Yammer Enterprise Expands into Office 365 Midsize and Education

Microsoft's Yammer product is breathing new life into the Midsize Business and Education plans for Office 365.

In November 2013, Microsoft announced that Yammer Enterprise would be available to all Office 365 Enterprise customers. Jared Spataro, Microsoft's General Manager of Enterprise Social, announced today that Yammer Enterprise will also be included in Office 365 Midsize Business and Office 365 Education.

As part of the Yammer Enterprise expansion, Microsoft is also including licenses to cover external users that are part of the organization's external network.

Do you use Yammer? If so, how has it improved collaboration and communication for your organization?

Did Yammer replace something you used previously, or is Yammer a new concept and a new implementation?

I ask these questions because I have personal problems with the technology. On one hand, I see the value in the consolidation and archiving of collaborative, internal group communications. But, I also view Yammer as a somewhat intrusive technology with the application based on an interface that seems as old as NNTP (remember that?) and the web side constructed too closely to Facebook. I was never a fan of Instant Messenger applications, and I have a severe dislike for telephone calls. I prefer to be able to manage my content on my own terms, without the chance of an uninvited conversation, particularly while working. I know it's a personality thing, but I'm sure there are many in IT who feel exactly the same way. As IT Pros, we could get a lot more done and meet many more project deadlines if there weren't so many unplanned interruptions.

Plus, the word "YamJam" thing sticks in my craw for some reason. A YamJam is a scheduled, online collaboration session using Yammer as the vehicle. It's like a Tweetup, but on a much sillier level.

I've tried numerous times to fit Yammer into my daily life, but have simply failed each time. Maybe my failure is actually driving my dislike.