Speculate with us – through which acquisitions could Microsoft position itself even better in the future?
Let’s have a look at Microsoft’s shopping list: We have looked at the 11 suggestions from Business Insider on the topic of “Possible Microsoft acquisitions” and compiled them here. Among other things, they are intended to support the goal of boosting the company’s multi-billion dollar cloud business.
We present this list here and give our assessment. Microsoft’s shopping list:
Salesforce
We have already reported on this – according to Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin a good opportunity for Microsoft to significantly increase the market share of front office applications. The current value of Salesforce is about $168 billion.
Autodesk
With Autodesk, Microsoft could use their architecture, design and manufacturing software to extend the Office 365 productivity suite to more technical markets. Autodesk’s current value is approximately $44 billion.
Workday
“The purchase of Workday would allow Microsoft to enter what we believe is the most sustainable growth market for the cloud outside the public cloud,” said RBC analysts. The current value of Workday is approximately $42 billion.
Twilio
“Microsoft would acquire the leading developer platform for powering and embedding voice, messaging and email communications in leading consumer and business applications. Current value of Twilio: about 17 billion dollars.
RingCentral
“RingCentral has the leading cloud-based communications platform and works with companies like AT&T and Avaya,” said Piper Sandler. RingCentral’s current value is approximately $19 billion.
Crowdstrike
According to RBC, Microsoft spends $1 billion annually on security. By acquiring Crowdstrike, Microsoft could combine its products with its own to provide security to customers of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises. Crowdstrike’s current value is approximately $13 billion.
Coupa
According to Piper Sandler, Coupa is the leading cloud application for managing business expenses, and Microsoft could buy the company to expand its Dynamics 365 business application suite. Coupa’s current value is approximately $10 billion.
Zendesk
Zendesk is a leader in cloud customer experience applications, according to Piper Sandler, whom Microsoft was able to acquire for its Dynamics 365 business application suite. Zendesk’s current value is approximately $10 billion.
UiPath
Startup UIPath’s robotic process automation – which helps automate routine, everyday workplace tasks – could boost the Microsoft Power Platform’s tools for building simple applications and bring more than 400,000 customers, Piper Sandler said. Current value of UiPath: about $7 billion.
Unity Technologies
According to Piper Sandler, the real-time software development platform of the private gaming company has new applications in the industrial and automotive industries and complements Microsoft HoloLens Augmented Reality and artificial intelligence.current value of Unity Technologies: about $6 billion.
Flexport
According to Piper Sandler, Flexport is building a specialized cloud-based application for the global logistics and supply chain that is used by 10,000 customers. The acquisition would provide Microsoft with a “groundbreaking opportunity to automate logistics workflows via cloud and AI,” according to the company’s analysts.
Conclusion to Microsoft’s shopping list:
One thing is certain, all 11 companies will not buy Microsoft. For this a) the investment volume would be too high. But also the effort to integrate these companies is immense.
We also do not believe that Microsoft will buy Salesforce. For Google this would be the more sensible deal. But what makes sense with these dimensions. Sometimes it’s all about vision and imagination and the main thing is that the other competitor has not bought this company.
Of the other candidates, Twilio, Autodesk, Crwodstrike, or RIngCentral would certainly be sensible acquisitions. But other big players will certainly also be digging at them and try to land them.
Picture: Microsoft
Note: This is a machine translation. It is neither 100% complete nor 100% correct. We can therefore not guarantee the result.