Slack Etlyons Theverge Confirmed It Suffered a Widespread Outage Monday Morning but Resolved Most Problems as of 3pm Et, Except for Some Integrations and Email Notifications

If you’re like me, you eagerly await updates on everything from the latest Netflix series to changes in company policies. When Slack Etlyons Theverge announced Monday morning that it had suffered a widespread outage, I was disappointed but not surprised. The team’s history and recent moves do warrant some concern.

Slack confirmed it suffered a widespread outage Monday morning but resolved most problems as of 3pm ET, except for some integrations and email notifications.

In the 80s and 90s, I worked with a company called Expertcity . It was a leading provider of computer-aided software design tools that enabled companies to build data-rich web applications. The products were used by companies such as Dell, Oracle, IBM, eBay and

• Microsoft. Their products sold for upwards of $10,000 per copy.
• One could argue that Expertcity was the equivalent to Slack.

During my time at Expertcity, our primary business model was to retain as many paying customers as possible so we could grow a healthy and large base of customers. We also used the cost savings from our small sales force to improve the company’s margins and profit margins.

In the early 90s, Microsoft entered the security market with a new class of product called “server-based intrusion detection system.
When we saw this new threat, we decided to start a new security division at Expertcity. It was an attempt to diversify the company’s revenue streams and plan for the future.

Our logic was that large companies were very slow to upgrade their legacy applications and operating systems. They needed stability and continuity in the products they use today so they can focus on technology innovations tomorrow. This could be a potential long-term win for us.

However, this new division needed a champion who had a background in security, strong engineering experience and previous success building products. When I suggested my colleague Mike Kupfer as the new leader of the division, everyone was skeptical. Mike had neither security nor engineering experience and was known for writing code like “,” and “:”

Being the only engineer in the company with managerial experience, I was asked to lead an evaluation team to see if he would be a good fit.

Mike didn’t have a lot of management experience, but in the short time I worked with him on this new project, I was impressed. He had a very clear vision for where he wanted to take the company. What’s more, he was able to get his new team excited about his vision.

After a few weeks of working together, Mike and I were convinced that we had made the right decision. The product was shaping up very nicely and Mike had learned quite a bit about security during this process. We thought he would be a great leader for the division.

During this time, our CEO went on vacation while the rest of us were in a heated debate over whether to include the latest Microsoft operating system (Windows NT) in our software offerings. Our CEO came back from vacation, asked what was keeping him so busy and if we had made any progress on his projects. Mike proudly told him about our new Security Division and how we were now ready to take on the Microsoft intrusion detection teams.