Slack’s EKM and enterprise features won big clients

Slack secured major clients like IBM and Oracle by integrating key enterprise-ready features such as EKM, SAML SSO, and audit logs, addressing large organizations' security and compliance concerns.

Read on to learn more about: 

• How enterprise readiness helped Slack secure large deals
• The features that make a SaaS product enterprise-ready
• How WorkOS can help you get enterprise-ready

Let’s see how your SaaS can follow in Slack's footsteps to scale up the market.

How enterprise readiness helped Slack secure large deals

Slack’s success in securing large enterprise deals came from building enterprise-ready functionality into its app. Features like Slack’s EKM, SAML SSO, SCIM, and audit logs addressed enterprises' major concerns around data protection, compliance, and integration. 

For example, integrating with identity providers made it easy for companies to manage user authentication and provisioning using their existing IT systems. Additionally, audit logs tracked user activity, providing the visibility needed for compliance.

By tackling these enterprise needs head-on, Slack removed many barriers that typically slow down sales and made it harder for enterprises to say no.

Security: Slack EKM and certifications

Enterprise clients need more than security, and they need proof. Certifications like SOC 2, ISO, and HIPAA are often required to start conversations with big clients.

Slack is a poster child for having all of the badges: ISO, SOC 2, and 3, etc. It can also be configured for HIPAA and FINRA compliance.

They’re all clearly laid out on the company’s dedicated security page.

However, certifications must be paired with advanced security features like Slack’s EKM to truly meet enterprise expectations.

Slack’s EKM feature lets enterprise users integrate their AWS KMS accounts with Slack to manage their encryption keys and the scopes for encryption (messages that disappear after an hour, etc.).

If you want to break into the enterprise market, consider investing in similar certifications.

Authentication

Slack’s success in the enterprise space started with solid authentication features. They support SAML-based SSO (Security Assertion Markup Language) for over 10 identity providers, including Okta, OneLogin, and Auth0. 

You can configure Slack SAML SSO for natively supported providers or even build a custom SAML connection.

For other SaaS companies, integrating SAML SSO and SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management) is necessary to attract large clients. These features let you fit into a company’s security framework, making your product easier to sell. Plus, having clear, helpful API documentation — like Slack did — can turn a basic requirement into a competitive advantage, showing that you’re ready to meet customers' needs.

Audit logs

Audit logs are just as important. They give a detailed history of everything users do in your app. Slack audit logs offer a read-only REST API that lets developers query any user activity with a semi-standard schema for each event. 

Here are some examples of events that Slack includes in its Event API: workspace_created, emoji_added, pref_allow_calls, and ekm_key_added. You can monitor these events through Slack.

These logs are critical for compliance, and If you’re aiming for enterprise clients, you need to offer the same level of transparency.

Role-based access controls

Another key enterprise-ready feature Slack supports is RBAC or role-based access controls. Slack’s RBAC allows administrators to control exactly who has access to what within the app. This includes setting up different user roles like org owner, org admin, and workspace admin — each with unique permissions. Enterprise users can also customize permissions for each role.

For SaaS companies, offering granular RBAC means you can meet the diverse needs of large organizations. Enterprises want to be able to customize permissions down to the user level, and if you can provide that flexibility, you’re much more likely to win their business.

Slack’s communication and pricing wins

A big part of Slack’s enterprise success wasn’t just about the features but how they communicated those features. They built a dedicated landing page for Enterprise Grid, positioning it as a solution specifically for “extra-large businesses” and replacing the usual “get started” button with a “contact sales” call to action. 

There’s also a dedicated landing page for security with a list of certifications and a data sheet with more granular information on Slack’s architecture and security compliance. Slack also built a landing page for EKM, ran a webinar about it, and wrote a blog post about it in five different languages.

Make it easy for potential clients to see why your product is the best choice for their security and compliance needs. Build a landing page that speaks directly to enterprise customers, emphasizing the features they care about most, like SSO or SCIM.

Learn more: Understanding users and choosers through customer advisory boards with Slack VP Ilan Frank.

Key features that make a SaaS product enterprise-ready, like Slack

Read on if you’d like to learn from Slack’s EKM success. Here are the key features that make a SaaS product truly enterprise-ready:

• SSO Authentication: Enterprises require SSO Authentication to centralize user management and enhance security. With SAML SSO and OAuth 2.0 support, you can integrate seamlessly with identity providers like Okta and Microsoft Entra.
• SCIM Support: This service automates user provisioning and de-provisioning by syncing data from SCIM-compliant identity providers. This ensures up-to-date user management without manual effort, which is crucial for enterprise integration.
• Audit Logs: Provide detailed tracking of user actions and permission changes, ensuring complete visibility for compliance and security requirements. Offering customizable and exportable logs enhances trust with enterprise clients.
• Compliance Certifications (SOC 2, ISO, HIPAA) are essential for enterprise deals. Achieving SOC 2, ISO, or HIPAA certification signals that your product meets high data security and privacy standards, which enterprises expect during procurement.
• Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC): Granular RBAC customization allows enterprises to assign permissions based on job roles, ensuring that only the right people can access sensitive areas of your app.

How WorkOS helps SaaS companies become enterprise-ready

Here’s how WorkOS can help you quickly scale your SaaS product to attract and retain large clients:

Directory Sync

One of the biggest challenges with directory integrations is dealing with different SCIM implementations — each provider tends to have its quirks. Directory Sync provides a unified solution that you can use to integrate your app with any SCIM-compliant identity providers like Okta, Google Workspace, or Microsoft Entra. 

The WorkOS’s Events API means every SCIM request is processed in order and real-time. So, you’ll never miss a provisioning request from your customers’ IdPs.

Enterprise-grade SSO

WorkOS simplifies SSO integration by providing pre-built SSO connections to popular identity providers like Okta and Microsoft Entra, so you don’t need to build SSO integrations from scratch. It also has full support for custom SAML/OIDC connections, making it adaptable to any enterprise customer.

Faster onboarding

Setting up SSO and SCIM integrations typically involves exchanging technical details with your customers, such as SSO metadata URLs, SCIM endpoint URLs, OAuth credentials, and API keys, for secure communication.

This process can include verifying configurations, adjusting attribute mappings, and ensuring that SCIM schemas match between systems. This can lead to multiple rounds of back-and-forth to get everything working smoothly.

With WorkOS, you can speed up this onboarding process by directly sending an Admin Portal link to your customers and having them configure the integration themselves. This streamlined setup makes your product more attractive to enterprise clients who value efficiency and ease of use.

Customizable, strongly-typed, and exportable audit logs

WorkOS Audit Logs offer a real-time, detailed record of user actions. It’s easy to get started. Define what you want to track — actions, targets, and metadata — directly through the WorkOS Dashboard. From there, use the SDKs to send this information to the Audit Log API in just a few lines of code.

The logs are fully searchable, filterable, and exportable, making it easy to find precisely what you want. You can also set custom retention periods to comply with customer data policies. WorkOS even integrates with popular SIEM tools like Splunk, letting your clients merge their audit data into their existing security workflows. Even better, they can configure these integrations through the WorkOS Admin Portal.

Compliant with industry standards 

Security is a top priority at WorkOS, and it includes annual third-party penetration tests, external code audits, and industry-standard encryption (AES-256 for data at rest and HTTPS/TLS for data in transit). For healthcare clients, WorkOS can sign HIPAA Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) under enterprise plans.

WorkOS is also SOC 2 Type 2 and SOC 3 certified and fully GDPR and CCPA compliant, making it easier for you to meet key security and data privacy requirements.

Pricing that makes sense

Unlike competitors who price by monthly active users, WorkOS charges a flat rate for each company you onboard — whether they bring 10 or 10,000 SSO users to your app.

With SDKs in every popular language, easy-to-follow documentation, and Slack-based support, you can implement enterprise-grade features in minutes rather than weeks.

With WorkOS, SaaS companies can scale quickly, bypassing the time-consuming development of features like SSO, SCIM, and audit logs — all essential for landing larger enterprise deals.

Sign up for WorkOS today, and start selling to enterprise customers tomorrow.