Microsoft + LinkedIn = ?

What is in store for a job seeker, employer and the society at large after this acquisition is a question that intrigues many in the world.  There are many expectations that I gather from the youth I met last night.  This urged me to  talk to some of my friends too and have their views:

• MS tools can be leveraged by using LinkedIn vice verse.   This makes the user experience ease in doing many things at one place. 
• Job Seeker analytics become a reality and more free services are available to make the usage more meaningful 
• The above point applies to an employer too.  Organizations can use the tools available to know their rating among the Job Seekers or  those left them. 
• The Govt agencies in India like Employment Exchanges, Banks, etc., for lateral induction of Talent can use the services or approach to have linkages with their database so that the data owned by MS LinkedIn is put to use by multiple players.
• Today's world is changing fast with new needs being felt and new services being rendered. This ever changing world needs a database of Human Resources for various purposes.  The Private Placement Agencies, Job Portals and Career sections in the official websites of the companies can not provide the kind of services MS LinkedIn provides.  Therefore just as the mobile phone killed the products and services like Camera, Radio, Stop Watch, Alarm, Watch, compass etc. LinkedIn is going make many products services redundant as separate ones provided by several players.   
• MS LinkedIn can design and deliver  full cycle of Talent Management services in a unique and unbelievable manner for many organizations and facilitate the creation and circulation of more healthy wealth. 
• Confidentiality and data integrity are some of the main challenges that stare directly into the eyes of the MS LinkedIn with the exponential growth of MS LinkedIn services.  These challenges can become unique features in the days to come with new technologies.

An acquisition of this size and value is certainly going to raise the expectations of the users of products and Services of both MS and LinkedIn.  We may even see a synergy of sorts happening soon among all social network sites and services like Whatsapp, Face Book,  Twitter and email accounts.  Today we see a significant number of organizations (including the traditional ones) allow employees to use LinkedIn and Face Book.  This is the clue to the future needs.

We can not stop certain synergies to happen as that is how the universe operates and we would be better off if we participate and even facilitate them with all positive intentions. The world that my kids see when they are of my age is going to be totally different and I can not even imagine what my my grand children would witness !!  Having said this, the point that surfaces in any ones mind is how much humane the technology can become?  As a fellow Human Resource Professional the discrimination and rigidities that have crept into the HR Processes between non IT sector and the IT Sector  shall reduce and vanish eventually.  Sooner it happens better it is for all Industries and society at large.

There is no way to succeed without being humane. I am sure MS LinkedIn is going to unleash its creativity to create a very exciting future.  Please join me in wishing each one of its members an ever joyful work @MS LinkedIn that creates a model worth emulating.