Salesforce, Google join forces in cloud, apps deal

Salesforce has tied up with Google in one of cloud computing's highest profile alliances yet, in a move that could roil the business software market.

The strategic partnership announced yesterday aims to integrate Google's office software suite called G Suite with the core platform of Salesforce, an integration of Google Analytics into Salesforce's marketing software and a mutual commitment to use each other's products moving forward.

Under the deal, Salesforce will use Google's cloud infrastructure for ''expansion'' of its core services, a major win for Google Cloud chief, Diane Greene and her unit as part of an ongoing challenge to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure for market share.

However, according to commentators, Google might be the one giving more back in the partnership, as the company's opening up of Google Analytics could provide a major boost to the usefulness of Salesforce's marketing products.

''This is a first of its kind partnership, that we view as the best of both worlds,'' says Ryan Aytay, an executive vice president of business development and strategic accounts at Salesforce, Forbes reported. ''It brings our companies together with one priority: to make our customers smarter and more productive.''

According to Google Analytics senior director Babak Pahlavan, the integration of Google Analytics with Salesforce Marketing Cloud had been a top request of Google's and Salesforce's customers in recent months.

Meanwhile, according to commentators, Salesforce's tight relationship with Amazon Web Service (AWS) may no longer be what it has been, with the development.

Salesforce said it intended to continue working with AWS, though Google Cloud will provide core storage services for Salesforce as it prepares to expand internationally.

Meanwhile, Google continues to be number three in the ongoing cloud wars, after AWS, and Microsoft Azure.

With the addition of new features, from the integration, customers will also be able to move records and reports from Salesforce onto a Google spreadsheet with the click of a button.

The Salesforce tool that can pick out which customer inquiries are top priority will also be integrated with the email service Gmail, to highlight which emails are most important.