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Microsoft Could Buy Enterprise Social Networking Company Yammer For $ 1.2 Billion
Business-software company Yammer could be bought soon by software giant Microsoft for an estimated price of US$ 1.2 Billion.
Why is Microsoft interested? Yammer allows creation of social networking hubs within companies’ own networks. Essentially it offers a platform to create internal discussion boards. So, Yammer is basically a Facebook, but for professionals within an organization. Additionally, it also has a gamut of small, office friendly applications for cloud-storage, digital messaging & office automation. Yammer claims to have over 400 of the Fortune 500 companies as its clients. Such an illustrious database of potential customers will be hard for any company to resist. Microsoft is apparently trying to bolster its offerings. With the imminent launch of its revolutionary desktop operating system Windows 8, it wants to club many services that could make it a lucrative package to buy. With acquisition of Skype, Microsoft entered the VoIP world. With the acquisition of Yammer it could enter the world of social networking. After all, its closest rival for cloud-run applications Google, already has Google+.
What makes Yammer stand-out? Employees can easily sign-up for the service using just their official e-mail id & that too without needing an approval of the IT department. However, if the IT dept. wants to have control of the office’s internal Yammer network, the company charges a fee for the same.
Microsoft need not grow inorganically by buying a software company. It has its own team to develop a platform. However, Yammer’s staff & business methodologies could teach the software giant some tricks of customer service & marketing which might be very useful for selling Windows 8. However, Yammer’s core product integrates many programs of Microsoft like Sharepoint and Dynamics CRM. Hence it could be a strategic acquisition as well.
What are your views on this? Do you think the buying price is justified?
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