Tencent Holdings Ltd. has launched the Qiye Wexin app, a work-specific platform targeting the enterprise sector. The launch is part of the company's efforts to gain a bigger edge over its closest rival, Alibaba, in the burgeoning enterprise software space.
Also known as Enterprise WeChat, the app allows basic chat messages, similar to what Facebook Messenger and WeChat currently offer. But what set it apart from other messaging platforms are its functions specifically targeted at businesspeople.
The app lets users clock in and out, make leave requests and log expenses that have to be reimbursed.
This platform puts Tencent in direct competition with Alibaba, China Daily said.
The e-commerce giant's own office-oriented app called DingTalk was launched last year, underscoring its intention to dominate China's business software market.
"The enterprise software market is still taking shape. The sooner Tencent jumps in to the market, the more time it will have to build its reputation and cultivate users," Analysys International's Ma Shicong said in an interview with China Daily.
Alibaba is marketing its app as a platform that will "return office to work," taking a subtle swipe at WeChat's messaging app that could often bring distraction to employees while at work.
A recent promotional video by Alibaba even portrayed WeChat as a source of distraction, stress and tardiness at work, observed The Wall Street Journal.
One of the problems raised amid WeChat's popularity is the convergence of business and personal lives of users.
"Many Chinese have stopped exchanging business cards and cellphone numbers, preferring to add each other as WeChat friends," said the WSJ.
This brought opportunity for Alibaba to launch a work-only app that will draw the line between business and leisure.
But despite Alibaba's first-mover advantage, Tencent still has enough time to catch up with its solid foundation as a messaging company.
"It is not difficult for cash-thirsty small enterprises to use such apps because the cost for them to develop their own office automation systems is high," Ma was quoted as saying by China Daily.
"But convincing deep-pocketed companies to use apps provided by third-party developers remains a challenge due to concerns over information security," the analyst cautioned.