A Jazzed Up Yammer Provides New Tools for Enterprises
A Jazzed Up Yammer Provides New Tools for Enterprises by UCStrategies Staff
Microsoft has just given Yammer, its enterprise social networking (ESN) application, a major overhaul in its efforts to add new features and functionality to enterprises. The addition of enterprise-level CRM and new security features more fully integrates Yammer with enterprise management systems (EMS).
Microsoft’s acquisition of Yammer for $1.25 billion in June promised to bring more serious social networking capabilities to the enterprise through tighter integration with EMS and cloud services. The updated Yammer meets two key demands of enterprises: more collaboration tools and enhanced security capabilities. On collaboration, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has been integrated into Yammer. Customer updates in Microsoft Dynamics CRM are now linked to social networking features through the automatic generation of pages and activities. Parties can then continue the interaction with the benefit of social tools – feeds, likes, and follows to collaborate and follow the record.
Updates to Yammer’s AppDirectory further extend the functionality of enterprise social networking. New third-party business applications include the BizData monetization platform GoodData, peer-to-peer recognition platform Kudos, social performance management platform WorkSimple, and Salesforce.com.
A critical addition to ESN is enhanced security capabilities. ESNs are increasingly accessed through cloud services. The majority of enterprises have a high level of concern over security and reliability on the cloud. The new Yammer provides integration with on-demand identity and access management service firm Okta, software-as-a-service-based vendor Smarsh and Symantec’s Clearwell eDiscovery platform. Collaborative environments in general, on or off the cloud, are heightening security concerns as enterprise systems connect to a large number of third-party applications and mobile devices. “Data retention and eDiscovery are critical security components for businesses that need to meet legal and business data archival requirements,” said Tim Rains, director of Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft.
Enterprise-level security and CRM position Microsoft as a serious contender among EMS vendors, which are tweaking their systems for social networks. These competitors include social applications offerings from Salesforce’s Chatter, Cisco’s WebEx, IBM Connections and Jive Software. Microsoft’s integration of the enterprise and social networking worlds is allowing users to more easily record, track, assign and communicate activities across business networks.
The enterprise-level enhancements to Yammer provide the opportunity for service providers to offer a higher level of customization and integration through social tools, while new security capabilities provide end users with more confidence in collaboration and cloud services. The channel is seeking ESN offerings that will allow it to add value and more effectively compete for a social enterprise apps and related services market forecasted to grow to $6.4 billion by 2016, a CAGR of 61 percent, as forecasted by Forrester.
More features are coming for Yammer users. Future updates of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online software will feature Skype and Yammer integration. In 2013, a mobile CRM application will be introduced that runs on Windows 8 and iPad devices. (CL) Link