Microsoft has reinforced the case for online social networking as a practical business tool by acquiring enterprise collaboration company Yammer for an estimated $1.2 billion.
Often described as the “Facebook of business,” Yammer positions itself as a platform that brings the familiar benefits of social networking into the workplace. It enables employees to communicate and share updates quickly through Facebook-style newsfeeds, encouraging faster collaboration and information flow across teams.
The acquisition aligns with Microsoft’s strategy to expand its cloud-based services and strengthen its position against competitors such as Google, especially in the productivity and office software market. While the purchase price is substantial, it is modest compared with Microsoft’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype the previous year.
Microsoft plans to integrate Yammer into Office 365 and other applications, with a focus on cloud delivery. As CEO Steve Ballmer explained to the press, “Think of Yammer as a fundamental part of our Office family.” That integration aims to combine Yammer’s social collaboration features with Microsoft’s broader suite of productivity tools.
Although Yammer does not match the user counts of mainstream consumer social networks, it has achieved notable penetration in the corporate sector. The company reports that employees at roughly 85% of Fortune 500 companies are using the service.
Yammer operates on a freemium model, offering a basic free tier alongside premium plans that provide additional features for a monthly fee.
Other enterprise social collaboration tools—such as Salesforce’s Chatter and products from Jive Software—have also grown rapidly in recent years. Organizations have increasingly adopted these platforms because employees tend to collaborate and innovate more effectively when using familiar social interfaces.
In a blog post titled “Yammer’s Next Chapter,” founder David Sacks said the acquisition would “massively accelerate our vision to change the way work gets done with software that is built for the enterprise and loved by users.”
Microsoft has stated it will continue to develop Yammer as a standalone service while also integrating it with SharePoint and the company’s other collaboration offerings. This dual approach is intended to preserve Yammer’s strengths as a specialized social collaboration platform while enabling deeper interoperability with Microsoft’s productivity ecosystem.
Ballmer emphasized the strategic importance of the deal, saying, “The acquisition of Yammer underscores our commitment to deliver technology that businesses need and people love.”
As Microsoft brings its resources and engineering to bear on Yammer’s platform, users and organizations can expect closer integration with Office 365 workflows, enhanced security and compliance features tailored for enterprises, and continued investment in usability and mobile access. For businesses considering social collaboration tools, the acquisition signals that these capabilities will play an increasingly central role within mainstream productivity suites.
Have you used Yammer or other online collaboration platforms? What improvements or features would you expect from Microsoft as it further develops Yammer within its product family?