Microsoft Teams gets tighter app integration, revamped command box, slash commands, and a new Store where you can search for apps by name or integration type
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat :
Context & Ripple Effects
Teams launched in late 2016 as Microsoft's Slack competitor, differentiated by bundling with Office 365 and integrating SharePoint, PowerBI, and Skype rather than standing alone (the original launch). Within six months Microsoft had opened publishing to all developers, not just select partners (opening the Office Store to every Teams dev), which set up the problem this update addresses: with hundreds of apps available, discovery became the bottleneck.
The January 2018 changes — a searchable Store, slash commands, and a revamped command box — are the plumbing layer on top of that open-publishing decision, and they foreshadow where the platform went next: by 2020 Microsoft was letting third-party apps run inside video calls before, during, and after meetings (in-meeting app integration).
First-order effects
- Third-party Teams developers get a searchable storefront keyed by name or integration type, so discoverability — not just approval to publish — now determines which apps win attention.
- Users can drive apps directly from the command box via slash commands, pulling actions out of app tabs and into a single entry point.
Second-order effects
- Slack's app-directory advantage narrows: with search and slash commands, Teams' Office 365 bundle plus a navigable ecosystem attacks the developer-network argument Slack had been winning on.
- Enterprise software vendors face pressure to build Teams integrations first, since the Store makes the chat client the default distribution channel for workplace tools.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the team-chat client consolidates into the enterprise operating surface — the place apps are found, invoked, and eventually executed, as the later in-meeting integrations show — shifting power from standalone SaaS products to whoever controls the hub.
- Microsoft's gatekeeper role over the Store positions it to tax or rank the ecosystem, raising the same platform-dependence questions developers faced on mobile app stores.
The trend: Workplace chat platforms are evolving from messaging clients into app ecosystems and default work surfaces, with Microsoft using Office 365 bundling and storefront control to outflank Slack.