Two years after it bought LinkedIn, Microsoft bought Glint, makers of employee-management software, in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. Glint’s tools were designed to help executives obtain an internal view of employee engagement and skills and to make suggestions based on that information. Glint has been part of the LinkedIn business at Microsoft since Microsoft bought it. Microsoft officials said existing Glint customers will continue to get service and support from LinkedIn for the time being. New customers will be able to purchase the existing Glint service on a standalone basis through LinkedIn or bundled with Viva. Currently, Microsoft Viva has four modules: Connections, Insights, Topics, and Learning. Viva is meant to help companies with employee onboarding and engagement. Viva packages together some already available and some new Microsoft technologies, ranging from Yammer and SharePoint to its analytics and additional “Project Cortex” knowledge-management elements. Microsoft announced in 2021 plans to add Ally.io, which it acquired in October of that year, to its Viva platform over the coming year, as well. Ally.io makes tools for Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and will become a new module in Viva, officials said. OKRs are meant to give employees visibility into a company’s strategic goals and work processes. Microsoft officials also said they would improve the integration between Ally.io’s technology and Teams and integrate it with Office, Power BI and the rest of the Microsoft 365 apps and services.
