Microsoft announced the final curtain for Yammer, the enterprise-focused social network it acquired more than a decade ago.
Costing around $1.2 billion, Yammer was acquired by the office software giant in 2012 and integrated into Microsoft Office as an add-on to social networks like Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
However, it never really caught on, mostly running in the background despite Microsoft’s healthy stream of updates and upgrades.
Viva Engage
However, this is not the end of Yammer’s services and tools, as the platform will be included in Microsoft’s Viva Engage offering instead.
Launched in 2019, Microsoft Viva was an attempt to combine online collaboration tools and services with business tools and services into one platform, and Viva Engage was released in 2022 to allow employees to express themselves in a more personal way.
“Viva Engage is a social app for digital communities, conversations and self-expression tools that builds on the existing capabilities of Communities for Teams and Microsoft 365 to connect employees and enable everyone to contribute and express themselves by meeting people where they are in Teams and Microsoft 365,” the company said at the time.
In official Microsoft 365 road map entry (opens in a new tab) Describing the change, the company notes that the rebranding will “provide our customers and users with a consistent and delightful experience”, which should help them get the most out of the platform.
In a blog post (opens in a new tab) expanding on this, Viva and Yammer VP Murali Sitaram said the platform is “evolving” to become part of Viva Engage after “confusion” around having two services offering many of the same experiences.
“Yammer has been driving social environments at Microsoft for over a decade,” he wrote.
“During this time, we’ve seen our customers use Yammer to influence their company culture, connect employees in times of trial, share knowledge and empower employees with a voice that positively influences change in their organizations.”
“During this period, you inspired us, shaped us and grew with us.”
The rebranding, which is expected to be completed in late 2023, will affect Yammer across all its current iterations, with web and mobile customers affected.
Microsoft says users will begin to see Yammer as Viva Engage by updating branding elements like the logo, app icon, and name over the next few months, and Sitaram notes that the branding changes won’t affect Yammer or Viva pricing for customers.