flexibility.
As part of the partnership, Slack Technologies will continue to leverage AWS as preferred cloud provider while AWS will adopt Slack to streamline team communications.
The announcement came as the leading workplace collaboration firm unveiled its Q1 results. The guidance was probably not as per the market’s expectations, leading to a fall in share prices. In comparison, Zoom projected revenues and growth double Wall Street expectations.
Slack Technologies and AWS – a commitment to enhancing workforce collaboration
There are a few important aspects to the partnership announcement though.
Firstly, AWS Chatbots
The partnership allows DevOps teams to execute AWS operational activities, including monitoring, system management, and deployment workflows, all within Slack.
“The tool will incorporate AWS’s more than 175 services, giving developers the ability to manage all of their cloud-based services in Slack”.
The future of enterprise software will be driven by the combination of cloud services and workstream collaboration tools
Stewart Butterfield, co-founder and CEO of Slack
Amazon AppFlow integration makes sharing data between systems a breeze
The new Amazon AppFlow integration for Slack enables users to securely transfer data between Slack and AWS services in just a few clicks, no coding required.
The news release stated this integration means users no longer have to download and upload data between systems, which slows things down and introduces errors.
With new capabilities in the coming months, Slack Technologies revealed users to transfer data bi-directionally between multiple Slack channels and AWS services in a single flow.
Slack Calls powered by Amazon Chime
AWS will soon power audio, video, meetings, and screen-sharing capabilities in native Slack Calls which is anyway migrating to Amazon Chime’s voice and video calling infrastructure.
In the long term, Slack revealed it’s planning to add new features, such as mobile video, so users can continue to rely on Slack for secure enterprise communication.
Enterprise Key Management
Slack launched Enterprise Key Management in 2019 allowing customers to use their own keys—stored in Amazon’s Key Management Service—to encrypt messages and files. Today, it claims more than 90 companies rely on the service. With the elevated new offerings, users can continue to automate routine processes while meeting security requirements.
The partnership makes terrific business sense given that both the companies have a competitor in Microsoft. Its Teams has taken off spectacularly amid the pandemic – Microsoft reported having about 75 million daily active users on Teams.
Microsoft has been on an acquisition spree bolstering its Azure value proposition particularly aimed at 5G. The technology powerhouse announced signing a definitive agreement to acquire Softmotive making its move into RPA.
Also read: Microsoft to acquire Metaswitch Networks, strengthening Azure 5G strategy
Facebook recently announced plans aiming to be the remote work platform of the future with Workplace, Oculus and Portal. The social media giant revealed its Workplace already has 5 million paid users, up 2 million since October.
As the competition intensifies, Slack’s partnership with AWS is a big deal of sorts. The two companies are aiming at unlocking enterprise innovation “giving developer teams the ability to collaborate and innovate faster”. The move strengthens Slack’s value proposition, demonstrating its ability to get work done in a single place without having to move between interfaces.
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