Is Microsoft's going social with Yammer just part of a bigger strategy?

posted Jun 17, 2012, 4:21 PM by Bruce P. D'Sena   [ updated Jun 28, 2012, 4:48 PM ]
I'm a big believer in combining the best of the desktop with the best of the Cloud to deliver the most value for the enterprise. There's no one stop solution for all. There are things that Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce each do well and and in some ways not so hot. Finding the right mix and striking the right balance is what keeps folks like us in business.

Now there's been buzz about Microsoft buying Yammer (an enterprise social network) the last couple of days. What could this mean for some of the existing MS products already in use within businesses? Would Yammer go standalone? or would it mean improvements or a complement to Sharepoint, Lync, and / or Office? This article on Business Insider speculates on just some of the improvement possibilities for some of the MS tools. 

Or is it really part of a bigger strategy that acknowledges and embraces a future based on the "Social Enterprise"?, and just a baby step by Microsoft into a more vertical space?

Let's wait and see..