Salesforce and Google do deal on cloud-based computing

Salesforce, the customer relations management platform, has announced it is partnering with Google as its preferred cloud-based partner for international infrastructure expansion.

The two tech giants will now be able to offer new cloud-based integrations allowing business customers access to their combined customer intelligence data.

Through the deep integration of data collected by Salesforce from its clients, as well as their customers, with Google’s data analytics skills, the CRM platform will be able to provide consumer insights in order to deliver the most relevant targeted marketing whenever and however users are online.

The announcement was made at Dreamforce 2017, Salesforce’s annual showcase held at the Moscone Centre in downtown San Francisco.

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Google will offer eligible Salesforce customers company-wide G suite licenses at no additional cost for up to one year, providing them with a quick and easy way to kick-start their collaborative cloud experience.

"Our partnership with Google represents the best of both worlds for our customers," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce. "There has never been an easier way for companies to run their entire business in the cloud – from productivity apps, email and analytics,, to sales, service and marketing apps, this partnership will make our customers smarter and more productive."

As part of the global strategic partnership, the companies will be able to deliver a number of new integrations including the connection of Connect Salesforce with G Suite. Customers will be able to surface powerful customer intelligence seamlessly between G Suite, which is already being used by more than 3.5 million businesses globally, and Salesforce Lightning and Quip, which are redefining CRM for the Fortune 500.

Salesforce Lightning and Gmail will also deeply integrate, enabling users to surface relevant Salesforce CRM data in Gmail as well as customer interactions from Gmail directly within Salesforce.

While the partnership is obviously good news for Salesforce, it won't hurt Google either in its race against other tech giants, like Amazon and Oracle, to gain greater market share of the next frontier in tech – cloud computing.

When asked about what the partnership meant for Saelsforce's existing cloud-based relationships with the likes of rivals such as Amazon and Microsoft, Salesforce business development and strategic accounts executive vice president Ryan Aytay said it's business as usual. "We have a great relationship with Amazon, as we do with Microsoft and our other partners, and nothing is changing from that perspective."

Still Mr Aytay acknowledged Google is now the preferred cloud platform for Salesforce, especially for infrastructure. “We’re simply considering this partnership as a new branch of our existing trusted infrastructure. But as we enter new markets, Google will be our preferred public cloud provider and we will use it for any new international expansions we pursue.”

Dreamforce 2017 takes place at the Moscone Centre in downtown San Francisco until Wednesday, November 8th.