Credit: CRM platform provider, salesforce.com, Inc.CRM and the world's largest software maker, Microsoft Corp. MSFT took forward their strategic alliance as they revealed new joint solutions at Dreamforce 2015, the world's largest software conference.
Dreamforce saw the two companies unveiling the following joint solutions - Salesforce1 for Windows 10, Salesforce with Skype for Business, Office Graph, and a digital note-taking app. Also, OneDrive will be linked to Salesforce solutions. In addition, Office will also be incorporated with the Salesforce suite.
All of these technology know-hows will be available in the second half of 2016.
CRM - Microsoft Relationship
The strategic partnership between the companies was first disclosed in May 2014. Salesforce collaborated with Microsoft to offer its CRM services on Microsoft Azure.
Further, both the companies expanded their joint solutions at Dreamforce 2014. At that time both the tech giants said that they would be building Salesforce1 for Windows, Salesforce for Office, Power BI for Office 365, and Excel integrations with Salesforce.
Mutual Benefits
Through the alliance, Salesforce will be able to sell its SaaS product in the more conservative enterprise channels, currently controlled by Microsoft. The latter, on the other hand, will be able to provide a more comprehensive CRM solution to enterprise customers.
Going forward, the agreement will improve ties between the two companies. Microsoft's customer relationship management software equips organizations with advanced cloud-based technologies that increase the efficiency of their operations, solve complex business challenges and improve resource allocation. Salesforce also offers similar capabilities.
We believe that the partnership will prove to be mutually beneficial for both the companies going forward. It will ensure tighter integration between Microsoft and Salesforce clouds, which will help customers to easily and securely move their data between the two platforms.
According to the CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff "Customer success is at the heart of everything we do at Salesforce, including our partnership with Microsoft,", He further added that "Our collaboration has been so successful, now we're doubling down and delivering even more innovation that will help our mutual customers be more productive and connect with their customers in a whole new way."
Last Words
It is worth noting that Salesforce had previously inked a deal with Oracle Corp. ORCL . This nine-year Oracle-Salesforce deal covers every aspect of cloud computing. Under the terms of the deal, Salesforce software will run on Oracle's Linux (previously Salesforce used Red Hat Linux) and its cloud based applications will support Exadata hardware.
These partnerships will add value to Salesforce's existing portfolio and the resultant synergies will benefit the company in the long run.
Although, the company is growing reasonably in the cloud market, growth prospects have been rationalized to a considerable extent due to intensifying competition from International Business Machines Corporation IBM and SAP AG. Moreover, continued weakness in Europe, currency headwinds and increased investments in research & development will keep margins under pressure.
Currently, Salesforce has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
