Yammer Announces Deeper Microsoft Dynamics CRM Integration

Yammer, an enterprise social network and part of the Microsoft Office Division, announced a native integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Leveraging the power of the Enterprise Graph, this new integration allows Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers to extend Yammer's social functionality into the application by embedding Yammer feeds, as well as Follow and Like buttons, into specific CRM records. In addition, once someone takes an action on a record, a Page is automatically created in Yammer where employees can discuss, follow and collaborate on that record.

For example, when a Microsoft Dynamics CRM user updates an opportunity, a Page and activity story are created in Yammer, alerting colleagues to the status of the deal. These interactions are not only available in Yammer but also embedded in the customer record in Microsoft Dynamics CRM itself, so that anyone viewing the opportunity details will have access to the social content surrounding it.

"This new integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM is just the first example of how you will see enhanced social experiences across Microsoft products and services," said David Sacks, Yammer founder and corporate vice president of the  Microsoft Office Division, in a statement. "Our platform seamlessly connects the relevant people, conversations, and data across an entire organization, making Yammer the enterprise social standard and a way for companies to build a truly connected enterprise."

Yammer also launched an updated App Directory, allowing users to browse and connect third-party business applications within Yammer. New integrations include the following:

• GoodData. A leading BizData Monetization platform pulls data from Yammer and other enterprise apps to deliver meaningful business insights to customers and enable them to monetize their data. For example, conversations that happen inside Yammer about aSalesforce.com record can be analyzed alongside the corresponding opportunity details inSalesforce.com. Customers can then determine how fast a deal closes, if the sale is correlated to the related Yammer activity and how Yammer activity affects sales cycles.
• Kudos. The peer-to-peer recognition platform posts an update in Yammer's Ticker when a colleague sends Kudos to another user, calling out their work using characteristics such as strategic, helpful, creative or reliable. Each Kudos message recognizes the colleagues sending and receiving Kudos, the level of recognition ranging from Thank You to Exceptional, key characteristics, and values demonstrated. The integration also utilizes Yammer Connect to seamlessly authenticate users based on their Yammer login credentials. With the Kudos browser add-ons, Yammer users can easily give Kudos to anyone at any time, enhancing corporate culture and improving employee engagement.
• Salesforce.com. Expanding on the existing integration, which enables updates of Salesforce.com records to appear as activity stories in Ticker, users can now embed record-specific Yammer feeds inside the Salesforce.com application. All Yammer conversations related to a given account, opportunity or campaign can now be viewed as a single feed.
• WorkSimple. The social performance management platform publishes an activity story in Ticker when an employee creates a social goal, sets a team focus or gives social recognition. Co-workers can easily share what they are working on, showcase accomplishments and offer praise. Managers also benefit by establishing a culture of feedback, recognition and results. WorkSimple is offering a Yammer edition of its product to Yammer customers for free, available in Yammer's App Directory.

"Social networking is becoming mission critical to the success of leading organizations worldwide. Yammer houses key data that can show powerful insights into employee satisfaction, productivity and engagement. Tying this rich social data to disparate systems, such as CRM, will enable companies to measure Yammer's impact across an organization, leading to better data monetization," said Cody Crnkovich, vice president of channel and alliances at GoodData, in the statement.

"With the convenience of our browser add-ons and mobile offering, Yammer users can give Kudos easily, anywhere and at any time. By publishing Kudos messages into a Yammer network, organizations can further enhance communication and collaboration and now share and celebrate the things that make their company a great place to work," said Muni Boga, founder and co-CEO of Kudos, in the statement.

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