Microsoft announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire enterprise social network Yammer for 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in cash.
"The acquisition of Yammer underscores our commitment to deliver technology that businesses need and people love," said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive officer, in a press release.

"Yammer adds a best-in-class enterprise social networking service to Microsoft's growing portfolio of complementary cloud services," he said.

Launched in September 2008, Yammer provides private communication within organizations, between organization members and pre-designated groups.

According to Microsoft, Yammer now has more than 5 million corporate users, including employees at 85 percent of the Fortune 500 companies.

Microsoft has been rumored to buy Yammer for weeks as some products of the software giant are criticized for their weak social features.

Industry watchers said the next generation of Microsoft products like Office 2013, whose public beta version is expected to be released in July, is unlikely to see a significant integration of Yammer technologies, as it is too late in its development cycle.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet