Microsoft to Acquire Business Software Firm Yammer for $1.2 Billion

  • According to “a person familiar with the matter,” Microsoft plans to purchase enterprise social networking company Yammer for $1.2 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal.
  • “San Francisco-based Yammer is sort of like Facebook for companies: employees can post, share, and discuss items,” explains CNET. “It’s become an integral tool for many start-ups, but it’s also big among larger businesses. More than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Yammer. If Microsoft buys Yammer, the move could help the tech titan modernize with social-enterprise tools.”
  • In addition to expanding its corporate information technology efforts, the deal could potentially help Microsoft compete against companies such as Google by strengthening its cloud computing offerings. It could also result in new social features for Microsoft Office.
  • Yammer was launched in 2008 and is one of a number of emerging companies — including Box, Jive Software and Basecamp — that are looking for creative and efficient ways to change how people approach workplace communication and collaborative projects.
  • “There is absolutely a next generation of enterprise technologies emerging, and it’s going to be the foundation of how companies work five or 10 years from now,” said Aaron Levie, co-founder and chief executive of online file-sharing start-up Box, Inc.

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