Google announces strategic cloud partnership with Salesforce

Google and Salesforce announced on Monday a new strategic partnership through which the CRM giant is naming Google Cloud Platform, a “preferred cloud provider,” and Google is reciprocating by selecting Salesforce its preferred CRM.

In addition to the platform partnerships, Google’s G Suite office productivity portfolio will see deeper integration with Salesforce cloud applications, including Sales and Marketing clouds, as will the Google Analytics 360 platform.

Ryan Aytay, executive vice president of business development at Salesforce, however, came out to clear the air that the term “preferred” doesn’t indicate exclusivity, and the same status granted to Amazon Web Services in 2016 will continue.

However, Google Cloud Platform will be the platform on which Salesforce plans to expand its core services into new global geographies, he added.

These integrations will enable companies to surface powerful intelligence about their customers from Salesforce directly within Gmail, Sheets, Calendar, Drive, Docs and Hangouts Meet. Here’s some more on what you’ll be able to do:

  • Salesforce Lightning for Gmail: Surface relevant Salesforce CRM data in Gmail, as well as customer interactions from Gmail directly within Salesforce, to service your customers faster. Identify high priority emails and suggest next steps based on the email content to work with customers faster than before.
  • Salesforce Lightning for Google Sheets: Embed Sheets anywhere in Salesforce, and with a single click push content from Salesforce Records or Reports to a new Sheet. Data will automatically update bi-directionally to ensure everyone has the most recent information.
  • Quip Live Apps for Google Drive and Google Calendar: Quip Live Apps will integrate with Google Drive and Calendar, allowing you to access information in a more collaborative, open cloud environment, and embed any list of Drive files, including Google Docs, Slides and Sheets, or your Google Calendar inside Quip. This new combination of Quip and G Suite will create a modern alternative to legacy intranet content services.
  • Salesforce for Hangouts Meet: Access relevant customer and account details, service case histories and more from Salesforce CRM directly within the Hangouts Meet interface. This gives you powerful insights directly in the communications platform to conduct better sales conversations or efficiently resolve customer service issues.