Microsoft acquires Ally.io, will add it to Viva

Microsoft announced Thursday that it has acquired Ally.io, a start-up that provides software to help organizations track their progress on key goals. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Productivity is becoming an increasingly important part of Microsoft’s applications, especially as more companies embrace hybrid and remote workforces. When Microsoft announced a price increase in August for certain subscriptions, it highlighted several products introduced since the Office 365 bundle was released in 2011.

Acquisitions of small businesses such as GroupMe and Yammer have helped Office’s expansion.

Ally.io software specializes in an approach called Goals and Key Results, which involves identifying goals and measuring progress using metrics. Google is among the companies that have adopted the model, which former Intel CEO Andy Grove described in his 1983 book “High Output Management.”

Ally.io’s customizable dashboards and tools will be part of Microsoft’s Viva software, which the company introduced in February and made accessible through its popular Teams app. Viva provides workers with learning materials, information from company documents and productivity suggestions.

“Ally.io and Microsoft Viva will enrich the way people and teams come together to align and drive better business results,” wrote Kirk Koenigsbauer, COO and VP of Experiences and Devices. from Microsoft, in a blog post. “Over the next year, we will invest to integrate Ally.io into the Microsoft cloud, evolve existing integrations with Microsoft Teams, and integrate Ally.io into Viva, Office, Power BI and the broader set of Microsoft applications. 365 and services. “

Vetri Vellore, a former Microsoft employee, founded Ally.io in 2017. The startup is based in Seattle, near Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and has 275 employees, according to data from LinkedIn. Ally.io customers include Salesforce’s Dropbox and Slack.

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