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- $4 does not allow its employees to use $4, $4's Nat Levy and Todd Bishop reported, citing an internal document.
- While $4 has a rival workplace chat app, Microsoft Teams, the tech company reportedly cites security risks as the reason for its internal $4 ban.
- Slack named Microsoft as its primary competitor in a $4 sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission in April, and Microsoft listed Slack among its competitors in its most recent $4.
- $4
Microsoft does not allow its employees to use Slack, $4's Nat Levy and Todd Bishop reported, citing an internal document.
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While Microsoft has a rival workplace chat app, called Microsoft Teams, the tech company reportedly cites security risks as the reason for its internal Slack ban. The company gives the following explanation in an internal list of software and online services it restricts or discourages employees from using, according to GeekWire:
Slack Free, Slack Standard and Slack Plus versions do not provide required controls to properly protect Microsoft Intellectual Property (IP). Existing users of these solutions should migrate chat history and files related to Microsoft business to Microsoft Teams, which offers the same features and integrated Office 365 apps, calling and meeting functionality. Learn more about the additional features that Teams can provide your workgroup. Slack Enterprise Grid version complies with Microsoft security requirements; however, we encourage use of Microsoft Teams rather than a competitive software.
Microsoft also reportedly prohibits employees from using the grammar-checking app Grammarly and the Kapersky security software. It discourages employees from using Amazon Web Services, Google Docs, PagerDuty, and the cloud version of GitHub, according to GeekWire.
Microsoft and Slack did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.
Slack named Microsoft as its primary competitor in a $4 sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission in April, and Microsoft listed Slack among its competitors in its most recent $4. Microsoft $4 in 2016, seven years after Slack was founded.
Slack began $4 on public markets on Thursday. They closed 5% below their debut price on Friday.
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