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Why Microsoft's VoloMetrix "People Analytics" Acquisition Matters - A Lot

by Dann Anthony Maurno
Assistant Editor, MSDW

A VoloMetrix sales productivity dashboard 

If "knowledge is power," as Microsoft founder Bill Gates often said, current CEO Satya Nadella seems focused on turning knowledge into productivity. Nadella has been laser-focused on building a single-platform productivity suite around Office 365, and the recent VoloMetrix acquisition promises to be another intriguing step-change for Office-based productivity tools.

Further, if all goes well, VoloMetrix should be well aligned to integrate with Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the near future, and perhaps with the Dynamics ERP suites after that.

VoloMetrix positions its offering as a solution focused on boosting employee productivity and retention by creating feedback loops that help achieve higher, more meaningful productivity. That sounds abstract, but Boeing, Facebook, Genentech, Qualcomm, Seagate, and Symantec, all VoloMetrix customers, seem sold on it. As Fortune reports, the four-and-a-half year old Seattle-based startup with less than 50 full-timers raised $17 million in funding before its exit from, among others, Split Rock Partners and Shasta Ventures. It counts "several dozen" large companies in its customer portfolio, including the aforementioned.

Volometrix solutions mine email and calendar servers (among other business systems) and aggregates metadata about collaboration between organizations - any type of organization, be it strategic accounts, key customers, or other departments. The analytics are presented in an online application and can also be exported or accessed via an API.

VoloMetrix claims the application can be set up in less than a week, and can deliver immediately actionable metrics, dashboards, and change management tools, using as few as two data sources (or, presumably, one if that source is the Office 365 suite).

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About Dann Anthony Maurno

Dann Anthony Maurno is a seasoned business journalist who began his career as International Marketing Manager with Lilly Software, then moved on as a freelancer to write for such prestigious clients as CFO Magazine; Compliance Week;Manufacturing Business Technology; Decision Resources, Inc.; The Economist Intelligence Unit; and corporate clients such as Iron Mountain, Microsoft and SAP. He is the co-author of Thin Air: How Wireless Technology Supports Lean Initiatives(CRC/Productivity Press, 2010).