Slack and Google has come together to deepen its integration with each other. Organisations using Slack can now improve their communication and functionality by using new features included in G Suite (Google’s set of productivity software and services). 2017 onwards it will be easier for Slack users to share and work on files stored in Google Drive.
Now, it is possible to manage Slack within the G Suite dashboard. Slack becomes more useful for G Suite users, and Google gets to make its productivity suite a more attractive offering to those organizations that want to use Slack. The functionality resulting from the partnership will make it easier to preview Google Docs, share and work on files stored in Google Drive using Slack.
Google is building a Drive Bot that will connect to the end user, to do away with emails. Managing notifications regarding changes made to a file, to make approvals, reject or settle comments, will all be done in Slack.
Another feature that will be added is the integration with Google Team Drive, which will enable administrators to keep all content and conversations within groups of employees in sync. Team Drive will be the default file storage space for those who opt for advanced cloud storage controls.
28 out of Fortune 100 companies like IBM, eBay, EA, Pinterest, TIME, and LinkedIn use Slack. It has seen impressive growth with 4 million daily active users, having its major customers in emerging start-ups, small businesses, and other businesses that don’t rely on Windows or Office.
Microsoft has similar services integrated into Office 365. With 85 million active Office 365 commercial customers, it is providing its chat software as part of that existing subscription. Besides Microsoft, Facebook and Cisco, there are other players like Ryver, HipChat, Yammer, Kato, Br.im, in this field.
