SiriusXM chooses Slack over Microsoft Teams

SiriusXM, the satellite radio juggernaut (and now-owner of Pandora), has millions of daily listeners. These days, the company doesn't only provide its popular satellite radio channels in automobiles, but essentially everywhere thanks to its mobile apps for Android and iPhone. Hell, you can listen to SiriusXM though Alexa and Google Assistant hardware these days too. Evert morning, I listen to Howard Stern on my Nest Mini by simply saying "Hey Google, Play Sirius 100." It is quite remarkable.

Obviously, such a large company has lots of employees working around the world. Enabling all these workers to easily communicate  and collaborate is essential. And so, SiriusXM chose Microsoft Teams for this, right? Actually, no. As a huge blow to Microsoft, SiriusXM instead chose Slack.

ALSO READ: Slack for desktop gets a massive speed boost

"The acquisition earlier this year of Pandora Media, the most popular music-streaming app in the U.S., expanded the employee ranks at SiriusXM. Together, SiriusXM and Pandora now reach more than 100 million people with their audio products and services. The introduction of Slack as SiriusXM's choice of technology and productivity tool is a significant part of the company’s ongoing efforts to integrate its geographically dispersed workforce," says SiriusXM.

ALSO READ: Linux users get an early Christmas gift -- Microsoft Teams

Bob Frati, SVP of Sales and Customer Success at Slack explains, "Slack is helping companies around the world transform the way they work. We're delighted that SiriusXM has chosen Slack to help break down silos, foster transparency and improve business operations. Throughout this period of change, and beyond, SiriusXM’s investment in an industry leading technology platform will be critical to its continued success. Thank you, SiriusXM, for inviting us on this incredible journey with you."

Microsoft claims that its Teams is more popular than Slack, but of course, that doesn't necessarily make it true. After all, just because a company installs Microsoft Teams on its employee workstations, it doesn't mean they are actually using it in a meaningful way. In comparison, Slack has largely grown organically, with many users actually choosing to use it because they want to. Even if Microsoft's claim is true, however, this move by SiriusXM shows the communication and collaboration wars are far from over.

Photo credit: pathdoc / Shutterstock