EMC announced its second purchase in a week Thursday with the acquisition of Interlink Group, which specializes in providing IT services around Microsoft software.The storage giant is hoping the move will help beef up its Microsoft expertise in light of a recently expanded relationship with the software vendor.On Monday, EMC revealed plans to buy data replication and protection software company Kashya for about US$153 million in cash.This isn’t EMC’s first Microsoft-oriented buy. At the start of this year, the company acquired IT professional services firm Internosis, a provider of support and service for Microsoft applications. In March, EMC and Microsoft said they’d extended an existing alliance so they could work together more closely on selling and delivering their products to customers. Their particular focus was on software, storage and services that could help users more easily manage data stored in Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2003 groupware and its SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition database software.Privately held Interlink has its headquarters in Englewood, Colo., and employs about 180 staff. The company has specific skills in relation to Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM software. Interlink becomes part of EMC’s 9,000-strong professional service business unit, which is known as EMC Technology Solutions.EMC did not reveal financial details of the deal.-China Martens, IDG News ServiceFor related news coverage, read EMC Buys Storage Software Provider Kashya for $153M.Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content feature 10 most popular IT certifications for 2023 Certifications are a great way to show employers you have the right IT skills and specializations for the job. These 10 certs are the ones IT pros are most likely to pursue, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White May 26, 2023 8 mins Certifications Careers interview Stepping up to the challenge of a global conglomerate CIO role Dr. Amrut Urkude became CIO of Reliance Polyester after his company was acquired by Reliance Industries. He discusses challenges IT leaders face while transitioning from a small company to a large multinational enterprise, and how to overcome them. By Yashvendra Singh May 26, 2023 7 mins Digital Transformation Careers brandpost With the new financial year looming, now is a good time to review your Microsoft 365 licenses By Veronica Lew May 25, 2023 5 mins Lenovo news Alteryx works in generative AI for speedy analytics results OpenAI integration and AI wizardry for report generation are aimed at making Alteryx’s analytics products more accessible. By Jon Gold May 25, 2023 3 mins Analytics Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe