This article talks about Google’s collaboration with Salesforce.com to come up with a new single software package that would compete with Microsoft’s CRM software. Google’s Vice President and the chief executive of Salesforce.com have also spoken on this collaboration between the two companies and the new product.

Google has collaborated and made friends with Salesforce.com and hired the services of the company to go up against Microsoft.  Google’s suite of office productivity applications that include word processing, e-mail and spreadsheets programs will be integrated with Salesforce’s Customer Relationship Management software into a single software package that will be provided all over the web.

This offering vies with Microsoft’s customer relationship management (CRM) software, which is incorporated with its Office suite. By providing people a web based alternative, Google is looking to surpass Microsoft.

Google’s Vice President, Dave Girouard has said “the product would have new features like letting users keep track of e-mail sent to a customer right on that customer’s sales record, and a group of people collaborating on a sales account would be able to communicate by instant message with one another”.
He also said “In the history of hosted software to date, applications could be like islands. They don’t really work together seamlessly. This is a first of its kind.”

According to the general manager for Microsoft’s C.R.M. unit, Brad Wilson “Salesforce has belatedly recognized that it is important to link C.R.M. apps to productivity tools. It has been core to our product since we launched five years ago. It validates our strategy.”
Marc Benioff, The chief executive of Salesforce.com, Marc Benioff said, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so that makes Google my best friend”. However, Google has launched Google Market Solutions, a service that is in direct competition with Salesforce’s App Exchange. Be sure to also check out Google Is Frienemy.

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