How’s this for patching things up?
Microsoft and Salesforce, longtime tech industry rivals, just confirmed that they have reached a wide-ranging partnership to connect their flagship products.
Under the deal, the companies say they will work to connect Salesforce.com’s customer relationship management software to Microsoft Office and Windows, via products including Office 365, Outlook Microsoft Azure and Windows Phone.
It’s another sign of a new era at Microsoft, as CEO Satya Nadella takes the reins and makes a series of pragmatic moves designed to bolster the company’s position in mobile devices and the cloud.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been outspoken in his criticism of Microsoft over the years, earlier this year questioning the company’s ability to compete, and previously comparing Microsoft’s patent tactics to “alley thugs.”
Bloomberg News reported on the talks between the companies earlier today. More to come from an upcoming conference call with the CEOs. Here’s the press release with the official details.
REDMOND, Wash., and SAN FRANCISCO — May 29, 2014 — On Thursday Microsoft Corp. and salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) announced a strategic partnership to create new solutions that connect salesforce.com’s customer relationship management (CRM) apps and platform to Microsoft Office and Windows so customers can be more productive. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are excited to partner with salesforce.com and help customers thrive in a mobile and cloud-first world,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Working together we’ll deliver new solutions that connect the customer insights of Salesforce to the cloud productivity of Office 365, the cloud platform of Azure and the mobility of Windows, so our customers can do more.”
“Today is about putting the customer first,” said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. “Together with Microsoft, we are building bridges that allow customers to be more productive.”
The companies plan to deliver the following solutions:
Salesforce1 for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1. Will enable customers to access Salesforce and run their business from their Windows devices. A preview is planned to be available in fall 2014 with general availability in 2015.
Salesforce for Office 365. New interoperability between Salesforce and Office 365 will give customers access to the content they need to collaborate, sell, service and market from virtually anywhere. Plans include the ability to:
Access, share, edit and collaborate on Office content from within Salesforce and on Salesforce1 using Office Mobile, Office for iPad and Office 365.
Use OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online as integrated storage options for Salesforce.
Use Salesforce and Outlook together with a new Salesforce App for Outlook.
Connect Salesforce data to Excel and Power BI for Office 365 to visualize information and find new insights.
Company CEOs to host conference call
More information about the partnership will be shared in a teleconference Thursday, May 29, with Nadella and Benioff. The teleconference will begin at 1:45 p.m. PDT.
