In an email to company staff, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has outlined his thoughts on the LinkedIn buy, the biggest for the software giant. The key questions that weighed on his were: Does it expand the total addressable market of Microsoft? Is this asset riding secular usage and technology trends? Does this asset align with Microsoft’s core business and overall sense of purpose?
“The answer to all of those questions with LinkedIn is squarely yes,” he said.
“This deal brings together the world’s leading professional cloud with the world’s leading professional network,” he said. He asserted that, “we are in pursuit of a common mission centred on empowering people and organisations.” He went on to explain that the “deal is key to our bold ambition to reinvent productivity and business processes”.
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According to him, the combination “will make it possible for new experiences such as a LinkedIn newsfeed that serves up articles based on the project you are working on and Office suggesting an expert to connect with via LinkedIn to help with a task you’re trying to complete.”
As these experiences got more intelligent, the LinkedIn and Office 365 engagement would grow, he opined. This would help create new opportunities for monetisation through individual and organisation subscriptions and targeted advertising, he added.