Comments for RWW Predictions: Funding for Yammer

RWW Predictions: Funding for Yammer

2008-09-15T00:46:02Z

This week's prediction question focuses on the winner of TechCrunch50: Yammer. Yammer is a communications product that duplicates the functionality of Twitter, but with an enterprise twist. We certainly have our doubts about Yammer as an enterprise tool. However, we'd like your help in predicting the financial future of Yammer.

Will Yammer raise a round of funding in 2008 or 2009. If so, how much will they take? Head to the ReadWriteWeb Predictions site to cast your vote or try out our new Predictions widget at the end of this article.

]]> Fast Facts and Things to Consider

Mint.com won TC40 last year and went on to raise $17 million in VC funding.
Yammer applies a Twitter messaging system to internal corporate communications.
Yammer is currently being praised by employees of the following companies and start-ups: Xerox, GetSatisfaction, Slideshare, and SmugMug.

Comment from Barry on 2008-09-14

2008-09-15T03:52:17Z

Yammer won't take off. It actually turns into a quite a time-waster, which in turn negates any productivity gains or benefits.

My company is using it and its already a pain in the ...

Comment from Ian Hendry on 2008-09-15

2008-09-15T07:25:52Z

When we refer to companies using it, have the companies themselves actually signed up? Or have the employees just taken to adding themselves and sharing company confidentialdata outside of the firewall without corporate consent?

I can see uses for Twitter in business, the best uses of which are cheap customer communication. Yammer doesn't feature most of those benefits. Although they've thought out how they'll make money better than Twitter, I just can't see it setting the world alight.

Now I remember why the TC50 thing doesn't really excite me.

Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz

Comment from Luca F. on 2008-09-15

2008-09-15T09:13:44Z

I am still amazed at how some services are really popular despite bringing very little added value in my view...

Facebook just to name one. I really don't know why people use it so much, but still it's a huge hit...

I find Yammer useless, so it has huge chances to take off :-)

Comment from Dan on 2008-09-16

2008-09-16T18:35:58Z

I thought that I read on Tech Crunch that they already had gotten funding. There was a big conversation that they don't even need th $50k and it should have gone to a more needful company.

Dan
http://mycityfaces.com

Comment from Chris Butler on 2008-09-19

2008-09-19T18:45:03Z

I have had a good look at this and it kind of reminds me of what bits of Lotus Notes used to do with its instant messaging. I have no idea which corporates are going to sanction its use for internal communications however. Whatever the security associated with it, most organisations I know will simply block it like they do most other IMs. They are simply too much of a risk.

In addition to WeCanDo.BIZ I work with a range of clients and I cannot think of any at all who would permit this functionality outside the corporate network - and I would personally advise against it.

I would be interested to see the first case of a corporate taking action against Yammer because they held privileged information on their systems or because an employee had posted something incorrect or even defamatory on a system which hosts data outside the data-centre and consequently open (however hard it might be to access) the corporate data-centre.

I watch with interest (but bot that much!)

Chris Butler
COO, WeCanDo.BIZ