Driving the Market Forward: How the Main Players are Shaping the Future of Enterprise Communication

The rise of remote work and the need for seamless communication has increased the demand for enterprise communication solutions. As a result, the enterprise messaging app market has seen significant growth in recent years.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the main players. Understanding the current status and plans of these leading players is crucial for businesses and organizations to make informed decisions about their communication tools.

A Brief Overview of the Main Players

Below are the most notable ones based on their numbers, as well as my pickups for the future of the market.

1. Slack: Launched in 2013, Slack is one of the pioneers in the enterprise messaging app market. They started a change movement by claiming that their solution helps eliminate internal email communication. Slack has over 25 million daily active users and is primarily used by small and medium-sized businesses. In 2021, Salesforce acquired Slack in a deal worth $27.7 billion.
2. Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams is part of Microsoft's Office 365 suite and is a popular communication platform for enterprises. In 2021, Microsoft decided to discontinue its Skype for Business service and move all its customers to Microsoft Teams. Slack has faced stiff competition from this solution, which has aggressively expanded its user base. As of 2021, Microsoft Teams has over 270 million daily active users, making it the largest enterprise communication software platform.
3. Zoom: Initially designed for video conferencing, Zoom saw a massive surge in usage during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its fast and reliable streaming infrastructure. As of 2021, Zoom has over 300 million daily active users, making it one of the world's most widely used communication platforms. Zoom has raised a total of $276M in funding over 9 rounds.
4. Google Meet: Google Meet (formerly Google Hangouts) has become a popular choice for businesses using Google Workspace, and it has seen significant growth in recent years. This growth is due to its integration with other Google products, which has made it easy for users to transition to Meet from other Google services. Google has also enhanced Google Spaces and Google Chat to allow users to collaborate in a more organized manner. With over 100 million daily active users, Google Meet has become a go-to choice for businesses looking for a reliable and easy-to-use communication solution.
5. Discord: Initially created for gamers, Discord has expanded to include businesses as well. With over 150 million monthly active users, Discord's unique features and customizable interface have made it a popular choice for remote teams and communities. The company has secured around $1 billion of investment from notable investors such as Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Sony, Greenoaks Capital, and Index Ventures.
6. Whatsapp: Whatsapp, acquired by Facebook in 2014, is primarily used for personal communication but has recently introduced a business version of its platform. With over 2 billion monthly active users, Whatsapp is one of the most widely used communication apps in the world. In 2022, Mark Zuckerberg decided to invest more in Whatsapp for Business to make the solution one of the key drivers of monetization for Meta.

Market Shares

The market is crowded with a variety of players, ranging from established companies to new startups. Major companies including Google, Microsoft, and Meta are all investing in enterprise communication solutions and competing with products from Salesforce, Cisco, Zoom, and RingCentral. 

Microsoft's decision to discontinue Skype for Business and instead direct all communication to Microsoft Teams, while also including the app in the Office 365 suite, has significantly altered market dynamics. The graph below illustrates the impact of this change on daily active users, compared to those of the main competitor, after the announcement of Microsoft Teams.

It's important to note that not all of the products mentioned in this document are necessarily direct competitors. For example, Slack and Microsoft Teams may be combined with other tools like Google Meet or Zoom to provide the best experience.

This is a natural outcome since each tool has a unique value proposition and may have strengths and weaknesses that prevent them from offering a complete solution for customers.

Current Value Propositions and Trends Analysis

1. Slack (collaborative messaging): Slack was a pioneer in changing enterprise communication. However, they lost their market-making advantage because they were slow to add new features and keep up with market trends. They have recently acquired Huddle to enhance the video conferencing experience and announced a canvas feature similar to Notion. Microsoft is dominating large enterprises with Teams, and Discord and WhatsApp are adding more collaboration features for enterprises. As a result, Slack's initial position as the ultimate enterprise messaging app seems to be shattered.
2. Microsoft Teams (integrations & security): Microsoft is heavily investing in the platform and adding new capabilities for developers as well as end users. The pace is too fast, sometimes it becomes difficult for app developers to catch up latest updates in the API. Teams is far beyond being a messaging or a video-conferencing app even at this point. Most of the end users are not aware of the features. Microsoft needs to promote the capabilities of the platform while enhancing its video conferencing infrastructure. 
3. Zoom (video-first): Zoom is one of the most popular video conferencing tools, especially since the pandemic. Its performance outperforms competitors like Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Cisco Webex. Recently, Zoom has added must-have capabilities like chat, whiteboard, and even email to become an all-in-one collaboration tool. While Zoom has the potential to be a Microsoft and Google Suite alternative, it may not be easy or fast to convince its user base to switch.
4. Google Meet / Workspace (email first): Google, like Microsoft, has all the necessary tools to provide an all-in-one solution. Google Workspace is the ultimate choice for SMEs with its free and paid plans. It includes Gmail, Sheets, Docs, Slides, and Drive, which can compete with Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and SharePoint. However, Google has yet to find a way to convert from an email-first solution to a messaging-first solution. Although they have Google Chat and Google Spaces, they are not yet ready to overcome Teams. This seems to be the main problem that experience designers need to solve.
5. Discord (audio-first): Discord has a robust audio/video streaming infrastructure. However, to address enterprise needs, they should enhance their file sharing, group messaging, and collaborative enterprise meetings. They should also focus on integrations. Discord is making the right move by keeping its free plan more capable than Slack's. Additionally, they started an app directory to attract developers. With the latest investment support, they have the potential to become a key player in the market in the long run.
6. WhatsApp (message-first): After a failed experience with Facebook Workplace, I am curious about what the new Whatsapp Business will offer to enterprises. The latest features on WhatsApp, such as communities, call link sharing, profile photos, and improvements on desktop apps, as well as advanced sync between devices, may provide hints about what we can expect from the new business version. The main question here is: will it focus more on internal communications like Slack, Teams, and Google Chat, or will it aim to be the ultimate communication tool for B2C and address all kinds of e-commerce sites and online communities?

Final Words

Whether you start as a messaging app, video-conference app, or email provider, it seems that you have to offer a 360 suite like Microsoft and Google do in order to succeed. At this point, it is hard to beat these two major players since their cloud solutions (Office 365 & Google Drive) give them an asymmetric advantage over others.

Moreover, the borders between enterprise messaging apps, enterprise communication tools, and enterprise collaboration tools markets are becoming increasingly blurred. In most cases, trying to solve customers' communication problems with just one solution is not enough. This is why Slack is building its canvas solution similar to Notion, Zoom is enabling Zoom Mail, Microsoft is heavily investing in Microsoft Teams, and Meta is trying to benefit from the opportunity by adding "collaboration sauce" to WhatsApp.

It will be interesting to observe the rivalry and strategic moves among competitors regardless of where the market goes. Ultimately, I believe that remote and hybrid workers will experience more comfortable lives.

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