The Salesforce ecosystem continues to grow and add value to customers – allowing them to get more out of their Salesforce investments.
Salesforce customers have reams of data – it can be used for enhanced marketing and sales. The company already has Einstein for AI and now picked up Tableau for data visualization and BI.
Tableau’s stated goal is to make big data accessible to ordinary people and this is the great news for Salesforce users as we can expect even tighter integration of the platforms allowing salespeople, managers and other decision-makers rapid access to the data needed on sales pipelines, funnels and customer satisfaction needed to enhance business.
According to CNBC:
Tableau shareholders will get 1.103 Salesforce shares, valuing the offer at $177.88 per share, which represents a premium of 42% to Tableau’s Friday closing price.
Shares of Tableau jumped 35% to $169.50, while those of Salesforce slipped 3% to $156.43 in premarket trading.
Salesforce said the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, is likely to increase its 2020 revenue by up to $400 million.
According to a Salesforce press release:
World’s #1 CRM and #1 analytics platform come together to supercharge customers’ digital transformations
Combination to accelerate Salesforce’s opportunity in the $1.8 trillion digital transformation space
Customers will be able to unlock even greater value from their data to drive smarter business decisions and more intelligent customer experiences
Tableau will be positioned to further its mission to help the world see and understand data
“Salesforce’s incredible success has always been based on anticipating the needs of our customers and providing them the solutions they need to grow their businesses,” said Keith Block, co-CEO, Salesforce. “Data is the foundation of every digital transformation, and the addition of Tableau will accelerate our ability to deliver customer success by enabling a truly unified and powerful view across all of a customer’s data.”
“Joining forces with Salesforce will enhance our ability to help people everywhere see and understand data,” said Adam Selipsky, President and CEO of Tableau. “As part of the world’s #1 CRM company, Tableau’s intuitive and powerful analytics will enable millions more people to discover actionable insights across their entire organizations. I’m delighted that our companies share very similar cultures and a relentless focus on customer success. I look forward to working together in support of our customers and communities.”
With Customer 360, Salesforce can provide companies with a complete, intelligent view of their customers across every touchpoint—sales, service, marketing, commerce and more. Salesforce pioneered AI for CRM with Salesforce Einstein, and today delivers AI-powered analytics for sales and marketing.
With Tableau and Einstein together, Salesforce will deliver the most intelligent and intuitive analytics and visualization platform for every department and every user at any company. Tableau will make both Customer 360 and Salesforce’s analytics capabilities stronger than ever, and enable the company to reach a much broader set of customers and users.
With this acquisition, the Salesforce ecosystem continues to grow and add value to customers – allowing them to get more out of their Salesforce investments.
For a contrarian viewpoint, check out these thoughts from MicroStrategy:
“Today’s announcement of the acquisition of Tableau by Salesforce – hot on the heels of Google’s purchase of Looker last week – is yet another demonstration of how business intelligence and analytics is being recognized as a deeply strategic part of business. BI is back in the boardroom.
While the industry is likely to see more consolidation, new entrants, and new offerings, analytics continues to be integral for digital transformation no matter where companies are positioned along that journey. It’s clear that both Salesforce and Google Cloud are very aware of the value that BI and analytics can bring.
The real challenge for Salesforce and Google will be how quickly and smoothly they can integrate the acquired companies. While they’re focused on the integration, there’s no doubt the rest of the industry will continue to focus on innovation and new customer acquisition.
That’s why we believe MicroStrategy is in a unique position to offer companies a better alternative. Unlike our competitors, we remain completely focused on business intelligence and analytics as our core business. We’re here every day helping people make the right decisions to drive change within their organizations.”
