This week sees Microsoft acquire LinkedIn for a seemingly staggering sum of $26.2 billion, a move which has set the technology sector buzzing with talk about how Microsoft might leverage LinkedIn’s user data, and some concerns within communities on LinkedIn with regards how this might change their services.

Microsoft Office 365 users however might be more interested in the anticipated integration of LinkedIn into familiar programs such as Outlook, Skype, or the ability to use LinkedIn data in Office applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Certainly having paid such an eye watering sum for the LinkedIn business, we don’t anticipate it being long before we see LinkedIn front and centre across many Microsoft applications.

What is surely for certain is the Microsoft acquisition of the world’s leading social media platform for business, can only ensure Microsoft Office 365 remains the dominant suite of business applications for years to come.