Recently, we started an initiative to communicate more directly with our community and we have for now decided to leverage the newly created Adobe channel within the CFML Slack group. We invite all of our community members and users to join the Adobe discussion board if you have some feedback you would like to share or communicate to the ColdFusion team.
We will be monitoring and providing direct feedback on any questions you have, and I’ll be sure to share relevant information on upcoming ColdFusion events or plans that may be interesting.
To join slack, please sign up here: http://cfml-slack.herokuapp.com
Once you sign up you’ll receive an invite to create an account.
Then you will need to join the #adobe discussion channel which is where we’ll be participating.
The CFML Slack group is not managed by Adobe. This is a community-managed group and the Adobe team will be participating in the discussions.
Looking forward to having more community members join the discussions!
Adobe and Slack have an active Technology Partnership. There are 2,369 companies in the Adobe partner ecosystem and 1,380 companies in the Slack partner ecosystem. 80 companies exist in both ecosystems, representing 3% of the Adobe parther ecosystem and 6% of the Slack partner ecoystem. “And for Slack they go from competing with AMOSS (Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Salesforce) to joining one of them, and the company that really made the most sense for them to team up with.
© Provided by The Motley Fool Better Buy: Adobe vs. Slack
Both Adobe(NASDAQ: ADBE) and Slack (NYSE: WORK) have benefited from pandemic-driven digitization, and each has outperformed the broader market over the last 12 months. But while Adobe is up 33%, shares of Slack have surged 69%.
However, in December 2020, salesforce.com(NYSE: CRM) announced that it will acquire the collaboration specialist, though the deal isn't expected to close for another few months. That makes this showdown a little more complex (and interesting). So which one is the better buy today?
Adobe: The creativity giant
Adobe's business focuses on three strategic growth areas: digital documents, creativity, and customer experience. Given the global push toward digital solutions, management estimates the company's market opportunity will reach $147 billion by 2023.
Adobe Creative Cloud includes many well-known applications like Photoshop for image editing and Dreamweaver for website design, both of which are industry-leading solutions. But Adobe's more recent innovations have also gained traction. For instance, Adobe Spark helps brands and influencers create high-quality social media content. This ability to adapt as new media formats arise is an indicator of a well-managed business.
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Adobe Experience Cloud builds on its Creative Cloud solutions, helping brands blend content with>© Getty Images A digital network of connected person icons.
Both Microsoft and Slack have a strong presence in the business of instant messaging and internal communications markets, though Slack has a greater share of small and mid-market clients, and Microsoft Teams is more common with larger enterprises. But Microsoft's ability to bundle Teams with Microsoft 365 subscriptions gives the company a big advantage. It's much simpler for clients to use a product they already have, and many businesses using Microsoft 365 already have Teams.
Despite this, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is optimistic about the merger. The company plans to revamp its Salesforce Customer 360 platform, making Slack the new user interface. Salesforce will also integrate Slack's functionality into its own customer relationship management (CRM) software, making it easier for employees, customers, and partners to connect and communicate. This could strengthen Salesforce's already-strong position in various markets, from customer service and sales to marketing and analytics. In fact, Salesforce estimates that the acquisition will drive revenue growth to $50 billion by fiscal 2026.
Like Adobe, Salesforce is a well-run business with a big market opportunity -- $175 billion by 2025, according to management. Moreover, Salesforce generates more revenue and is growing more quickly than Adobe, though its operating margin is considerably lower. In fact, over the last five years, the company's operating margin has never topped 6%. As a result, Salesforce is much less profitable than Adobe.
Adobe Launch Slack Channel
Metric | 2016 | Q3 2021 (TTM) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
Revenue | $6.7 billion | $20.3 billion | 204% |
Free Cash Flow | $962 million | $3.6 billion | 270% |
Slackware Adobe Flash
What Is Slack
Data source: Salesforce SEC Filings. Note: Q3 2021 ended Oct. 31, 2020. TTM = trailing 12 months.
Investors should watch the Salesforce and Slack merger closely. Blending two businesses can be tricky, but it can also create revenue synergies and operating efficiencies. Moreover, Salesforce acquired Tableau in 2019 to boost its analytics capabilities, and so far that merger has been a success. If the company can pull off a repeat here, it could help supercharge growth.
The final word
In a contest between Adobe and Slack, Adobe wins. Slack has a sticky product and a growing user base, but it doesn't make sense to buy the stock now, since the share price of Salesforce is the only variable. Moreover, Adobe has an enormous runway for growth, and the company's industry-leading software tools and highly profitable business set Adobe up for long-term success.
Slackware Adobe Flash Player
That being said, Salesforce is also an innovative, quickly growing business, and the acquisition of Slack could unlock new opportunities for the company. For that reason, I don't think investors can go wrong picking up a few shares of both Adobe and Salesforce.
Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Trevor Jennewine owns shares of Adobe Systems. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Adobe Systems, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, and Slack Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
SPONSORED:Adobe Analytics Slack
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