In a move likely to increase the competition against Salesforce.com, software giant Microsoft has acquired software as a service (SaaS) customer service player Parature in a deal believed to be worth US$100m.
In 2000, Cornell University student Duke Chung and a group of classmates formed Parature in dorm room.
Parature now has more than 70m end users, which include companies like Threadless, Ask.com, Tagged, iWin, Kohler and others. The technology enables users to engage with customers across multiple channels, including email, live chat, help desk, self-service knowledge base and social media.
In what will likely be a win for Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM portfolio, the acquisition will enable Microsoft to bring this functionality in tighter with its Office portfolio, no doubt accelerating Microsoft’s collision course with Salesforce.com, which is also endeavouring to bring social media capabilities into the modern office workflow.
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