Microsoft's Nadella banks on LinkedIn data to challenge Salesforce

Nadella is under pressure to show that the pricey LinkedIn acquisition was worthwhile

Microsoft is rolling out upgrades to its sales software that integrates data from LinkedIn, an initiative that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told Reuters was central to the company's long-term strategy for building specialised business software.

The improvements to Dynamics 365, as Microsoft's sales software is called, are a challenge to market leader Salesforce.com and represent the first major product initiative to spring from Microsoft's $26-billion acquisition of LinkedIn, the business-focused social network.

The new features will comb through a salesperson's email, calendar and LinkedIn relationships to help gauge how warm their relationship is with a potential customer. The system will recommend ways