Slack's messaging service sets sights on big businesses

Slack Technologies, a fast-growing startup trying to wean businesses off email by hooking employees on its more informal messaging service, is now hoping to snare the world's biggest companies as customers.

A new product called "Enterprise Grid," is designed to enable workers in different departments to communicate more easily with each other. It's another step toward Slack's ambitious goal of making life at work "simpler, more pleasant and more productive."

Slack has become a popular way for teams of employees to communicate with each other, but those workers haven't been able to quickly connect with other company departments. Reaching colleagues in different Slack channels typically required employees to maintain different profiles.

Enterprise Grid will enable workers in different Slack channels to message each other without hopscotching across the service.