Amazon has apparently shown interest in purchasing the workplace collaboration service, Slack, according to industry experts. The marketplace giant is just one of the many tech companies that have shown an interest in buying the popular service, whose corporate client base includes Harvard University, Airbnb, and Samsung. However, the news comes amidst an overwhelming trend in using app-like services to communicate in the workplace, instead of legacy email.
Why an Amazon and Slack Deal Makes Sense
If we take some time to analyse the situation, it’s clear to see that a deal between Slack and Amazon could be beneficial. First, it gives Amazon the chance to improve its competitive edge. While the brand is frequently building on its portfolio, it hasn’t offered an enterprise platform for communication yet. What’s more, implementing Slack into AWS, the Amazon cloud services business, would make it more competitive against Microsoft and Google.
Slack could also defend itself against the threat of Microsoft and Facebook. The wide adoption of the service has inspired several tech companies to start offering personalised collections of services, which could quickly overrun the Slack footprint. For instance, Workplace by Facebook is already being used by global enterprises. Amazon’s rich data centre infrastructure and AWS sales team could boost Slack’s presence.
What’s more, both companies could benefit from the AI offering the other brings. Slack’s chatbots are some of the biggest draws of its collaboration tool, as they allow for the automation of various workplace tasks. What’s more, Amazon recently opened its own platform, Lex, to developers, as it begins to take a bigger role in the conversational market. Infusing Slack’s bots and Lex could improve beneficial exposure for Amazon’s AI platform, and improve Slack bot capabilities.
The Power of Joining Forces
Amazon is currently the last of the five biggest US technology companies to introduce a messaging platform, and buying an established platform instead of building its own could help it to overcome its rivals. Slack was one of the first collaboration tools on the market, and it remains incredibly popular today.
Of course, there’s also a chance that the companies could encounter more value by not joining forces. For instance, Amazon could find that purchasing Slack is an empty acquisition if the tool can’t compete against Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. What’s more, as workplace communications grows, Slack could wait for a better deal to come along.
