Slack vs Teams vs Google Chat — what does your Malaysian company use and why?

by Farouk Idris·May 25, 2026

Genuinely curious about the distribution. In my experience:

Microsoft Teams: Dominant in GLCs, government-linked, and traditional corporates. Often because Microsoft 365 is already the company suite and Teams comes bundled.

Slack: Common in tech startups, fintech, and companies with a strong developer culture. Often chosen deliberately for its integration ecosystem and developer-friendly culture.

Google Chat: Less common as the primary tool. Shows up in companies on Google Workspace, but rarely as the preferred communication channel even there.

WhatsApp (unofficial but real): Many Malaysian teams use WhatsApp in parallel with whatever official tool they have. The official tool for documentation and formal communication, WhatsApp for "are you in today?" and quick real-time questions.

What does your company use and was it a conscious choice or inherited?

#Slack#Teams#communication#tools#Malaysia

Comments (6)

Emmeline Ong15

Open source contributions in Malaysia are growing but still underrepresented vs our tech talent density. We need more company-supported contribution time.

Rizal Bakar18

My first open source PR was a typo fix in a README. Small but it built the confidence to contribute code three months later. Start anywhere.

Nira Ramlan11

Maintaining an open source project is different from contributing to one. The community management, documentation, and support burden is real and often underestimated.