At first glance, it doesn't seem like there are many ways SalesForce.com and Microsoft should partner: They both offer competing SaaS services



From Network World:

But upon closer inspection, the deal that the leaders of these two companies spoke so highly of during a joint conference call on Thursday afternoon makes a lot of sense not just for these companies, but customers as well.

At the most basic level, this agreement is about two major things: One is the integration of Salesforce’s CRM SaaS application with Microsoft Office 365 Tools; the other is the fact that Salesforce will use Microsoft’s Azure’s IaaS cloud to host its Exact Target marketing product. The news is a win for customers who will have easier collaboration between their Salesforce and Office apps, and it’s a win for Microsoft’s cloud business to secure a major customer in its fight against Amazon.

  Whats really behind the Microsoft-Salesforce deal