Recent reports hold that Microsoft is in talks with Yammer, looking to buyout the intra-company professional and social networking service, for around $1bn. Yammer, used by over 200,000 companies, was founded in 2008 by David Sacks, and is based out of San Francisco, California.
Other names in the corporate social network market include Jive, Chatter, and Asana. With Yammer in its basket, Microsoft would be able to integrate the features and knowledge behind the social network into its cloud-based office productivity solutions.
Of course, it is interesting to note just what a billion dollar acquisition means in today’s dot com world, where Facebook controversially bought a camera app company, for roughly the same amount.
The trend towards integrating social networking in various forms and platforms to devices, and services is now widespread, with many major companies, including Microsoft in the past (with the consumer-facing So.cl), developing said features in-house, or acquiring specialists.
At the heart of the trend is the obvious ability of the cloud to provide platforms for collaboration, sharing, and real-time communication, that is wisely not being left untapped.
According to the reports, sources close to the company claim the Microsoft-Yammer deal may be struck by tomorrow itself, so stay tuned for possible confirmation.
Source: Bloomberg