By Marcia Nita Doron,
In May, Microsoft announced an agreement with Salesforce and many marveled that the two arch rivals could actually play nice in the CRM sandbox together. According to the press release: “… Microsoft Corp. and salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) announced a strategic partnership to create new solutions that connect salesforce.com’s customer relationship management (CRM) apps and platform to Microsoft Office and Windows so customers can be more productive.”
It was heralded as the beginning of new era under Microsoft’s recently-appointed soft-spoken CEO, Satya Nadella, a kinder, gentler era for Microsoft and Salesforce.
Nadella was quoted saying: “We are excited to partner with salesforce.com and help customers thrive in a mobile and cloud-first world. Working together we’ll deliver new solutions that connect the customer insights of Salesforce to the cloud productivity of Office 365, cloud platform of Azure and the mobility of Windows, so our customer can do more.”
Sadly, it does not appear that Salesforce has good intentions at all. In a September 4th article in Business Insider Australia, Jody Kohner, senior director of product marketing at Salesforce.com, told sales trainees at a recent training event: “This is literally a killer partnership. We’re gonna pretend like we’re a boa constrictor. And we’re gonna suck the life out of them.”
Quite honestly, I’m shocked and appalled. I’m also glad that I work for a company, Altico Advisors, which would never stoop to that level. We’re a Microsoft Dynamics partner, so by extension, we work for Microsoft, and Microsoft would never stoop to that level either. Over the course of my 16 years in the Microsoft channel I have attended scores of training events, and I have never heard such language directed at any of Microsoft’s rivals. Altico Advisors sells (remember Great Plains?) and based on the merits of our products rather than badmouthing the competition.
If I were Jody Kohner’s boss, I’d fire her. And if I ever used such language about Salesforce, my boss would fire me.
By the way, if you don’t believe me, here’s a link to the article in Business Insider Australia: .
If you prefer to work with a company that plays nice in the sandbox, please feel free to contact Altico Advisors. You can visit us at , call us at 508-485-5588, or contact us online at . We’d be honored to work with you.
Submitted by Marcia Nita Doron, Marketing Director at Altico Advisors, a Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner serving Massachusetts (MA), New England, and beyond.
