14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant Microsoft announced about a month ago plans to purchase Yammer, a social networking startup.
The company was interested in Yammer's social features for enterprises, which will be integrated into its own offer in the area, Office 365.
These services are currently offered for free for business workers, though a series of tools and features that come along with the social networking come with a specific cost for IT departments interested in taking advantage of them.
This so-called "freemium" model will remain in place even after the aforementioned purchase is completed, David Sacks, CEO of Yammer, told Wired.
Through keeping in place the same availability model, adoption of the service should be encouraged, he said, adding that Microsoft’s own tools in the segment might see a boost in usage as well.
“Everybody has shifted to this model because it’s so compelling to let the end users try the software before [businesses] buy it,” Sacks reportedly stated.
“We’re going to look to see if Yammer can keep fueling its own growth — but fuel the growth of Office 365.”
Microsoft already announced plans to integrate Yammer into Office 365, its offering for the enterprise market that includes tools such as Word and Excel.
The Redmond-based software giant moved the Office productivity suite closer to the web with the release of a preview of the next flavor of the application, Office 2013.
Office 365 was made available roughly one year ago, yet Microsoft says it has enjoyed great adoption around the world, and that it will see even more users following recent enhancements.
At the moment, Microsoft is focused on integrating Yammer not only with Office 365, but also with SharePoint, so as to provide its customers with even better sharing and collaboration capabilities than before. Skype would also be included in the equation, David Sacks reportedly said.