Microsoft will buy cloud-based software maker Parature, which helps businesses manage helpdesks and provide other customer support services.
Parature’s software helps businesses provide automated customer service, manage online discussion boards and forums, and conduct online surveys.
The company’s customers include Ask.com, the US Environmental Protection Agency and IBM.
Microsoft did not disclose the terms of the deal.
The acquisition will boost Microsoft’s Dynamics unit, which makes business software and counts Pandora Media and Nissan as customers.
Microsoft’s buy follows a number of recent cloud computing acquisitions by major software firms. Oracle said in December that it would buy web-based marketing software maker Responsys for about $1.39 billion to bolster its cloud computing offerings.
Salesforce.com, the biggest maker of online sales management tools, said in June that it would pay $2.5 billion for marketing software maker ExactTarget, which helps companies reach customers on social networks through mobile devices.
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