Microsoft's Acquisition of Linked-In: Strategic Sense

Microsoft gets positioned as the only company to have the most dominant office suite products, a major social media network and a No. 2 search engine. The positives include:

1. Big bang entry in high-value user social media network which can be monetised easily.

2. Linked-In will provide Microsoft with enhanced capability to target key decision makers. Through its mobile app, linked-In will provide sneak peek and key insights into the connections and activities of such decision makers. With such information, Microsoft would be best equipped to market and sell its offerings. Microsoft is now well poised to disrupt the Enterprise CRM market.

3. Linked-In is well-poised to become a global one stop recruitment shop and can significantly capture the global recruitment market share/revenue. Skype can easily be integrated in Microsoft suite and Linked-In profiles to facilitate online interviews and business communication.

4. Linked-In can be made an online targeted advertising/marketing platform in the same plug and play mould as Facebook/Google.

5. Microsoft gets an enviable team of data scientists, who can mine big piles of digital information.