Why Microsoft (MSFT) Is Buying Ally.io

By Annie Baker • Oct 11, 2021
  • Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) recently announced it is buying Ally.io. This is why.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) recently announced it is buying Ally.io. Kirk Koenigsbauer, Chief Operating Officer & Corporate Vice President, Experiences + Devices, said that Microsoft is buying Ally.io to “help revolutionize how organizations use technology to bring a deeper connection to work, purpose and results in the hybrid world.” 

Ally.io is a leading objective and key results (OKR) company that will join the Microsoft Viva family as part of the employee experience platform (EXP) designed to help companies embrace the new digital work life.

Koenigsbauer also noted that aligning employee work to the company’s strategic mission and core priorities is top of mind for every organization. In order to do this, leaders need to invest in tools that communicate transparency around big company bets and “create ways to cascade aspirational goals and report results at all levels of an organization.” As teams see how they are delivering impact, employees become more engaged, focused, and driven in achieving company growth and their own personal fulfillment.

As flexibility and remote work have always been important, the desire to do meaningful work. And the shift to hybrid has made it more challenging to keep every leader, team and individual aligned and moving to the same rhythm. Ally.io helps give everyone in the organization visibility and clarity into the entire work process, thus connecting everyday work to the company’s strategic objectives.

The OKR category is known as a fast-growing and emerging space. And Ally.io is leading the way as one of the most loved tools on the market. Customers are finding the Ally.io experience flexible and easy to use with quick time-to-value. They appreciate its broad set of integrations with existing work systems. And since its launch in 2018, Ally.io has been adopted by over 1,000 leading high-tech, manufacturing, financial services and healthcare businesses across more than 80 countries.

Ally.io is going to power a new Microsoft Viva module. And Viva is an employee experience platform that brings together communications, knowledge, learning, resources, and insights from anywhere people work. Powered by Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, Viva enables organizations to foster a culture of human connection, growth, well-being, and success. Currently, Viva has 4 connected modules: Connections, Insights, Topics, and Learning. These modules deliver a holistic experience with intelligent and actionable insights in the flow of work.

Ally.io and Microsoft Viva will essentially enrich how people and teams come together to build alignment and achieve better business outcomes. And over the next year, they will be investing to bring Ally.io into the Microsoft cloud, evolve the existing integrations with Microsoft Teams, and weave Ally.io into Viva, Office, Power BI and the broader set of Microsoft 365 apps and services. Until then, current customers can continue to expect the same great support and service, and new customers can continue to purchase the existing service through Ally.io.