The press has been yammering about this possible acquisition for months, but as of today, it is official. Microsoft (News - Alert) has agreed to acquire Yammer for the sum of $1.2 billion in cash.

Microsoft has lagged behind social networking giants like Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter (and even lesser players in the space like Google+), but with this move, the Seattle-based company looks to position itself in a sweet spot in one particular facet of the space: enterprise social networking (ESN).

Yammer’s (News - Alert) cloud-based ESN software provides Facebook- and Twitter-like capabilities with a workplace spin. These capabilities include: employee profiles, activity streams, discussion forums, microblogs, wikis, idea generation software, document sharing and editing functions and more.

Just as social networking sites serve to bring together distant friends, relatives and associates, ESN products have been shown to improve employee interactions, collaborations and communication, improving efficiency and productivity, especially when used alongside more traditional applications like e-mail and instant messaging.

Yammer was founded in 2008 and its CEO, David Sacks, will continue in a leadership role as the company is absorbed into Microsoft’s Office Division. The move helps Microsoft keep pace with other companies that are adding ESN features to their collaboration suites, such as IBM, Oracle (News - Alert), Salesforce and Cisco. Other independent players in the space include Jive, NewsGator, Socialtext and Tibbr.

The move should allow Microsoft to improve the ESN capabilities of its existing communication and collaboration products such as Office, SharePoint and Lync. Representatives from Microsoft stated that Yammer will continue to develop its software, maintaining "its commitment to simplicity, innovation and cross-platform experiences." No timetable has been announced for the closing of the deal as of yet.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO click here.

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