How are things going so far in investment this year? Q2 looked like it was going to be a blockbuster, and it delivered to the tune of almost $2.1 billion in investment, bringing the total investment for the year to a little under $3.8 billion, which is close to matching last year's $4.009 billion.

It’s no secret — there has never been as much merger and acquisition activity in the human capital management technology segment as there is right now, today, at this minute. Even so, small strategic acquisitions continue to be overlooked. Same as it ever was.

Microsoft announcing its $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn on Monday made for great headlines. Unfortunately, those headlines were mostly focused on the wrong things.