Microsoft Folding Yammer Enterprise Into Office 365 Groups

Microsoft's Yammer for Enterprise is moving in with Office 365 Groups.

"With this integration, Yammer users can easily turn ideas into action with access to SharePoint sites and document repositories, a shared OneNote notebook, and lightweight task management with Planner," Microsoft said in a statement. "These new experiences and more will be rolling out in phases over the coming months."

Microsoft bought Yammer in 2012 for $1.2 billion. The service is essentially a social network for corporate users and resembles Facebook in its setup, with threaded posts and sharing options. Since the acquisition, it has been a standalone app in Office 365 service alongside Groups, though Office 365 users have had access to Yammer since February.

Now users can dip into Office Online and SharePoint from within Yammer. Share files created in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel; access a shared notebook in OneNote; or stay on top of tasks in Planner, all from within Yammer. A "Share to Yammer" feature is also baked into Outlook.

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That said, getting Yammer and all of its data into Groups won't be easy. Microsoft says it will roll out the integration in phases, with Phase 1 starting later this year. Those who log into Yammer with an Office 365 ID will go first.

"Subsequent phases will automatically migrate existing groups in Yammer, address remaining Office 365 tenants and deliver integration with Outlook Calendar as well as enhancements to SharePoint and Planner."

Going forward, Yammer Enterprise subscriptions will no longer be offered on a standalone basis and customers who want the social network will need to sign up for Office 365 plans K1 or E1. Office 365 K1, for one, costs $4 per user per month.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.