Workshare acquires U.K.-based enterprise social firm IdeaPlane

London, U.K.-based Workshare, which specializes in cloud-based document sharing and collaboration, has acquired IdeaPlane, an enterprise social network built for the finance industry, among others.

The cloud company's services are used across more than 18,000 organizations across 70 countries, including 98 percent of AmLaw 200 law firms, and almost two-thirds of the Fortune 1,000. But there's always room for improvement, and Workshare wants a greater slice of the enterprise pie.

The acquisition will see Workshare customers' bolstered with a social network-like experience by integrating IdeaPlane's offering into the Workshare platform.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Earlier this year, Workshare merged with another U.K.-based firm SkyDox in a bid to take advantage of the dwindling enterprise market, in the hope that some day the "bowed out" vendors will make space for the smaller, up-and-coming firms.

But it comes months after Salesforce acquired Buddy Media for $689 million to increase its spread across the social enterprise space, and Microsoft's acquisition of Yammer for $1.2 billion in cash, which is now seen as a major competitor to Salesforce.

"The enterprise social network market is projected to be worth more than $6.4 billion by 2016 but is currently served by vendors providing consumer-oriented, open networks that do not prioritize the security and compliance requirements of enterprise organizations," said Workshare chief executive Anthony Foy. "IdeaPlane's integration into the Workshare product portfolio allows us to meet our customer requirements for ultra-secure social networks that maintain the integrity of data and IP security mandates set by an organization."

"Our combined platform will allow organizations to monitor, manage and closely control the social network being used within their organizations while facilitating collaboration and the exchange of information and ideas."