Microsoft Buys LinkedIn To Know More About Users?

The current union between Microsoft and LinkedIn is an interesting case as the former deals with operating systems and business software, while the latter is a social media tool.

This union, according to Len Shneyder and Dennis Dayman, could bring together the strengths of both companies to help them get to know their clients more and compete better in the current market.

Is the deal worth it? At $26.2 billion, the price tag seems to be steep especially for a company with failed acquisitions like Nokia in 2014.

Both companies deal mostly with products aligned for business use: Microsoft with its business tools and LinkedIn with its business-oriented social media platform. The information that can be gathered from LinkedIn's B2B community can be used by Microsoft to further tailor-fit their products to their users.

According to Satya Nadela, Microsoft's chief executive, users are toggling between social media and the tools they need to boost their productivity. "It's really the coming together of the professional cloud and the professional network," he said.

With the users of LinkedIn being the demographic of Microsoft's target audience, they can then be persuaded to adopt their social media identities to as many products of Microsoft as possible. Similar products between them can also be integrated for better user experience such as LinkedIn's CRM product LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Microsoft's Customer Relationship Management software.

So to answer the question? Maybe. It will if the partnership succeeds, and analysts at the Wall Street Journal said that the biggest reason why the acquisition would work is the leadership of Satya Nadela.

With Nadela at the helm of the company, his willingness to meet users where they are comfortable can make user experience with their products much better as long as Microsoft balances autonomy and synergy with the newly acquired Microsoft.