Microsoft today announced in a blog post that it is set to acquire VoloMetrix, a pioneer and leader in organizational analytics. This deal was proposed to allow clients to access and make sense of the real behavioural data that would give them insights on parameters like real data and objective, personalized feedback.
This can lead to a virtuous cycle of improvement for both individuals and their company, according to the Redmond giant.
Founded in 2011, VoloMetrix is a Seattle-based enterprise that provides people analytics solution that combines data from collaboration platforms to create data visualizations and dashboards. The company was hence led by CEO, Ryan Fuller and Chairman, Chris Brahm who are its cofounders too.
It has been highly successful in its own genre and has received major investments from firms like Shashtra Ventures ($3.3 million series A funding in April 2014) and Shastra Ventures and Split Rock Partners ($12 million series B funding in October 2014).
After this acquisition, Microsoft will have access to the expertise and the technology that VoloMetrix uses to “reinvent productivity and business process, and how it will deliver new value to our customers with organizational analytics,” Rajesh Jha, Corporate Vice President, Outlook and Offfice 365, writes in the blog post.
He believes that Office 365 and the Office Graph offer a gold mine of data and a powerful learning tool for the machines and using this customers can create personalized feedback loops that help people answer questions about their organizational structure.
According to Jha, VoloMetrix will be combined with Office 365 and their announced Delve Organizational Analytics. Jha writes:
I am excited about this big step forward in our company ambition to reinvent productivity and business process, and how it will deliver new value to our customers with organizational analytics. We expect to launch an early preview program for Delve Organizational Analytics within the next month, and general availability of the initial release of the integrated Office 365 service by the end of this calendar year.
Regarding the acquisition, Ryan Fuller, CEO and co-founder of VoloMetrix, writes in yet another blog post:
We believe joining forces with Microsoft will be a huge win for our customers as we provide even better solutions going forward. Over the coming months, you can expect to hear more from us about new capabilities we will be rolling out, new investments in our partner eco-system and more.
