Microsoft today announced that it had acquired Ally.io. This software service helps companies track their progress against OKRs (objectives, key results), which is a common method for the management to measure individual and corporate progress. They did not agree on the purchase price.
Microsoft intends to integrate Ally into its Viva suite of employee experience products. Microsoft states that the Ally acquisition and Viva are intended to make it easier for employees to understand company goals and objectives.
Every organization must ensure that employees work is aligned with the company's strategic goals and core priorities. Leaders must invest in tools to communicate transparency about big company bets, create ways to cascade aspirational targets and report results at all levels, Kirk Koenigsbauer (chief operating officer and corporate vice president for experiences and devices) wrote in a blog post to announce the deal.
Vetri Vellore, founder and CEO of Ally, says this will allow his company to grow his product faster as part Microsoft than he could on his own. Ally.io, which is part of Microsoft Viva will allow leaders, teams, and individuals to focus their daily work on the company's most important goals. Vellore shared her thoughts in a blog post at the Ally website. We will bring purpose and goals to any team, including Outlook, Teams, Slack, and other systems that you use every day.
In an age where many people work remotely, understanding your work goals and how they relate to the company's overall goals is more important than ever. These goals and expectations should be clearly stated and integrated into the work tools used by remote employees to keep everyone on the same page and in the right direction.
Although Microsoft did not disclose the price, PitchBook data shows that Ally raised capital last year at a valuation of $345 million. This price was established when Ally raised $50 million earlier in the year, for a total of $76 millions raised.
Ally's sale to Microsoft could be a sign of new consolidation in the OKR-focused market for software. Many players are competing for the position, including WorkBoard and Koan, Gtmhub and WeekDone.
They have been incredibly successful as a startup group in terms of attracting venture capital, and growing their early-stage revenues. Now, with their exit secured, the companies will need to decide whether to continue their venture-funded growth strategy or switch to dual-tracking private rounds that could lead to exits to large-scale tech companies.
Microsoft's purchase of Ally, which is also located in Washington, could open the door for other platform players to acquire similar tools. It is not difficult to imagine other acquisitive players, from Salesforce to ServiceNow and SAP, considering a similar move to take one of these properties off of the market.
At the moment, Ally is not on the board. We will need to monitor the market to see what happens to the rest.
