Long-Term Synergies
When Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016, it also took hold of Lynda.com, an online learning platform with educational content provided by software and business professionals.
GitHub has some interesting synergies with both LinkedIn and Lynda that can benefit Microsoft over the long-term, said Ric Opal, vice president at Oak Brook, Ill.-based SWC Technology Partners.
"You have to look at the other assets they have and see how this asset plugs into those," Opal told CRN.
The combination of Lynda.com learning tools, LinkedIn career development capabilities, and GitHub's open source repository could make Microsoft a uniquely attractive ecosystem for a new generation of software professionals entering the workforce, he said.
"It's a boon for their cloud. It is also a significant opportunity if they tie the other assets -- professional development tools and open source," Opal told CRN.
