1. Microsoft Teams Slackware
2. Microsoft Teams Versus Slack
3. Microsoft Teams Slack Comparison
4. Why Use Microsoft Teams
5. Microsoft Teams Vs Slack Comparison
6. Export Slack To Microsoft Teams
7. Microsoft Teams Slack Integration

7 Ways to Connect Microsoft Teams and Slack in 2021

Like a CRM, Microsoft Teams is essentially a connector. It brings together under one roof email, files (including documents and spreadsheets) and a group calendar. Like Slack and others, you can.

Microsoft Teams and Slack both encrypt data, messages, and files, in transit and at rest. They also both enforce team-wide and organization-wide two-factor authentication. Beyond that, Microsoft. Integrate Microsoft Teams in Slack Microsoft rarely blocks third-party tools or services, even if they compete directly with its own products. In this case, Microsoft Teams has an official app that you can use to integrate Microsoft Teams in Slack. In order to set everything up you need.

This post exists to answer the question: Does Microsoft Teams integrate with Slack?

We know chat must be native, seamless, and simple to administer. But with both Microsoft Teams and Slack dominating the team collaboration market, enterprises using both apps need to connect Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Most notably, we hear from customers that were thinking about moving from Slack to Microsoft Teams or blocking Slack in favor of Microsoft Teams, and vice versa.

Does Microsoft teams integrate with Slack?

Rather than continue working in silos, we’ve highlighted 7 ways to connect Slack and Microsoft Teams then gone out and found a better one for internal use and a better one for external use.

1 – Connect Slack and Microsoft Teams without introducing a new chat client

Native federation

Pros:

There are services in the marketplace that allow you to federate with other enterprises via their own chat client, but this doesn’t resolve the issue of multiple chat platforms in a single organization.

It does, however, bring them together in a slightly improved chat client.

Natively, apps like Skype for Business also provide this functionality. Skype for Business users just need to turn on the federation facility within their Office 365 admin portal.

Cons:

Some UC providers have started to introduce cross-platform messaging into their collaboration offerings.

Whilst this does remedy the issue of switching between multiple apps, the solution here is to totally replace the solution you are already invested in.

You can message any number of other businesses using most chat apps. But, this comes with the disadvantage of giving up the native app that everybody uses.

Guest access

Pros:

Take the typical example where your engineering team loves Slack and your IT and Sales teams prefer Teams.

Guest access on both platforms allows external parties to join in the conversation, but access is limited.

Cons:

Removing either (or both) of Slack and Microsoft Teams, in favor of a catch-all UC solution, almost always results in using Slack and Teams for some services.

Obviously, this is the ideal scenario for the UC provider. However, they may not always be the best fit for the business.

Moving your messaging stack to a new product could still leave you heavily invested in Microsoft Office 365 – a waste of a powerful app already paid for in your Office 365 strategy.

2 – Configure webhooks for Slack & Microsoft Teams

Pros:

By using webhooks, you have a low-cost solution to a complex enterprise issue.

Webhooks also take little time to configure per scenario. If the issue exists in a single channel, webhooks are a good solution to a large scale problem.

Cons:

The downside to using webhooks revolves around the amount of manual configuration required.

Microsoft Teams Slackware

When you are dealing with multiple channels in an enterprise scenario, webhooks are simply not scalable.

They also don’t tend to display in a native way, and instead, from a bot.

End users have to re-train behavior in order to message cross-platform, and who has time for that? You? Didn’t think so.

In an organization of a few hundred or more, remembering who uses what platform becomes impossible to mentally track.

News also broke in April 2020 when it was discovered some Slack webhooks has been exposed as potential phishing hooks.

Researchers said there are nearly 131,000 Slack webhook URLs available on the Internet.

3 – Use APIs & bots to connect Slack & Microsoft Teams

Pros:

Bots for Slack and Microsoft Teams are on the rise. Bots can be leveraged to create a more native experience.

Microsoft publishes a Slack connector in its connector inventory that enables some Slack and Microsoft Teams crossover.

You will benefit from functionality like joining a Slack channel and can even set triggers for certain events.

However, limited functionality stops experiments pretty quickly. For example, direct messaging goes totally unmentioned.

Cons:

Most users, especially in the enterprise space, are still in the experimental phase in terms of users being comfortable using them.

One Github community working on a tool to connect Slack and Microsoft Teams expressed concerns that various API and migration tools are limited to basic functionality.

Most of these solutions are still configuration based.

This means you will spend incredible time and resource making each channel work for you – and maintain this configuration as you add and modify channels.

4 – Create your own app using an app builder

Pros:

Generally, app builders are simple to use.

With a no-code approach, you don’t need to hire a specialist engineer to connect Slack and Microsoft Teams

You can get a free trial to play around with your requirements.

Most app builders support a wide range of apps to integrate like Slack, Google Sheets, and Trello.

Cons:

Functionality is limited by the supported features available on a particular app builder.

One user got in touch with Mio for a replacement solution to using an app builder stating:

“I tried an app builder but it was too limited. Threads didn’t work, and users name matching was absent. “

The functionality will also be limited by your own building skills and requirements gathering.

While support is available with most app builders, it is considered a DIY approach to connecting Slack and Microsoft Teams.

5 – Slack and Microsoft Teams calling integration

The integration between Slack and Microsoft Teams VoIP functionality arrived as part of a comprehensive update at Enterprise Connect, April 2020.

Pros:

The update allows for Microsoft Teams calls to start through Slack. You can access the integration through the shortcuts button on Slack. This lightning-bolt shaped icon near your message input field allows you to start a Teams call instantly.

If you prefer the Slash command option on Slack, then you can opt for the /Teams-Calls to launch your Teams call from Slack instead.

Cons:

Unfortunately, the Slack and Teams calling integration is limited. It only connects one aspect of Slack and Microsoft Teams.

You can start a call through Microsoft Teams in Slack this way, but you can’t send instant messages or send files from someone on Slack to someone on Teams.

Tom Arbuthnot, Principal Solutions Architect at Modality Systems and Microsoft MVP, agrees the Slack and Teams calling integration is not a complete solution for connecting Slack and Microsoft Teams.

“The Slack “integration” to Microsoft Teams, while clever, is really just Microsoft Teams meeting join link in Slack that fires up Microsoft Teams to join the Teams meeting.”

Users often ask for further integration like being able to directly call or chat from one platform to another.

Team collaboration tools should allow access to a wide range of communication options. That makes the latest integration restrictive. After all, there’s a lot more to Slack and Microsoft Teams than just calling.

In an interview for UC Today, our CEO Tom Hadfield commented on news of the integration:

“The future of intercompany collaboration relies on full interoperability between Slack and Microsoft Teams. Cross-platform calling is a good start, but our customers tell us what they really need is cross-platform shared channels and direct messaging.”

6 – Use the Microsoft Graph API to migrate Slack to Teams

Microsoft is working on a migration API to help IT managers and Microsoft admins migrate chats from Slack to Teams.

As of September 2020, Microsoft has made documentation available and certain tenants can sign up to the beta program.

In theory, Microsoft wants to allow Slack messages to be migrated over to Teams without a delay or break in service and/or conversation.

The in-scope and out-of-scope items are included below:

Pros:

Previous attempts to migrate Slack to Teams have resulted in a loss of historical data and messages. The new migration API changes that.

As Tom Morgan, Product Innovation Architect at Modality Systems, pointed out his blog, an organization might be moving from Slack to Teams but have 5+ years worth of message history in Slack.

Previously, in this scenario, there have been workarounds that result in a disjointed and almost unworkable experience. With the migration API, theoretically, all messages and message information should be transferred over.

For businesses who decide they must migrate from Slack to Teams, instead of choosing interoperability between the two apps, this is the most likely option of keeping your Slack users happy.

Cons:

Microsoft Teams Versus Slack

A game changer for most businesses is that messages can only be imported into public channels. If you plan to use private channels, Microsoft doesn’t offer support for this.

One further restriction is the lack of support for backups.

As documented by Tony Redmond, Principal at Redmond & Associates and Author of the Office 365 for IT Pros Book, this process doesn’t include a backup.

“The lack of a backup and restore API for Teams that covers team structure and content is regrettable. Because Teams is interconnected with the rest of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, it is a difficult application to backup. But that’s no reason for Microsoft to ignore the need.”

Tom Morgan also pointed out that the whole process made his head hurt.

“It’s a ‘behind the curtain’ operation that changes how I think about Teams messages. These aren’t operations for the every day, but if you need to migrate over messages from third-party systems into Microsoft Teams, these API calls will give you the power you need to achieve it. Just, make sure you don’t break any other parts of the delicate balance of time and space whilst you’re at it.”

7 – Federation to connect to external guests across Slack and Teams

Do you communicate with people outside your organization as well?

According to research, they’ll likely be using Slack or Microsoft Teams, but not necessarily the same as you.

Microsoft Teams Slack Comparison

It’s hard to chat with freelancers, contractors, and suppliers when you’re not on the same platform.

When this is the case, it becomes extremely unproductive moving out of your app to accommodate your guest.

Or even worse, end up resorting to email like it’s the 90s. (Okay, email has a purpose but you get the point).

That’s why Mio has created universal channels for Microsoft Teams with Slack.

You can stay in Teams and send messages to your contractors, suppliers, or clients that use Slack.

They stay in their platform too and Mio translates the messages across platform.

And it’s not just messages that are supported! GIFs, emojis, channels, DMs, and message edits/deletes are all supported.

Why Use Microsoft Teams

If this sounds like something you need, try your first universal channel for free here. Your first three are completely free.

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This article walks you through the journey of moving to Microsoft Teams from Slack.

When planning your organization’s move to Teams from Slack, it's important to decide what you need to keep (if anything). We'll start off by describing what types of data can be migrated and then walk you through how to assess your needs, plan your move, and then make the move.

The diagram below shows the Slack architecture at a high level.

Plan your migration from Slack

What you can and can’t migrate

Your Slack service plan will determine what you can and can’t migrate. For example, some Slack service plans only let you export public channels history and files, other require a DocuSign request to include Private Channels and Direct Messages.

To determine your Slack Workspace service level, log into Slack and note your plan type on the About this Workspace page.

To learn more about Slack export options, go to the Slack website: https://get.slack.help/hc/articles/204897248-Guide-to-Slack-import-and-export-tools

The diagram below gives you a high-level look at the Slack migration landscape that we’ll cover in this article.

When you're done with this section, you should understand:

• The service level of your Slack Workspaces
• What can and can't be exported
• Common approaches to exporting

Assess your Slack workspaces

Before you can plan your organization’s migration plan, you need to pull together some information about your Slack workspaces. Understanding how your Slack workspaces are being used helps you determine the scope of your migration. For example, how many workspaces are being moved? Are they used by a specific department, many, or in use by an entire organization?

If you’re a member of the Slack Workspaces you want to migrate, you can analyze the usage yourself by going to .slack.com/stats. Review the Channels and Members tabs to look for usage patterns. Decide which workspaces you want to migrate (and which ones you want to leave behind).

Note

If you don’t have access to the stats page, you’re not an admin or owner.

Export Channels

In Slack, users join a channel which is part of a Slack Workspace, whereas in Teams users join a team which is a collection of channels. We recommend that you use Slack analytics to see how much activity happens in each channel to help you decide which channels to move. You’ll use the resulting list to figure out how to group your Slack channels into teams in Teams as well as who should be members of each team.

Microsoft Teams Vs Slack Comparison

If you have a paid Slack service plan (anything other than Free), you can use Slack’s analytics (.slack.com/admin/stats#channels) to see how active a channel is, when it was last used, and how many people are members. This can help you decide whether to migrate the channel.By default, public channels content (messages and files) can be exported. Depending on your Slack service plan and whether you’ve requested Private Channels and Direct Messages from Slack, those can be exported.

Export Slack To Microsoft Teams

To learn more about Slack export options, go to the Slack website: https://get.slack.help/hc/articles/204897248-Guide-to-Slack-import-and-export-tools

Important

Check your organization’s privacy and compliance requirements around channel data. Your organization may have compliance requirements around the handling, storage, and processing of this data, in addition to complying with the lifecycle of end-user identifiable content (EUII).

Export Direct Messages

Direct Messages are the same as chats in Teams, which are 1:1 or 1-to-many non-channel conversations. Export-ability depends on your Slack service plan and if you’ve requested Direct Messages to be included in your Slack Export. Teams doesn’t support importing Direct messages currently. Consult a Microsoft partner to learn about third-party solutions you can explore that bring Direct Messages content into Teams.

For exporting Direct Messages, check out tools, such as Export, in the Slack App Store.

Apps and custom integrations

Apps in Slack are like apps in Teams. Once you have a list of apps and their configurations in the Workspace, you can search in the Teams App store to see if they’re available for Teams*.

Go to .slack.com/apps/manage to get a list of Apps and Custom Integrations. This page also shows you the number of configurations where each app is in use.Custom Integrations vary in their “migrate-ability.” If it’s a Web Hook, you can usually send it to a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 Connector to shift the workflow into Teams. Assess bots and other apps on a case-by-case basis to plan for moving them to Teams.

* If your administrator has restricted apps usage, you may not be looking at the full list of available apps.

Users

The identity schemes you used in Slack might not map directly to Microsoft 365 or Office 365. For example, the email addresses of your Slack users may not map to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 work or school accounts. You should create a user-ID map before you start planning your Teams rollout.

If you’re on a paid Slack service plan, you can go to .slack.com/admin/stats#members to get member details such as email address and account type for each user (for example, single vs. multi-channel guest).

Here’s a script you can use to compare email addresses from a Slack export against Azure AD to help solve for name ambiguity. It’ll also report if the user is enabled for Teams. If you need help with PowerShell, read Get started with Azure PowerShell.

When you’re done with this section, you should have:

• A list of Channels per Workspace with usage statistics.
• A list of Slack Apps with configurations per channel.
• Determined what type of Slack message history you want to export (if any).
• A list of users whose Slack accounts map to Microsoft work or school accounts and which Teams license they have.

Plan your Teams deployment

You’ve exported what you need from Slack (and left behind anything you don’t need). Now it’s time to plan how you’ll roll out Teams and import your Slack data. This is a great opportunity to assess what's worked well for the team based on usage and include those elements in your Teams deployment plan. At the end of this section, you’ll have a blueprint for your Teams users, channels, and apps.

The diagram below gives you a high-level outline of the things you’ll address in your Teams deployment.

Team and channel structure

A Slack Workspace may represent a single team, multiple teams or an entire organization. It’s important to understand the scope of the Workspaces as you determine the structure. The closest relationship to a Teams team in Slack is the Workspace, which contains a collection of channels. The diagram below demonstrates 3 different Slack-to-Teams mappings, and guidance for picking the right one for each Workspace.

Third-party solutions have usage statistics to help you assess how active the channel is and how many posts there are. Typically, channels that are frequently used would be candidates to include in your team planning.

Tip

Retain only what is required in your approach to determine which channels to recreate in Teams. To learn more, read Overview of teams and channels.

Team Planning

Using the Channel inventory you compiled in the Planning section above, work with your Slack owners and admins to figure out which channels should become teams and which ones should become channels in a team. Use either Excel or PowerBI to help with this analysis - both can provide additional insights to help drive these discussions on which channels to retain.

Tip

Teams currently has a 200-channel limit per team. If your list of channels is getting close to that limit, you should figure out a way to split them into two separate teams.

Channel History

There are both free solutions on GitHub and paid solutions you can use, depending on your organization’s requirements to retain Channel History of Public and Private channels. Additionally, this could be scripted into Teams.

Once you’ve set up your new team and channel structure in Teams, you can copy the exported files into the appropriate document libraries in your Teams channels.

To automate the importing of your content, there are several approaches you can consider. There are free solutions on GitHub (ChannelSurf or Slack Export Viewer) and partner solutions. Choose a solution based on your organization’s needs.

Channel Files

Most solutions will export files. However, they’re typically provided as links in the Channel History that require an API key to programmatically retrieve.

For files stored in Slack, once you’ve set up your teams and channels in Teams, you can programmatically copy them from Slack into the target Teams channel.

The following script retrieves files from Slack. It searches the specified Slack export on your computer, creates a folder in each target channel, and downloads all of the files to that location. Third-party solutions exist that can extract data. If you need help with PowerShell, read Get started with Azure PowerShell.

Apps and Custom Integrations

Microsoft Teams Slack Integration

Review your list of Slack apps and custom integrations (with configurations) and decide which ones you want to move to Teams. Check the Teams Marketplace to see if an app is available. If not, there are likely alternatives.

To figure out which apps to add to Teams, it’s important to understand how the app is being used. By asking the question 'what functionality is the app providing to this channel?', you'll learn about the outcome the app is delivering.

In many cases, apps primarily receive event-driven data from an external service (for example, monitoring system) and push a message into Slack. You can achieve the same outcome by using a Microsoft 365 Connector that can push messages into Teams based on events.

Below are examples of Slack solutions where a Microsoft 365 Connector was used in Teams for integration.

• Ansible
  • Alerts can be sent to Teams via Ansible webhook
• New Relic
  • Check out this user solution for sending New Relic alerts to Teams
• Nagios
  • Alerts can be integrated today via Connectors. https://github.com/isaac-galvan/nagios-teams-notify
• ZenDesk
  • App exists in Teams Store
• Jenkins
  • Alerts can be sent to Teams using Jenkins’s Office 365 Connector

User readiness and adoption plan

The cornerstone of any successful software deployment hinges on how prepared users are for the change. Users in your organization using Slack will easily understand Teams concepts, but training is still needed to help them make a smooth transition. For a comprehensive set of Teams adoption resources, go to the Teams adoption hub.

For example, both products feature channels, but they’re used differently in each product. For example, often a Channel in Slack is used like a chat in Teams for short-term, transactional conversations. Other notable differences are around threaded/non-threaded conversations and tuning notification settings.

Check out our rich library of End-user Teams video training.

Move to Teams

Now that your transition plan is defined, you can begin creating your teams and channels in Teams.

Once you’ve created your teams & channels, begin copying files from Slack channels into Teams and configuring your apps. If you’re using a solution to retain history, that can be configured now as well. Then you’re ready to start licensing users (if they aren’t licensed already) and adding them to the appropriate teams. To reduce the need for additional exports and file copies, consider removing Slack access at an agreed-upon date that coincides with each user’s addition to the team. This avoids needing to re-export and import delta changes on files and history.

Follow the steps in the diagram below to roll out Teams in your organization. For more information, check out How to roll out Teams.