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Salesforce's $20 billion challenge: to go deep, deep, deep

Next chapter is a balance of neutrality and integration

Benioff’s $10bn or Block’s $20bn

There is huge enthusiasm for Salesforce. It has been a fresh start for those tired of the cynical and calcified old world of hated business applications.

Salesforce can, and will, capitalize on this, racking up new sign-ups that translate into bottom line, whether it’s Benioff’s $10bn or Block’s $20bn.

The problem, though, is how far it hits those targets by simply continuing to sell what it is, or going beyond the horizontal platform to become customers’ system of record. That’s where SAP and Oracle have had the edge, in getting their hands on customers core date and owning the end-to-end digital process.

It’s where, too, SAP and Oracle have become indispensable, by offering a bewildering catalogue of niche apps, either their own or partners.

One Salesforce partner I pushed at Worldtour to say what Salesforce could be doing better, or where it should be paying attention, told me he reckoned Salesforce has a window of about three years before competitors finally get their acts together.

Judging by Arco’s Martin, it would seem SAP customers feel that firm is finally gearing up.

The question will be how far incumbents can go before Salesforce does define and deliver a vertical and integration play — play that keeps its true to itself. ®

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