Dive Brief:
-
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has still not adopted the Azure cloud nearly two years after its acquisition, reports ZDNet, and there are still no known plans in place to change it.
-
LinkedIn and Xbox Live, another Microsoft product, both run data in their own data centers. In 2012, LinkedIn's Engineering VP Sonu Nayyar said the company needed to create and manage its own data centers to reflect its "control our own destiny" principle, according to the report.
-
LinkedIn operates with a multi-colo model, which manages its applications from several data center locations. The company opened a new data center between 2013 and 2016 so it "could be scaled horizontally without changing the fundamental architecture of the network or interrupting its core during upgrades," according to the report.
Dive Insight:
LinkedIn and Microsoft have already collaborated on integrations like the Microsoft Relationship Sales solution, a combination of the LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales.
However, despite Microsoft owning LinkedIn, the company has no obligation to adopt Azure, a pattern seen before. Last year, Amazon acquired Whole Foods in a $13.7 billion deal, and the company made no public announcement of adopting AWS. At the time of acquisition, Whole Foods ran on Azure.
Still, Microsoft is the "preferred" cloud vendor for some heavyweight companies including Adobe and Columbia Sportswear. However, if companies don't adopt Azure, Microsoft often boasts enterprise customers through its SaaS solutions.
Just this week, Microsoft announced it would offer its OneDrive for Business platform for free to customers still contractually obligated to stay with Microsoft's competitors, such as Google, Box and Dropbox.
It is likely that the continued integration of Microsoft software and services will attract more customers to moving data to Azure and secure the company as a one-stop-shop for enterprise IT.
