Back in the day (Dreamforce 2010) there was a full blown nerd version of sharks vs jets going on. Benioff said choice words like “”There’s an old industry … and they’re trying to do everything they can to stop this,”” . Fast forward to now and the big news is Microsoft and Salesforce are partnering up.

Mind…Blown…

I have been chewing on this news for a week now and figured it was time for me to weigh in.

1)      This is great news for both companies. Salesforce is sometimes not exactly treated as a full on enterprise app, and Microsoft doesn’t always have the best reputation. By par   tnering with Microsoft, and by proxy SQL and inhouse data, Salesforce gains some legitimacy with old skool IT folks. Microsoft gets access to some of the most loyal geeks around (#wetweetalot)

2)      This is great news for both companies (Sales). Having a better integration to Outlook and Excel, which, let’s be honest here are still the most prevalent CRM, breaks down the barriers to entry for Salesforce. By having a tighter integration to Salesforce, Microsoft plays a long game against other communication / app companies that a business might be tempted to look at. In otherwords, Microsoft is going to make more money keeping businesses in tight with Office then they will with Dynamics.

3)      This is great news for admins. I really don’t like the outlook integration as it stands now and part of that is outlooks fault. If it becomes less “installed after thought” functionality and more “Click and Work” functionality, then I have happier coworkers.

So, who are the losers in this deal?

1)      Any CRM provider not named Dynamics or Salesforce. I would be shocked if some sort of connector for Dynamics to Salesforce isn’t released, which will help Dynamics with CRM and Salesforce with ERP. The “Magic Quadrant” for CRM is already DOMINATED by the two companies, this will only keep that dominance rolling.

2)      Any software guy who’s last name is Ellison. Really though, the dude doesn’t worry. Oracle has so many fingers in so many pies, it is nuts. Though, Ellison does tend to try to buy out companies he finds intersting / a threat, so there is that. Like the saying goes, “No one ever got fired for buying Oracle”…Err, take that back, someone from the State of Oregon might be fired (or at least talked to in a stern voice).

 

 

Overall, I am excited to see where this goes.