The next 3 companies on Microsoft’s SaaS wishlist
Following the events of the past few weeks, it’s clear that Microsoft and CEO Satya Nadella are on the acquisition path. We speculated back in April that Salesforce was an acquisition target for the company and that turned out to be true, even if the $70 billion price tag reportedly demanded by Salesforce’s Marc Benioff was too steep for Microsoft’s liking. Since then, Microsoft has announced the acquisition of 6Wunderkinder, creator of the Wunderlist task management app, and has built on the momentum from its recent acquisitions of Acompli and Sunrise.
ここ数週間の出来事により、Microsoftと同社CEOのSatya Nadella氏が買収戦略を進めていることは明白である。4月に我々は同社の買収ターゲットにSalesforceがあるのではないかと推測し、それが事実だったことが判明した。報道によればSalesforceのMarc Benioff 氏が付けた700億米ドルの値札はMicrosoftからすれば高すぎたようだが。それ以来、Microsoftは6Wunderkinder（Wunderlistタスク管理アプリを作成）の買収を発表し、最近のAcompliとSunriseの買収により勢いがついてきている。
So what do these purchases tell us about Microsoft’s overall acquisition strategy and who might be next on Satya Nadella’s shopping list?
Microsoft’s Acquisition Strategy
If we look at Accompli and Sunrise, previous acquisitions like Skype, and Microsoft’s attempted purchase of Salesforce, we can see a pattern in the company’s acquisition behavior that may allow us to predict its future actions. First, Microsoft is acquiring startups with really slick software that people love to use. The Verge called Sunrise the best calendar app, Business Insider called Accompli (which became the Outlook iPhone app) the best email app, and both had rapidly growing bases of loyal followers.
AccompliやSunrise、以前買収したSkype、そしてSalesforce買収の試みを見るに、同社の買収行動にはパターンが見あり、先々の行動の予測に応用できる。第1にマイクロソフトは人々がとりこになるような非常に優れたソフトウェアを持つスタートアップを買収している。The VergeはSunriseをベストカレンダーアプリと評しており、Business InsiderはAccompliをベストメールアプリ（後にiPhoneのOutlookアプリになった）と評している。また、両社とも熱心なファンが急速に増えていた。
Accompli やSunrise、またはスカイプのような以前の買収や、セールスフォース・ドットコムの買収の意図などを見るとき、同社の買収行為にあるパターンが見て取れる。それは同社の将来のアクションを我々が予見できるものだ。初めに、マイクロソフトは人々から喜んで使ってもらえる、本当にしっかりしたソフトウエアをもったスタートアップを買収している。VergeはSunrise をベスト・カレンダーアプリと言ったし、Business InsiderはAccompli(iPhone版Outlookアプリとなった)をベスト・eメールアプリと言った。そして、両者とも忠実なフォロワーのもと急速に成長していった。
Specifically, Microsoft is snapping up companies that do something Microsoft already does itself but is struggling at, or that the other company just does much better than Microsoft does.
Microsoft Outlook’s calendar, tasks, and iPhone app aren’t doing so well? Queue Sunrise, Wunderlist, and Accompli. These smaller apps are subsumed into Microsoft and their talent and innovation are applied to its existing applications. But the Redmond-based giant is also in the business of buying and integrating brands. It would have been foolish to rebrand Skype under the Lync banner in the same way that it’s highly doubtful if Salesforce.com would have been re-skinned as Dynamics CRM. Skype and Salesforce had become synonymous with consumer video conferencing and business CRM respectively, while Microsoft’s own offerings underperformed, so the decision was taken to acquire rather than build.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Microsoft is acquiring companies that are aligned with its goal of becoming a mobile first, cloud first organization, that help it to enhance its Office productivity and collaboration offering, and that boost its image as a company that prioritizes user experience and design. So who’s next on Nadella’s shopping list?
When it comes to messaging and team communications, nothing is hotter in the SaaS space right now than Slack. Not unlike Acompli, Sunrise, and Wunderlist, it is gaining a loyal following of users (SaaScribe included) who love its user experience and the ease with which it facilitates collaboration. It could bring a lot of features, functionality, and innovative design to Microsoft’s Office 365 collaboration suite as well as Slack’s vibrant personality – and we would all agree that Microsoft could also really do with an injection of personality!
In March, Slack launched its native Windows application, which would surely be a must for Microsoft if it really is mulling over an acquisition. In keeping with our aforementioned criteria, Slack is certainly doing some things that Microsoft already does but in a much more user-friendly and highly mobile-focused way – however, could it justify the $2.8 billion+ price tag? And would it make a good fit? As a user, I would say that Slack looks and feels more like a Google App than Office 365, but there has definitely been some convergence in the feature sets of the main productivity platforms, and a Slack acquisition could be another step along that road for Microsoft.
Another rising star in the SaaS world that could be an excellent fit for Microsoft is the electronic signature specialist Docusign. In his opening keynote at Docusign Momentum 2015 in London earlier this week, CEO Keith Krach announced that Microsoft had participated in Docusign’s latest round of funding, which saw it raise $233 million and double its valuation to $3 billion. So, apart from the obvious 50 million users across 100,000 companies, what could a Docusign acquisition bring to Microsoft? Well, first it’s worthy of note that Microsoft is not only an investor in Docusign but a long-term strategic partner.
Docusign boasts pre-built integrations across a range of Microsoft applications and “robust apps for Outlook, Word, SharePoint, Dynamics CRM, Windows 8 and Windows Phone.” Document management is core to Microsoft and Docusign alike, and it’s not just the ability to record signatures but the encryption, permissions, and compliance issues related to business documents where Docusign could bring some specialist knowledge and technology to Microsoft’s offering. From the point of view of shared objectives, the two couldn’t be more aligned in terms of enabling workforce mobility and productivity from any device. Therefore, I would see this as a good strategic fit for Microsoft and another likely target for Nadella.
以下部分をとばしてしまいました。
The next 3 companies on Microsoft’s SaaS wishlist
→マイクロソフトのSaaSウィッシュリストにあるのは、次の3社