Salesforce's $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack leaves the SaaS market with lingering questions.

• How will both platforms play off their strengths to increase their market share?
• What integration capabilities are decision-makers expecting?
• Does Microsoft offer a counter to Salesforce's bid to expand its enterprise use through a wildly popular collaboration tool?

The ascension of "Slackforce" closes a chapter on Slack's long-term play, as pundits questioned its growth potential following its direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange last year.

Though its stock performance was less than stellar over 18 months, Salesforce paid a premium for Slack, which signals potential for more value and benefits from integration.

Still, enterprise technology users may not immediately see the promised value in a more integrated platform. Mergers and acquisitions pose their own share of challenges, including integration costs and staffing. They also create critical cybersecurity implications. With more workers shifting to a remote environment, the attack surface and value of digital business platforms has increased.

The pandemic drew growth in the collaboration space, with 81% of businesses using business chat apps such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, according to data from Spiceworks Ziff Davis. The stat marks an increase from 67% in 2019, as the presence of collaboration in the SaaS market expands. 

In the year ahead, productivity will drive SaaS market priorities, with investments into emerging trend dipping lower in CIOs' radars.

Here's a quick recap of CIO Dive's coverage of Slack and Salesforce. Have questions or thoughts around the acquisition and its implications for enterprise software? Email us at [email protected].