Microsoft -Yammer Business Networking ? Hometown Business ...

Microsoft -Yammer takes Business Networking to the next level

Here at Hometown Business Alliance we want to always bring you the latest news. I believe you will appreciate this article I found In the Washington Post. It concerns business networking and small business as not only an social media business networking platform but also will provide, from what I understand, Microsoft tools and application as an online solution for small business. I think it is brilliant and will serve small business-to-business networking in a way that will bring more unity and connection between businesses all around the globe.

As you know this is the similar mission of Hometown Business Alliance and for small business networking we see this as a platform that many in our alliance can and will utilize as one of their internet marketing and promotional strategies.

Damian Dovarganes, File/Associated Press ? FILE- In this Monday, June 18, 2012, file photo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveils its?Surface?, a new tablet computer to compete with Apple?s iPad at Hollywood?s Milk Studios in Los Angeles. Microsoft announced Monday, June 25, 2012, that is paying $1.2 billion to buy Yammer, an Internet startup that has built a social network similar to Facebook for the business world.

By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, June?25, 5:43?PM

SAN FRANCISCO ? Microsoft is buying Internet startup Yammer for $1.2 billion in an attempt to bring Facebook-like sharing features to its widely used suite of business software applications.Yammer specializes in creating private social networks so employees within the same company can keep tabs on what colleagues are working on. That?s similar to how Facebook?s online social network allows friends and families to track what?s happening in each other?s personal lives.

?

Microsoft on June 18 unveiled its own tablet, the Surface, to take on Apple and Google. Here?s a look at the sleek device.

VentureBeat.com 2:30?PM?ET

Google?s heavily rumored Nexus 7 tablet will start at $200 and will have 1GB of RAM, according to a report.

Kevin C. Tofel | GigaOM.com 11:57?AM?ET

Among options that the company is reviewing for its transition is the sale of its BlackBerry handset division, according to reports.

VentureBeat.com 12:22?PM?ET

The new feature to its mobile and web apps may let you speed up the process of ?friending? someone you?re already hanging out with.

The deal, announced Monday, comes nearly two weeks after word of Microsoft?s negotiations with Yammer first leaked out in published reports.The acquisition represents Microsoft?s latest attempt to adapt to a major shift in the technology industry, one that is fueling demand for more Internet-connected services and social-networking tools.The upheaval is threatening to marginalize Microsoft Corp., the world?s largest software maker, and ultimately diminish the amount of money coming in from sales of its Windows operating system and a wide range of applications designed primarily for personal computers.As part of its effort to remain relevant, Microsoft paid $8.5 billion last year for Internet video chat service Skype in the largest acquisition in its history.In another bold move, Microsoft last week unveiled its own tablet computer, Surface, to compete with Apple Inc.?s iPad. Microsoft has designed Surface to run on the upcoming Windows 8, the biggest change to the company?s operating system in nearly two decades.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is counting on Yammer?s sharing tools to ensure that long-established Microsoft applications, including its word processing and spreadsheet programs, remain vital components for getting work done. Google Inc. has emerged as a threat with a toolbox of similar programs that run primarily over the Internet rather than on individual machines.

?Think of Yammer as a fundamental part of our Office family,? Ballmer said on a Monday conference call.

Microsoft will have much of the same autonomy given to Skype since that deal closed eight months ago. Yammer will continue to be run from its San Francisco headquarters by its co-founder and CEO, David Sacks. It will also continue to provide its services separately from Microsoft?s offerings.

Microsoft did not give a time frame for when the deal should close.

Gartner Inc. analyst Larry Cannell said Microsoft?s latest acquisition was smart and reflected ?a recognition that the social capabilities in Microsoft?s products have been deficient.?

Investors couldn?t muster much enthusiasm for the deal on another somber day for the stock market. Microsoft?s stock fell 82 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to close at $29.88.

Although other companies such as Jive Software Inc. and Salesforce.com Inc. are building social networks for businesses, Yammer shares the most DNA with Facebook Inc.

When it started in 2008, Yammer raised its initial funding from Peter Thiel ? Facebook?s first major investor. Thiel formerly worked with Sacks while they were both executives at PayPal, an online payment service that eBay Inc. bought for $1.5 billion in 2002.

VentureBeat.com 1:15?PM?ET

For many Android users, Mozilla?s updated Firefox app could quickly become their favorite mobile browser.

Scott Lowe | TheVerge.com 10:47?AM?ET

The company introdues two updated models, the XPS 14 and XPS 15, which will fall alongside the XPS 13 introduced earlier this year.

Keith B. Richburg 6:30?AM?ET

Beijing?s new leaders will face pressure from a growing grass-roots army of online activists.

Yammer has relied largely on word of mouth to attract more than 5 million registered users at more than 200,000 companies worldwide.The service depends on employees to use its free tools to set up a private network within their company. Once the network is getting wide usage, Yammer then tries to sell more sophisticated features to the companies.As a privately held company, Yammer hasn?t disclosed its revenue. In a Monday note about the Microsoft deal, Nomura Securites analyst Rick Sherlund estimated Yammer?s revenue at $15 million to $20 million last year.The company has been expanding so rapidly that it had been considered a prime candidate to pursue an IPO by next year.The stock of Yammer rival Jive Software has gained 65 percent since it went public six months ago, though it fell 74 cents Monday to close at $19.75.

The IPO market has gone into a deep freeze since Facebook flopped in its closely watching stock market debut last month. Instead of soaring as had been widely anticipated, Facebook shares plummeted during the first few weeks of trading. Although the stock has rallied recently, it remains 16 percent below the IPO price of $38, which had minted Facebook Inc. with a market value of $104 billion. Facebook shares dropped 99 cents, or 3 percent, Monday to close at $32.06.

Sacks said the frosty conditions in the IPO market didn?t influence Yammer?s decision to sell to Microsoft. The negotiations between the two companies began before Facebook?s IPO, according to Saks and Ballmer.

?Our thinking was based on the fit with Microsoft and the fact that we think Microsoft is a great partner for us in expanding the service and taking it to the next level,? Sacks said.

The sale will provide a hefty return for Yammer?s early backers. The startup has raised about $142 million in venture capital.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

?

Go now to www.hometownbusinessalliance.com look at all the benefits you will get with your membership. If you are a leader we also have Local Chapter Coordinator position all over the nation. Our coordinators have a great earning potential and position themselves as leaders in their business community and a stand for small business networking.

?

?

Like your local Chamber of Commerce and Small Business-to-Business Networking Organizations,

Hometown Business Alliance is a membership organization hosting local business networking events where every member and guest may enjoy small business to business networking, promote their small businesses and form valuable long-term relationships with other like-minded businesses.

Hometown Business Alliance LLC
1648 Taylor Rd.#301
Port Orange, Florida 32128
888-764-8882
http://www.hometownbusinessalliance.com

Hometown Business Alliance is committed to providing small business-to-business networking and business related education and services that fulfill on our motto,

?Empowering Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses for Success.?

Business networking for everyone!

Local Coordinator Opportunity

Email Marketing Solutions

Hometown Business Alliance LLC

channel 5 news uc berkeley harrison barnes brett ratner stevie nicks anchorman capybara