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Microsoft Acquires Partner Apps for Office 365

Microsoft on Monday announced that it has acquired project and portfolio management (PPM) apps from two of its partners, Sensei Project Solutions Inc. and Projectum ApS.

Sensei Project Solutions Inc. is a Phoenix-based solutions provider that was the 2014 Microsoft PPM Partner of the Year award winner. Projectum ApS is a Danish software company that won this year's Microsoft PPM Partner of the Year award.

The apps from the two companies will be integrated into Microsoft Project Online, which is part of some Office 365 service plans.

Microsoft purchased three apps from Sensei -- the Sensei Task Master app, which shows timesheets and tasks on Android, iPhone and Windows Phone devices; the Sensei Portfolio Dashboard app, which shows overall PPM reports on iPads; and the Sensei Project Dashboard app for project managers, which works with iPads.

Microsoft bought two add-in solutions from Projectum. One of them is called "Project Financials," which helps users with "time-phased cost data" management. The other add-in, called "Project Snapshot," shows overall project information, "such as budget, actual cost, KPIs and more."

The announcement hinted that the purchases, along with Microsoft's acquisition of software list maker 6Wunderkinder in June, were being done to broaden Microsoft's mobile PPM solutions, as enabled via Office and SharePoint. They enhance the mobile capabilities of Project Online.

"Between Wunderlist, Office 365 Planner and Project Online, you now have tailored, cloud-based solutions to help you manage everything from simple tasks to the most advanced projects, programs and portfolios, anytime, anywhere, on any device," Microsoft's announcement stated.

The acquisitions come on the same day as Microsoft's announcement that it has purchased the Dynamics CRM-related business of another partner, Adxstudio.