My own view differs from the "benefits management platform" thinking. I don't think they want to do insurance or retirement benefits. I think they want you to

My own view differs from the "benefits management platform" thinking. I don't think they want to do insurance or retirement benefits. I think they want you to use their productivity tools more frequently. To me this is all about white collar productivity tools and integrations. LNKD is the keystone that manages a users journey as users ebb and flow through using (and not using) MSFT tools and products (Word, Excel, Sharepoint, Outlook, et. al.). The journey here is starting a job, starting projects, managing and coordinating projects, completing projects, and looking for new jobs. MSFT has tools in all aspects of the lifecycle except for the time between jobs. Therefore MSFT offering gets stronger because they can keep that relationship with you even if you leave your employer and LNKD relationship gets stronger because they gain the relationship when you're still content at your current employer. The possibilities here are really interesting from a MSFT perspective. Here's MSFT's deck on the summary [1]. [1] https://ncmedia.azureedge.net/ncmedia/2016/06/msft_announce_160613.pdf https://ncmedia.azureedge.net/ncmedia/2016/06/msft_announce_...