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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="155484" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Salesforce">Salesforce</keyword> has named <keyword id="10689770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="david-schmaier">David Schmaier</keyword> <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/salesforce-names-david-schmaier-president-chief-product-officer/">as its new chief product officer</a>.</li><li>He joined last year via its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-vlocity-acquisition-vertical-sales-strategy-keith-block-2020-2">$1.3 billion acquisition of Vlocity</a>, which makes software for specific industries.</li><li>Schmaier's new role shows Salesforce is focused on growing its industry specific tools.</li><li>Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at <a href="mailto:pzaveri@businessinsider.com">pzaveri@insider.com</a> or Signal at 925-364-4258. </li></ul>Salesforce has named David Schmaier <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/salesforce-names-david-schmaier-president-chief-product-officer/">its new chief product officer,</a> finally filling the position that was vacant since December 2019, when Bret Taylor was promoted to chief operating officer.Schmaier joined Salesforce early last year via its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-vlocity-acquisition-vertical-sales-strategy-keith-block-2020-2">$1.3 billion acquisition of Vlocity</a>, a startup he founded that makes cloud and mobile software on top of Salesforce's platform that's tailored to specific industries.Once the deal closed in June, Schmaier was named <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-most-significant-hirings-departures-2020-keith-block-2020-7#hire-david-schmaier-ceo-of-salesforce-industries-22">CEO of Salesforce Industries;</a> As chief product officer, Schmaier will lead Salesforce's global product team, strategy, and vision.Salesforce's acquisition of <keyword id="10689769" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vlocity">Vlocity</keyword> was seen as Salesforce's way of doubling down on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-vlocity-acquisition-vertical-sales-strategy-keith-block-2020-2">industry-specific sales strategy that former co-CEO Keith Block</a> introduced before he left the company last February. Giving Schmaier leadership over the entire product team further demonstrates Salesforce's focus on selling to specific industries and creating customized tools on top of its CRM tools for healthcare, financial services, government, and others categories.Schmaier has years of experience customizing CRM software for specific industries. He was one of the first employees at CRM pioneer Siebel Systems in the 1990s, overseeing efforts to customize its software for particular industries. He began building Vlocity in 2013 after seeing that there was an opportunity to customize Salesforce's tools in the same way. Since Vlocity's acquisition, Salesforce added additional capabilities to three of its five industry-specific cloud offerings, and added three industry categories: communications, media and entertainment, and energy and utilities.At Vlocity's developer conference last July, Schmaier said that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-acquisition-of-vlocity-could-help-win-stickier-customers-2020-7">average order value of Salesforce's industry cloud products grew 71%</a> from a year prior. At the time those products had 4,000 customers and 2.8 million monthly active users, Schmaier said. It's unknown how those numbers have changed; Salesforce doesn't publicly disclose those numbers in its quarterly earnings reports.Schmaier is entering his new role at a time when the company has gone through a rapid shift, with its own employees and customers working remotely and launching new tools to help with the pandemic response. "It's impossible to predict the future," Schmaier said in a <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/salesforce-names-david-schmaier-president-chief-product-officer/">blog post</a>. "What we do know is that trusted customer relationships have never been more important. I'm ready to jump in, lead our product teams and be a trusted advisor to our customers."Do you work at Salesforce? Have a tip about its focus on industries? Contact this reporter via email at <a href="mailto:pzaveri@insider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pzaveri@insider.com</a> or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.

Salesforce made Vlocity's founder its new chief product officer - and it highlights a key part of its strategy

<ul class="summary-list"><li>On Tuesday, Salesforce said it had acquired Vlocity, a startup that makes cloud and mobile software tailored to specific industries, for $1.33 billion.</li><li>The news came the same day it announced co-CEO Keith Block was leaving the company.</li><li>The acquisition of Vlocity will help Salesforce continue a sales strategy that focused on selling to specific industries, like finance, healthcare, and government - a strategy that Block first spearheaded.</li><li>On a call with analysts after the earnings, Benioff said that Block inspired Salesforce to focus more heavily on vertical industries, and that the acquisition of Vlocity will help grow that effort. </li><li>Benioff said that Salesforce wasn't looking to do another big acquisition so soon after Tableau, which it acquired for $15.3 billion last year, but the opportunity to bring Vlocity on board was too good to pass up.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summarymary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>During its fourth quarter earnings announcement on Tuesday, Salesforce said it had acquired Vlocity, a startup that makes cloud and mobile software tailored to specific industries, for $1.33 billion.The acquisition speaks to a strategy championed by now-former Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block - who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ceo-keith-block-steps-down-marc-beniof-ceo-2020-2">stepped down from his co-CEO role</a> in a surprise announcement on Tuesday -during his time at the cloud software giant. Block had just taken on the co-CEO role a year and a half ago in 2018.Block is seen as an a leader in enterprise software sales and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-co-ceo-keith-block-leaving-analysts-leadership-benioff-2020-2">analysts say he had a big role in shaping what the company is today -</a> including developing this strategy of targeting specific industries. Under Block's watch, Salesforce went from about $4 billion in annual revenue when he first joined in 2013, to doing about the same in a quarter now.On a call with analysts after the earnings, Marc Benioff, founder and now sole CEO of Salesforce, credited Block with the strategy."I couldn't be more excited about amplifying the vertical strategy with them," Benioff said of Vlocity. "And I'm sure we'll have many more things that we'll be ready to announce that have honestly been inspired by Keith's tremendous vision and passion towards taking our incredible platform but delivering it by industry and also, as Keith said so well, in the language of our customers." <h2> A vertical sales strategy</h2>Vlocity makes cloud software for specific industries, like insurance, healthcare, and the public sector, on top of Salesforce's platform. Salesforce currently has specific versions of its products financial services industry, healthcare, government, and philanthropy. The Financial Services Cloud and Health Cloud were both launched under Block's guidance. On the call with analysts, Block highlighted the growth in those areas and new customers Salesforce has signed on as a result."Approximately 3 years ago, we launched some incredible innovation with Financial Services Cloud as well as our Health Cloud and we had some amazing wins in the quarter associated with both of those," Block said. Benioff noted that the success of this industry-specific strategy was a result of Block's leadership and initiative in the space. He also noted that the experience Vlocity has in talking to customers in these industries will be a huge asset to Salesforce. Industries like financial services, healthcare and government, often have more rules and regulations they have to comply with, so the software they use has to be able to meet those needs.Benioff said he had worked with many of the executives running Vlocity for decades, including its CEO and founder David Schmaier. "Many of these executives we have worked with and worked together with for maybe 30 years or more. We know them extremely well...I'm especially excited that David Schmaier is coming into Salesforce. He's one of the finest executives who I've worked with," Benioff said. This acquisition comes after its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-earnings-tableau-acquisition-challenges-2019-12">$15.3 billion acquisition of Tableau, which just closed in Q3 of last year</a>. It was also the company's largest acquisition ever, and the two have just started to integrate their products. Benioff said that Salesforce wasn't looking to do another big acquisition so soon after Tableau, but the opportunity to bring Vlocity on board was too good to pass up. He did say that the company is not going to be focusing on making any major acquisitions in the short term, instead putting focus on growing the business and hitting the goals its set, like doubling revenue by 2024 to $35 billion."We don't anticipate any major acquisitions in the short term," Benioff said.<h2>A significant acquisition as Keith Block departs</h2>Analysts say that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-year-ahead-2020-tableau-acquisitions-benioff-2020-1">Vlocity acquisition is significant</a> because it gives Salesforce a ton of extra expertise in this industry-specific sales stategy, especially amid Block's departure.Rob Oliver, an analyst at Baird said that the Vlocity acquisition gives reassurance that Salesforce will continue going after specific industries, even though Block is leaving the company. He added that Salesforce has acquired "one of the best vertical plays on the Salesforce platform."Rebecca Wetteman, an analyst at Valoir, said the acquisition while significant, is not surprising, given that Vlocity is built on the Salesforce platform and that the two companies have worked together for years."The Vlocity acquisition is significant in giving Salesforce tons of vertical CRM IP and industry chops, but not surprising - Salesforce has made a habit of acquiring companies from within its ecosystem where it's already done its due diligence. It's a lot easier to know what you're marrying if you've already dated exclusively," Wetteman said.Arjun Bhatia, an analyst at William Blair said while Salesforce had a strong vertical strategy by itself, Vlocity has more out-of-the-box tools, which Salesforce would otherwise have to develop on its own. "While Salesforce also has solutions that address these verticals, we get the sense that Vlocity offers more out of the box vertical workflows compared with Salesforce, which might require more custom development. Ultimately, we are positive on Salesforce's continued commitment to a vertical strategy, especially as the company looks to get more leverage on the sales and marketing line," Bhatia wrote in a research note published Wednesday.Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at <a href="mailto:pzaveri@businessinsider.com">pzaveri@businessinsider.com</a> or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says that its $1 billion acquisition of startup Vlocity will help it pursue a sales strategy championed by outgoing co-CEO Keith Block

PwC <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> on Tuesday announced to acquire <keyword id="14250220" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="venerate" source="Orion">Venerate</keyword> Solutions, a Salesforce consulting firm in the country, for an undisclosed sum. Venerate and its team of consultants and developers will integrate with PwC India's Salesforce practice post the acquisition, as PwC invests in the area of digital transformation and strategic alliances. "Venerate will augment our Salesforce consulting practice with significant end-to-end capabilities in the areas of platform engineering, and cloud and managed services, thereby bolstering our ambitions as a community of problem solvers," said <keyword id="225165" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sanjeev-krishan" source="Orion">Sanjeev Krishan</keyword>, Chairman, PwC in India. Founded in 2016 in Bengaluru, Venerate builds and deploys cutting-edge customised solutions on the Salesforce platform across multiple clouds including Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Vlocity Industry Cloud and various integration tools. These solutions help organisations reimagine the customer experience, seamlessly ramp up sales and support their growth journeys. <keyword id="257235" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="partho-bhattacharya" source="Orion">Partho Bhattacharya</keyword>, CEO, Venerate and <keyword id="2591864" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="biswanath-bhattacharya" source="Orion">Biswanath Bhattacharya</keyword>, Founder and Director, believe that "Venerate's strengths combined with PwC India's extensive reach will provide tremendous opportunities, both for clients and talent alike". "This acquisition marks the beginning of the inorganic growth aspirations of the advisory business in India. More such opportunities are being actively evaluated in the cyber, ESG, cloud and analytics domain," informed Arnab Basu, Leader- Advisory, PwC India. The transaction is expected to close in the coming few weeks, subject to approvals. ALSO SEE: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/youre-too-gay-for-this-ad-and-other-ways-indian-showbiz-ignores-lgbtq-artists/articleshow/92355377.cms">You’re too gay for this ad, and other ways Indian showbiz ignores LGBTQ+ artists</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/indias-tech-talent-pool-is-from-vizag-indore-and-warangal-thats-where-infosys-tcs-and-others-are-heading/articleshow/92351346.cms">India’s tech talent pool is from Vizag, Indore and Warangal — that’s where Infosys, TCS and others are heading</a>

PwC India acquires salesforce consulting firm, Venerate Solution

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">VlocityVlocity is finding success customizing Salesforce's service for companies in telecommunications and other industries, CEO David Schmaier said.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/vlocity">Vlocity</a> is one of the most successful developers on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/salesforce">Salesforce's</a> platform.</li><li>The San Francisco startup customizes Salesforce's service for companies in five industries, including telecommunications and health care.</li><li>Company CEO David Schmaier and his core team did something similar with great success at Siebel Systems in the 1990s and 2000s.</li><li>Investors are recognizing its promise; it recently secured a $60 million funding round that valued it at $1 billion that was co-led by Salesforce Ventures itself. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>When David Schmaier attended Salesforce's Dreamforce conference in fall 2013, he was hoping to find a startup to buy - not to found a company himself.At the time, Schmaier was on the board of a private equity firm, but he had a long history in the <keyword id="6356323" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="enterprise">enterprise</keyword> software industry, and specifically in the customer relationship management part of it, which forms Salesforce's core market. Thirty years earlier, he had been one of the first employees at customer relationship management (CRM) software pioneer Siebel Systems, and had overseen its effort to customize its software for particular industries.With Salesforce's cloud-based service supplanting traditional CRM software, Schmaier was convinced there was an opportunity to repeat what he'd done decades before. In 2007, some of his former colleagues had formed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/veeva-systems">Veeva</a>, which was customizing Salesforce's CRM system for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Schmaier thought for sure six years later he'd find other startups at Dreamforce working on customizing Salesforce for other industries.But other than Veeva, he didn't find any.He realized "that there really was no company to buy, that you really had to start it yourself," Schmaier told Business Insider in a recent interview.<h2>A 'rocketship'</h2>Having done CRM customization before, he was convinced he was the best person to start a company that would focus on it for the future.So Schmaier got together with some of his former colleagues from Siebel and founded Vlocity. Instead of focusing narrowly, like Veeva did, or on more than 20 industries, like he had done with Siebel, Schmaier decided that Vlocity would customize Salesforce for a diverse but focused collection of some of the biggest industries around, including telecommunications, insurance, and healthcare.He may not intended to start a company originally, but his bet has paid off. San Francisco-based Vlocity now has 700 employees and counts among its customers a slew of household names and major corporations and organizations, including Verizon, Anthem, Allstate, the government of Canada, and the US Department of Agriculture. It's already hit $100 million in annual revenue. And, according to Schmaier, Vlocity is the fastest-growing company ever to be built on top of Salesforce's technology platform."The company's going great," he said. "It's really kind of a rocketship."Vlocity system essentially plugs into Salesforce's. Depending on the industry a customer participates in, Vlocity's service will add particular modules to its Salesforce dashboard. So, a telecommunications company might have a module that provides a graph their representatives can view that shows a customer's devices and service options. For insurance companies, Vlocity offers modules that allow them to add items such as customers' policies and coverages.<h2>Vlocity customizes Salesforce, saving clients time and effort</h2>Vlocity offers a standard set of modules across industries. Beyond the default batch, customers can pick and pay for which ones they need. But they can also customize the particular modules to match their workflows and business processes. The company's service is cloud-based, and the startup updates it monthly with new features.That's a big advantage for Vlocity and its customers, said Rebecca Wettemann, an analyst at Nucleus Research who covers the CRM market."The cloud model offers greater usability and greater flexibility, and the ability to change over time," she said.Although Vlocity has several competitors, including Amdocs and Zipari, many of them focus on just one or two industries. Some companies have chosen in the past to create bespoke CRM systems or customize generic ones, including Salesforce, by tapping their own developers or by hiring one of the big consulting firms.By offering CRM features that are industry specific, Vlocity can help such companies save the time and cost of creating such customized services as well as the ongoing cost of maintaining them, industry analysts said. As such, the company's service fills a critical niche for Salesforce in particular and for its customers, said Olive Huang, an analyst who focuses on the CRM industry for research firm Gartner. "Salesforce by itself without industry templates will cost the companies too much on customization, implementation will be too long and the total cost of ownership will not be competitive," Huang said.<h2>It's one of the latest tech unicorns</h2>While Vlocity isn't exactly a household name, it's already caught the attention of investors. The company has raised more than $160 million in venture funding to date.Salesforce Ventures, the cloud giant's investment arm, was an early backer of Vlocity. In March, Salesforce Ventures co-led Vlocity's <a href="https://vlocity.com/community/vlocity-raises-60-million-series-c-funding">latest funding round</a>, a $60 million Series C that gave the startup a valuation of more than $1 billion and made it one of Silicon Valley's latest unicorns.It's no wonder why, either. Services like those offered by Vlocity make the larger Salesforce platform more palatable to a wider swath of customers, broadening the potential audience for both companies. Its other backers include consulting behemoth Accenture, Sutter Hill Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and New York Life, which is one of Vlocity's key customers.When considering potential investments, Wildcat Venture Partners evaluates them on four key criteria, or pillars - their product, revenue, business systems, and executive team, said founding partner Bruce Cleveland <a href="https://medium.com/wildcat-venture-partners/why-we-invested-in-vlocity-da8b78247892">in a recent blog post</a>. Schmaier put together a team that's not only has deep experience in the industry but also with fast-paced growth, Cleveland said. And Vlocity is offering a product that's built on top of Salesforce's successful platform and offers an obvious value to its business customers."With all four pillars covered, it was hard to envision Vlocity not succeeding," Cleveland said.<h2>Schmaier is building a global company</h2>The company's biggest challenge going forward is a geographic one, said Gartner's Huang. Salesforce is expanding rapidly around the world and is going to want to be able to offer potential customers a service that's tailored for their businesses or industries.Vlocity could find it difficult to meet that demand, she said. Some of the industries for which it offers its service are covered by regulations that can vary from country to country, meaning that Vlocity may have to customize its offerings not just by industry but by locale as well."If they can't follow Salesforce [quickly] enough, Salesforce will not wait for the market to be taken by competition," Huang said. "So Salesforce will likely ... develop an industry cloud themselves, or give the business to a different ... partner."Read this: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sapphire-ventures-das-says-enterprise-software-will-see-consolidation-2019-3">This VC says a shakeout is coming to enterprise software because titans like Oracle and Salesforce have 'account control' that no startup can match</a>For his part, Schmaier doesn't seem worried about that. Vlocity is already offering its service in 20 countries around the world and counts among its customers some major international companies, including Sky Italia, France's Orange, and Canada's Rogers."This is an incredibly global company," he said.<h2>Salesforce is a key partner - and a potential competitor</h2>What's more, Salesforce is Vlocity's largest outside investor and has been supportive of what the company is doing, Schmaier said. The two companies' arrangement allows Salesforce to focus on building out its platform and Vlocity to focus on customizing for particular industries."Everybody does what their good at," he said. There's nothing to stop Salesforce from getting into Vlocity's market, he continued, "except for if we're good at it, and the customers are happy, and if we're driving value and revenue for them, and they're an investor, I think that's reason enough for them to work with us, versus the alternative."And the company plans to use some of its new funds to continue its global expansion, Schmaier said. Last year it set up shop in parts of Asia and Latin America, and it plans to fill out its sales teams in those areas.It also plans to use the new funds to continue to build out new modules and features for its service, he said. Its service collects more data for customers than does Salesforce alone, and Vlocity wants to help customers tap into Salesforce's artificial intelligence and data analysis capabilities to help make sense of it, he said. He thinks that's going to be important to Vlocity's customers."This is kind of the core operating system ... for each one of these industries," Schmaier said. "This is like the core DNA of how you run a telco, or how you run an insurance company."Got a tip about tech? Contact this reporter via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/troywolv/">@troywolv</a>, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6"> contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.Read more about enterprise software and services:<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-edge-computing-startup-pixeom-used-to-raise-15-million-2019-5" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Here's the pitch deck a Silicon Valley startup used to raise $15 million to promote its edge-computing service</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sapphire-ventures-jai-das-enterprise-software-ipo-good-bet-2019-4" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">A Silicon Valley VC says a group of tech companies are quietly blowing away expectations while the spotlight shines on splashy IPOs like Lyft and Pinterest</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-startup-kong-pitch-deck-raise-43-million-2019-4" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">This pitch deck helped raise $43 million for a startup with a new twist on the biggest trend in software development</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airtables-founders-wanted-to-build-a-lasting-company-not-a-product-2019-4" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The CEO of billion-dollar startup Airtable explains why its founders decided on a corporate culture before they even had a product</a></li></ul> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lifelong-iphone-user-switches-android-samsung-galaxy-s10-2019-5">I've used iPhones for nearly a decade and switched to the Samsung Galaxy S10. Now I understand Android loyalty in a way I never understood before.</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Here's how an enterprise software vet and his team have built a $1 billion business with $100 million in annual revenue by putting its own twists on Salesforce for big businesses

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block has stepped down from his role, less than 2 years after he first ascended to the role in the summer of 2018.</li><li>Analysts say that it was always a strange choice for Salesforce to have a co-CEO: While they respect Block's success at the company, experts say that his lofty title didn't necessarily give him more power over the company than founder and CEO Marc Benioff, known for doing things his own way.</li><li>Block's departure could clear the deck for a new generation of leadership at the company, analysts say: The company is in a good position today, thanks in no small part to Block's efforts, they say, but Benioff and cofounder Parker Harris could be looking to the future.</li><li>Rising stars at the company include Bret Taylor, promoted to COO last fall, and Adam Selipsky, CEO of Tableau, which Salesforce recently acquired to add more data analysis chops.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summarymary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ceo-keith-block-steps-down-marc-beniof-ceo-2020-2">sudden and surprising departure of Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block</a> after only about a year and a half on the job could signal that Marc Benioff - now the sole CEO of the $161 billion cloud software giant once more - is clearing the decks for a new generation of leadership.Since joining <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ceo-keith-stong-operator-sudden-exit-oracle-2020-2">Salesforce in 2013 as head of sales, getting promoted to COO, and then moving on to the co-CEO role</a>, Block played a crucial role in building out Salesforce's sales strategy - particularly in building traction in selling to specific industries like healthcare and government. He had over 26 years of experience at Oracle before coming to Salesforce.There's evidence that Block had a lot of success: Salesforce's revenue just about quadrupled from $4 billion annually when he joined in 2013, to doing about the same in a quarter now. Even so, Rebecca Wettemann, an analyst at Valoir, said its not surprising that Block is stepping down. The ever-bombastic Benioff and his cofounder and CTO Parker Harris are still very much involved in the day to day operations of the company.She suggests that despite Block's lofty title, the two founders still wielded outsized power over the company, and that their more freewheeling style never fully meshed with Block's more traditional approach to business."People talked about Keith as the heir apparent to Marc, but Marc is still firing on all cylinders and he and Parker continue to be the key leadership figures for Salesforce," Wettemann told Business Insider. "While he was doing a great job, Salesforce has never marched to the traditional enterprise software drummer, and Keith was the perfect drummer boy." Dan Newman, an analyst at Futurum Research agrees, and said he always found it interesting that Salesforce decided to have someone share the CEO role with Benioff. "I felt from the beginning it would be hard for the two to be equals, but it was a fascinating experiment," he told Business Insider. He added that while Block seemed to be indispensable to the company's operations, Bret Taylor seems to already be fulfilling some of the operational duties left vacated. Taylor, formerly the CTO of Facebook and a key engineer at Google, was named chief operating officer last fall, taking over Block's old job.<h2>The next generation</h2>Steve Koenig, an analyst at Wedbush, said that while Block was a great asset to the company, Benioff might be looking to pave the way for a future generation of leaders - like Taylor. "I think bigger picture, my guess is that Marc is looking forward into the future and looking at what he needs to do put in place the next generation of leadership at the company," Koenig told Business Insider, adding that Taylor is one example of that kind of talent. Koenig adds that he could see Salesforce putting Taylor into a CEO role in the future, something that others have speculated before as well. Taylor came to the company when Salesforce acquired his startup Quip, and he quickly rose though the ranks, reporting directly to Benioff once he joined. Another person who represents the type of leadership talent Benioff could be looking for is Tableau CEO Adam Selipsky, Koenig said. Salesforce acquired Tableau for $15.3 billion last year. Selipsky was previously an executive at Amazon Web Services and took over Tableau in 2016.Koenig said Selipsky has done a "remarkable" job reviving Tableau when it was having trouble and "propelling it forward and then taking Tableau to the next level."While Block had a huge impact on the company, he built a sales organization that can continue doing the work, so analysts said they don't expect much to change with the day to day operations."I really don't see any significant impact on the external perception of the business based upon this move. Internally, Block appeared to be pivotal to operations and this could see a transitional period where the company will have to make adjustments in Block's absence," Newman said.Salesforce has also hired Gavin Patterson, formerly CEO at BT, as the new president and CEO of Salesforce International, responsible for the company's operations outside the US. Rob Oliver, an analyst at Baird, said that Salesforce has a strong bench of executives, so while Block leaving is certainly a big deal, he's not worried about the company's future performance."If there's any company that can withstand the departure of one person it's Salesforce, because Marc Benioff has built a culture of surrounding himself with great people," Oliver said. <h2>The Vlocity acquisition</h2>Additionally, Wetteman said she sees the acquisition of Vlocity, a startup that makes industry-specific cloud and mobile software that is built on the Salesforce platform, to play a key role here. Salesforce said it acquired Vlocity at the same time it announced Block was leaving. The acquisition will help Salesforce increase its focus on a industry specific sales strategy, tailoring its products to industries like financial services, healthcare and government - a strategy that Block spearheaded. "They get not only the vertical IP, but also [Vlocity CEO] David Schmaier, who is positioned to have a great leadership role there if he wants to do it. David knows the market, he knows the customers, from an industry perspective, he could be a great person to bring on to central leadership of Salesforce," Wetteman said. Oliver said that the Vlocity acquisition gives reassurance that Salesforce's industry specific sales strategy will continue to grow, even though Block is leaving the company. He added that Salesforce has acquired "one of the best vertical plays on the Salesforce platform."Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at <a href="mailto:pzaveri@businessinsider.com">pzaveri@businessinsider.com</a> or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.

The sudden departure of Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block shows how Marc Benioff is preparing a new generation of talent to take the reins at the cloud giant

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="155484" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Salesforce">Salesforce</keyword> has held talks to acquire the workplace messaging firm <keyword id="1815769" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="slack">Slack</keyword>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/salesforce-has-held-talks-to-buy-slack-technologies-11606326392">The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday</a>.</li><li>The move would signal a more aggressive foray into office-communication software for Salesforce.</li><li>There is no guarantee that the preliminary talks will lead to an acquisition, the report said.</li></ul>Salesforce held talks to buy the workplace messaging app Slack, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/salesforce-has-held-talks-to-buy-slack-technologies-11606326392">The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday</a>.The WSJ later updated the story to say Salesforce is in advanced talks with Slack, and that a deal could be announced within days, potentially by the time Salesforce reports its quarterly earnings on Tuesday.There is no guarantee that the talks will lead to an acquisition, the report said, but a deal would signal a more aggressive foray into office communication for the cloud giant. Salesforce has two communication and collaboration tools, Chatter and Quip, which can be used in tandem with its customer-management-focused tools.The move would represent Salesforce's largest acquisition in its history, as Slack's market capitalization was at about <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/work-stock" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$17 billion</a> before the report and the acquisition price would likely be higher. Slack's stock surged as much as 32% on the <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword>, while Salesforce shares were down about 3.5%. Neither company was immediately available for comment.This would also continue Salesforce's acquisition spree of late. The customer-management-software provider has made two large <keyword id="30345" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="acquisitions">acquisitions</keyword> in the past few years: It bought the data-visualization company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-earnings-tableau-acquisition-challenges-2019-12">Tableau for over $15 billion in 2019</a> and MuleSoft for $6.5 billion in 2018.CEO Marc Benioff notably said on the company's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-stock-price-q2-earnings-beats-analyst-estimates-raised-guidance-2020-8">quarterly earnings call in August</a> that he didn't "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-marc-benioff-hints-no-acquisitions-soon-q2-earnings-2020-8">really see an M&amp;A environment</a>" for large companies like his at this time. He also said Salesforce was focused on integrating its MuleSoft and Tableau acquisitions this year.But Salesforce has made a few smaller acquisitions so far in 2020, buying <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-vlocity-acquisition-vertical-sales-strategy-keith-block-2020-2">Vlocity for $1.3 billion in February</a> and The CMO Club, a marketing network, <a href="https://martechseries.com/sales-marketing/crm/salesforce-acquires-the-cmo-club-to-unify-marketing-thoughts-with-b2b-practices/">for an undisclosed amount in early March</a>.Analysts have recently speculated that Salesforce <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-could-see-slower-growth-future-morgan-stanley-ubs-analysts-2020-11">might need to rely on acquisitions</a> to keep up its rapid pace of growth; a UBS analyst note said the firm was suffering from a "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-cloud-software-spending-could-change-2021-ubs-analysts-2020-11">lack of innovation</a>."Salesforce and Slack have had a partnership since 2016 and expanded it last year <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slack-and-salesforce-expanded-partnership-2019-10#:~:text=Customers%20using%20both%20Slack%20and,first%20struck%20in%20late%202016.&amp;text=It%20also%20means%20that%20conversations,be%20appended%20directly%20to%20Salesforce.rce.">so users could move more seamlessly between both cloud services</a>.Both companies compete with Microsoft: Salesforce with Microsoft's customer-relationship-management tools, and Slack with Microsoft Teams, its chat and collaboration app. A merger could position both companies as a stronger competitor to Microsoft.

Salesforce has reportedly held talks to buy office messaging app Slack

SalesforceSalesforce Chief Operating Officer Bret Taylor<ul class="summary-list"><li>Salesforce COO Bret Taylor said he hopes to "double down" on the strategies former co-CEO Keith Block implemented during his time at the company. </li><li>Taylor said at a conference earlier this week he sees an opportunity to build on the deep relationships that Block helped foster with customers and partners.</li><li>A lot of Salesforce's growth in the last few years, Taylor said, has been because of the sales strategy that focuses on specific industries, something Block started. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summarymary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>Salesforce COO Bret Taylor said former co-CEO Keith Block was a great mentor to him - and that he hopes to "double down" on the strategies that Block implemented during his time at the company. Taylor told attendees at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom conference earlier this week that when he looks at Block's legacy at Salesforce, he sees an opportunity to build on the deep relationships Block helped foster with customers and partners."I think even more importantly though, his focus on bringing our products to market by industry and really speaking the language of our customers," Taylor said. What Taylor refers to is a sales strategy Block implemented that focuses on tailoring its products to industries like financial services, healthcare and government. A lot of Salesforce's growth in the last few years, Taylor said, has been because of this strategy because of new customers for products like Financial Services Cloud, Health Cloud, the Consumer Goods Cloud and Manufacturing Cloud. "...We're really providing these business-critical processes for these industries and really kind of speaking the language of our customers in every interaction in a way that, I think, really with the transformation for the company, I think Keith deserves a lot of credit for," Taylor said. Taylor said Block's achievement in his time at the company was incredible, Salesforce's annual revenue when he joined in 2013 was $4 billion, and now its about $17 billion. Taylor added that he thought it was fitting that the acquisition of Vlocity, a startup that makes cloud and mobile software tailored to specific industries on top of the Salesforce platform, was announced the same day as Block leaving. "That was really sort of the culmination of a lot of his vision when he entered the company," he said.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-vlocity-acquisition-vertical-sales-strategy-keith-block-2020-2">Analysts say that the $1 billion Vlocity acquisition is significant</a> because it gives Salesforce a ton of extra expertise in this industry-specific sales strategy, especially amid Block's departure.Taylor was promoted to Block's old chief operating officer position last fall, after previously holding the chief product officer role. He joined Salesforce in 2016 when Salesforce acquired his company Quip. Block was promoted to the co-CEO position in August 2018 before leaving his post last month. While Block's departure came as shock to many given how much of an asset he was to the company, analysts think it may be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-co-ceo-keith-block-leaving-analysts-leadership-benioff-2020-2">CEO Marc Benioff's way of paving the way for a future generation of leaders - like Taylor</a>.<h2>A 360-degree customer view</h2>More broadly, Taylor said this year the sales strategy he'll be focusing on at Salesforce this year is centered around telling customers that its products can help them get a "360-degree" view of their customers across the sales, service, and marketing departments. "But our strategy, which we talk a lot about, is really around this vision of Customer 360. And it really is representing not necessarily going into customers and selling just one of our clouds, like a Sales Cloud or a Service Cloud. It's really helping them transform their business, be customer-centric," Taylor said. That strategy is dependent on the technology Salesforce has gotten from its recent acquisitions of MuleSoft and Tableau, he said. Salesforce bought MuleSoft for $6.5 billion in 2018 and Tableau for $15.7 billion last year.MuleSoft is what enables all of Salesforce's different products to connect and communicate, Taylor said. And Tableau offers software to help companies analyze the huge amounts of data they will be generating from using the rest of the software, he adds."MuleSoft is the foundation, this Customer 360 technology is in the middle and Tableau and this system of insight at the top of it, I think, is a really amazing set of technologies, I think, for most companies in the world to enable them to actually reach, as you called it, that holy grail of the Customer 360," Taylor said.Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at <a href="mailto:pzaveri@businessinsider.com">pzaveri@businessinsider.com</a> or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economist-weighted-voting-could-help-save-us-democracy-2018-5">A top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote: weighted voting</a></h3>

Salesforce COO Bret Taylor says he wants to 'double down' on strategies started by former co-CEO Keith Block

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Keith's Block exit from Salesforce, 18 months after he was promoted to co-CEO, was a shocker. </li><li>Marc Benioff even wrote about his decision to promote Block to co-CEO in his recently released book "Trailblazer," saying he needed a partner who reported to the board and not to him.</li><li>But in practice, Benioff still held the power in the company, and remains chairman of the board.</li><li>And one indication of the unequal power can be seen in the pay between the two executives: While Block received a handsome increase in pay when he was promoted to co-CEO, he was still making less than Benioff in total compensation.</li><li>On top of that, as Benioff filled his executive bench with more top leaders, it was hard to see how the co-CEO structure was working.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>If you were surprised when you heard that Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block was leaving the company, you weren't alone - Business Insider spoke to a few Salesforce employees who felt exactly the same way.Block had been such an instrumental figure in building the sales and operations teams since joining Salesforce in 2013, that he was chosen in August 2018 - just 18 months ago - to be co-CEO, alongside founder and chairman Marc Benioff. Marc Benioff talks about that decision in his book "Trailblazer." The story he tells goes like this: During a vacation with his family in the Pacific Isles - he owns a compound in Hawaii, which is why he and Salesforce use so many Hawaiian terms - Benioff had a revelation. He was feeling overtaxed."The more we grew, the more product rollouts, marketing campaign launches, executive development sessions, speeches and customer meetings mandated my presence," Benioff wrote. "It was time to ask our board of directors to make Keith Block, then Salesforce's chief operating officer, a co-CEO."He struggled with the idea of giving up some control, he admitted in the book, but took the plunge anyway. With this arrangement, Benioff would handle "technology, marketing, stakeholder engagement and culture, while Keith would be responsible for growth strategy, execution and operations," he wrote.In truth, as COO, Block was already helping to run the company. But the idea, Benioff explained, was that Block would be reporting to the board "and no longer to me.""The new arrangement would allow me to be more mindful, more present and, perhaps, less chronically late for meetings," Benioff wrote. <h2>Theory vs. practice</h2>In practice, though, reporting to the board meant that Block basically still answered to Benioff, who was and remains Salesforce's chairman.Furthermore, while Block got a handsome raise when he got the co-CEO gig, his compensation and shareholder status did not put him on equal footing with Benioff.For the 2019 fiscal year, Benioff was paid a bigger cash salary ($1.55 million to Block's $1.435 million). This means Benioff's potential cash bonuses, up to 200% of their salaries, were bigger, too. Benioff was also granted more stock including options ($8 million worth, to be price, to Block's $6 million) and performance-based restriction stock ($12 million for Benioff, $9 million for Block).All in all, Block's total CEO pay for Salesforce's 2019 fiscal year was $16.96 million, compared to Benioff's $28.39 million. That's certainly a healthy salary for any CEO, but it also meant that Salesforce was shelling out a lot of money for its chief executives, split as it was between two people: $45.35 million for that same fiscal year.Shareholders in the past were not particularly thrilled with the high pay granted to the corner office. In 2015, after some shareholders bristled at Benioff's $39.9 million pay package, the company froze his base cash salary to 2016 levels and reduced some of his fresh stock tranches to trim his overall annual <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ceo-marc-benioff-salary-13-million-after-paycut-2017-4">pay in subsequent fiscal years 2016 and 2017.</a>On top of that, Salesforce recently also promoted Bret Taylor to the second-in-command job of chief operating officer, filling a vacancy left by Block's acension to co-CEO.Between Taylor's pay and the stock he received when Salesforce bought his startup, Quip, by the end of FY19, Taylor was actually the third-biggest individual executive shareholder (with nearly 1.5 million shares) behind Benioff (who owns 4.7% of the company with nearly 3 million shares), and co-founder Parker Harris (nearly 2.8 million shares). In FY19, Block was at 627,261 shares.<h2>A stacked executive bench</h2>While Benioff gave Block the warmest possible send-off, <a href="https://twitter.com/Benioff/status/1232412950209560576">tweeting out a happy goodbye photo</a> and including Block on the final earnings call with analysts, he also gave a couple of hints as to what life was like among this full-stack executive suite.When asked on the call how Salesforce would redistribute Block's responsibilities, Benioff said, "When we promoted Keith to co-CEO, one of the things that he said to me is he wanted to get out of the business of running the sales force. That's been something that we've worked to do."Block's main duty throughout his tenure at Salesforce was building the sales team. If he was no longer going to do that, what, exactly, was his signature contribution? Taylor runs global product strategy, engineering, security, marketing and communications <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/salesforce-names-bret-taylor-president-chief-operating-officer-2019-12-12">and reports to Benioff.</a> Cofounder Harris runs product-development engineering, working hand-in-hand with Benioff, too. Benioff pointed to a new executive joining the company that will run Block's signature project at Salesforce: serving specific industries (known as "vertical industries" in enterprise software parlance). Salesforce acquired a company called Vlocity, it announced on the same call, to help with build it serve vertical industries. Benioff is also appointing Vlocity CEO David Schmaier to run the vertical business. On the call, Block said launching Salesforce's vertical strategy has "always been a passion of mine," adding, "Approximately three years ago, we launched some incredible innovation with Financial Services Cloud as well as our Health Cloud." This vertical strategy, which Schmaier will now run, is one of the reasons that Salesforce blossomed since Block joined the company.Benioff also announced he hired former BT CEO, Gavin Patterson, to become CEO of Salesforce's international operations, taking that off the CEO's plate as well. Benioff called out Tableau CEO Adam Selipsky as a rising star with experience running a public company on his executive team, too. Selipsky is still running Tableau, Salesforce's largest acquisition to date at $15.3 billion.It all adds up to a company that is rich top executives, even without a second CEO.Are you a Salesforce insider with insight to share? Contact Julie Bort on encrypted chat app Signal at (970) 430-6112 (no PR inquiries, please), or email at <a href="mailto:jbort@businessinsider.com">jbort@businessinsider.com</a>. Open DMs on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/Julie188">@Julie188</a> (no PR inquiries, please). Now read:<ul class="read-more-links"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-immediately-deleted-former-co-ceo-keith-block-2020-2">Salesforce has already deleted outgoing co-CEO Keith Block from its leadership web page</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-co-ceo-keith-block-leaving-analysts-leadership-benioff-2020-2">The sudden departure of Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block could show how Marc Benioff is preparing a new generation of talent to take the reins at the cloud giant</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-exec-who-was-rebecca-neumanns-cousin-ran-up-expenses-2020-2">A WeWork exec who was Rebekah Neumann's cousin regularly ran up huge expense reports before other execs ganged up and forced him out</a></li></ul>

Keith Block may have been the co-CEO of Salesforce, but he never got paid as much as fellow CEO Marc Benioff

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="155484" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Salesforce">Salesforce</keyword> is buying the workplace messaging app <keyword id="1815769" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="slack">Slack</keyword> for $27.7 billion, it announced on Tuesday. </li><li>The deal is Salesforce's largest acquisition ever and represents a more aggressive foray into office communication technology at a time when remote work has made chat and collaboration tools more essential than ever.</li><li>The acquisition could help Salesforce compete with its longtime rival Microsoft, which has benefited from an explosion in use of its Microsoft Teams app amid the pandemic.</li><li>This is the third large acquisition Salesforce has made in the past few years, following <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-earnings-tableau-acquisition-challenges-2019-12">Tableau for over $15 billion in 2019</a> and MuleSoft for $6.5 billion in 2018, as it looks to diversify its product portfolio.</li><li>Slack also stands to benefit from the deal, as the company has seen relatively flat growth rates during the pandemic, while other collaboration tools have seen skyrocketing demand and revenue.</li></ul>Salesforce is buying the workplace messaging app Slack for $27.7 billion, <a href="https://investor.salesforce.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2020/Salesforce-Signs-Definitive-Agreement-to-Acquire-Slack/default.aspx">Salesforce announced on Tuesday</a>. It is Salesforce's largest acquisition ever and represents a more aggressive foray into office communication technology for the cloud giant at a time when remote work has made collaboration tools more essential.The deal is a combination of cash and stock, a detail that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/30/salesforce-deal-to-buy-slack-expected-to-be-announced-tomorrow.html">CNBC first reported on Monday</a>. Slack shareholders will get $26.79 in cash and 0.0776 shares of Salesforce common stock for each Slack share. Slack's stock was down over 3% on the news, while Salesforce shares went were also down about 3%. Before reports of the deal talks, Slack had a market cap of about $17 billion. It was valued at roughly $25 billion when markets closed on Tuesday.The deal could help Salesforce compete with its longtime rival Microsoft, which has benefited from an explosion in use of its Microsoft Teams app amid the pandemic. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-slack-acquisition-microsoft-teams-2020-11">Analysts say the addition of Slack — itself the chief competitor to Microsoft Teams — will give Salesforce</a> a way to similarly connect all of its various apps and services by way of a collaboration tool, making it more competitive.Microsoft Teams had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-teams-daily-active-users-2020-10#:~:text=This%20story%20is%20available%20exclusively,caused%20shift%20to%20remote%20work.">115 million daily active users as of October</a>, up from the 75 million it announced in April and its 44 million from mid-March. Slack, meanwhile, hasn't given an updated number for its daily active users since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slack-daily-active-users-microsoft-teams-2019-10#:~:text=On%20Thursday%2C%20Slack%20announced%20that,a%20day%20using%20the%20app.">October 2019, when it had 12 million daily active users</a>. Slack did say it had 130,000 paid customers as of its second quarter, up from 100,000 a year ago, with its biggest customers including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-slack-partnership-customer-digital-transformation-2020-2">IBM</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/viacomcbs-cto-phil-wiser-slack-rollout-employees-merger-modernize-2020-4">ViacomCBS</a>."Stewart and his team have built one of the most beloved platforms in <keyword id="6356323" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="enterprise">enterprise</keyword> software history, with an incredible ecosystem around it," Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in a press release. "This is a match made in heaven. Together, Salesforce and Slack will shape the future of enterprise software and transform the way everyone works in the all-digital, work-from-anywhere world.""Salesforce started the cloud revolution, and two decades later, we are still tapping into all the possibilities it offers to transform the way we work. The opportunity we see together is massive," Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield said in a press release. "Personally, I believe this is the most strategic combination in the history of software, and I can't wait to get going."After the deal closes, Slack will become an "operating unit" of Salesforce, with Butterfield remaining as its CEO.The news came almost a week after <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/salesforce-has-held-talks-to-buy-slack-technologies-11606326392">The Wall Street Journal reported</a> the two companies had recently held discussions about a deal.It's also one of the largest deals the software industry has seen in recent years. Salesforce's purchase of Slack ranks among mega-acquisitions from its peers: IBM's purchase of Red Hat for $34 billion in 2019 and Microsoft's purchase of LinkedIn for $27 billion in 2016 are two of the largest software deals in recent memory.The acquisition gives Salesforce a robust, well-established workplace communication platform to add to its product suite. Though Salesforce already had its enterprise social network, Chatter, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-anywhere-app-embed-chat-video-collaboration-mobile-microsoft-2020-6">collaboration product Quip</a>, which it acquired in 2016, neither tool has the same popularity as Slack.The purchase also marks the third major acquisition that Salesforce has made in the past few years in an attempt to diversity its offerings and build out its platform. It bought the data-visualization company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-earnings-tableau-acquisition-challenges-2019-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tableau for over $15 billion in 2019</a> and MuleSoft for $6.5 billion in 2018. And it's working to integrate both into the broader Salesforce ecosystem. Salesforce has also made smaller acquisitions, like the industry-specific software maker <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-vlocity-acquisition-vertical-sales-strategy-keith-block-2020-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vlocity for $1.3 billion in February</a>.Additionally, the move is in line with Salesforce's strategy of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-could-see-slower-growth-future-morgan-stanley-ubs-analysts-2020-11">relying on acquisitions to drive its growth</a> as it faces what <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-cloud-software-spending-could-change-2021-ubs-analysts-2020-11">UBS analysts recently called a "lack of innovation."</a>The deal also benefits Slack, which has seen <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slack-earnings-q2-stock-sinks-remote-work-2020-9">relatively flat growth rates during the pandemic</a>, while other collaboration tools <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zoom-q2-earnings-report-beat-expectations-revenue-growth-2020-8">like Zoom</a> and DocuSign have seen skyrocketing demand and revenue. Competition with Microsoft Teams <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slack-antitrust-complaint-against-microsoft-teams-analysts-2020-7">could also be putting pressure on Slack,</a> analysts previously said. Salesforce and Slack also already have a partnership that allows <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/slack-and-salesforce-expanded-partnership-2019-10#:~:text=Customers%20using%20both%20Slack%20and,first%20struck%20in%20late%202016.&amp;text=It%20also%20means%20that%20conversations,be%20appended%20directly%20to%20Salesforce.rce.">users to move more seamlessly between the cloud services</a>. Their headquarters are just blocks apart in downtown San Francisco. The announcement comes as Salesforce reports third quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates. It also announced that CFO Mark Hawkins will retire. He will be in his role until January 31, 2021, and then transition to an advisory role through October 2021. Amy Weaver, former chief legal officer, will take over as CFO.Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at <a href="mailto:pzaveri@businessinsider.com">pzaveri@businessinsider.com</a> or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.

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