Microsoft, Salesforce Said to Discuss Cloud Partnership

May 29, 2014 Off By David

Grazed from Bloomberg. Author: Dina Bass.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) are close to an agreement that will enable customers of Microsoft’s cloud computing service to use Salesforce’s customer management programs, said people familiar with the talks, signaling a thaw between two longtime rivals.

The partnership will make Salesforce’s program available on Microsoft’s Azure service, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are confidential. The companies are also talking about integrating data from Salesforce products into Microsoft’s Office programs, the people said…

An agreement would be a shift in what has sometimes been a fractious relationship between the two companies. In 2010, Microsoft sued Salesforce for patent infringement, setting off a countersuit before the companies settled later that year. Microsoft in 2005 also announced plans to “give Salesforce a very effective run for their money” with a competing product and in 2010 ran an anti-Salesforce ad campaign with the tagline “Don’t Get Forced.” …

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