US cloud software company Salesforce has partnered with Chinese technology giant Alibaba as it seeks to gain a larger piece of China’s booming $12bn cloud computing industry.
The tie-up is a validation of Alibaba’s leadership in cloud services, particularly in China, and a key example of the ecommerce company’s sharpening focus on the business side of its internet ecosystem and international growth.
Under the terms of the deal, “Alibaba will become the exclusive provider of Salesforce to customers in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and Salesforce will become the exclusive enterprise customer relationship management (CRM) product suite sold by Alibaba,” Salesforce said in a blog post.