Salesforce, based in San Francisco in the US, was started 21 years ago and is still run by co-founder Marc Benioff. It provides software via the cloud through a subscription and has a market value of about USD 230 billion. Benioff has gradually moved to expand the company's services, now providing everything from data analysis using AI to managing staff. That has put Salesforce in more direct competition with other business-software vendors such as Microsoft, among others.
Launched in 2009, Slack is also based in San Francisco, led by co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield. It has developed instant-messaging software as an alternative to office email. Amid the coronavirus pandemic and consequent lockdowns, new Slack installations reached 1.8 million in March, a monthly record. They have so far this year gone 50 percent higher than the year before, according to Sensor Tower, which tracks app downloads. Nevertheless, the company withdrew its guidance for 2020 billings, citing ongoing uncertainty.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now
We welcome comments that add value to the discussion. We attempt to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam, and our editors frequently review the comments to ensure they are appropriate. If you see a comment that you believe is inappropriate to the discussion, you can bring it to our attention by using the report abuse links. As the comments are written and submitted by visitors of the Telecompaper website, they in no way represent the opinion of Telecompaper.