More importantly the value that we are creating in terms of Human Capital is not captured by traditional software it resides in our digital profiles and digital interactions. The next generation really do not care about Microsoft’s traditional product set and they will find ways to get its software for free if they really have to use it. As we move at speed towards a cloud computing default setting with a proliferation of inexpensive personalised apps that drive our private and public needs, the role of software providers (as was the case with hardware providers in the previous decade) is diminishing. No-one knows exactly how Microsoft will recover their $ investment (if at all) and to focus on that aspect is to miss the point. Indeed the case is even more compelling when you understand that LinkedIn is still a loss making company. Microsoft’s eye watering price paid for LinkedIn makes the argument for the increasing value of Human Capital and Social Networks. So the truth is out - paradoxically in an age of digital transformation, human capital is becoming the great differentiator.

Microsoft buy linkedin