Yammer Acquires OneDrum, Allowing Companies To Collaborate From Anywhere

Yammer, the social network for businesses, has announced they have acquired oneDrum, a platform that specializes in creating better collaboration between applications. This news is most significant for users of Microsoft Office, according to TNW. First launched in 2011 with only three employees, Yammer has grown considerably in the last year. Now numbering 50 employees, the company expects to hire an additional 100 employees before the year is complete. Yammer allows colleagues to collaborate, share ideas, and be more productive using the free universal app available for the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad. Using the app, users can access real-time conversations happening inside their organization. Uses include viewing messages, posting updates, and receiving important notifications no matter where you are. To date, 200,000 companies worldwide are using Yammer, including Ford, Thomson Reuters, and LG. In acquiring oneDrum, Yammer will begin offering desktop synchronization so customers can upload files into groups and then synchronize those files down to folders for others to see. For Microsoft Office customers, this means users can co-author documents and then see changes being made to the documents in real time, just like you can in Google docs. According to Georg Ell, EMEA General Manager for Yammer:

“This is Yammer’s first acquisition. When we started looking at oneDrum we saw that the technology and the people are a great fit for us. It’s an extensible product that oneDrum has and we are excited about what we can do in the future.”

Yammer is most impressive in terms of the type of corporate security it offers. Currently, the company offers data in motion encrypted using 256-bit SSL/TLS and data at rest encrypted using 256-bit AES. In addition, permissions are based on group access, which can be revoked automatically by administrators. Says Jasper Westaway, Founder and CEO of oneDrum:

“Yammer was built to be social from the ground up, so it’s natural for it to be the platform for maximizing content value. I’m proud that we’ll become part of the pioneer and leader in enterprise social networking to make our vision a reality.”

For the corporate world, Yammer's acquisition of oneDrum looks like a winner. Download Yammer today to get started or view the Yammer blog for more information.

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