Salesforce.com’s Radian6 Buy Comes with Marketing Opportunity
By John Duckgeischel
Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff’s history of success is largely based upon his ability to make the most of business opportunities. This week’s Radian 6 acquisition for $276 million in cash and $50 million in stock is the latest example. Salesforce is well known for its customer service and Salesforce automation offerings via its software-as-a-service (SaaS) customer relationship system, however Benioff sees a broader horizon with its latest acquisition. Salesforce has made clear that it intends to become “the enterprise cloud computing company” Radian6, a pioneer in social-media measurement , could be the kernel of what eventually becomes a fully fledged marketing suite offering from Salesforce.
Radian6 will help Salesforce customers interface with and monitor activity on Chatter and Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, which has become an important to companies that want to manage their brand on the internet. As Salesforce has seen competitors make moves into the marketing arena, such as SAS buying AssetLink, Teradata acquiring Aprimo, and IBM picking up Unica, the Radian6 acquisition may the first of several moves to bolster its own marketing related offerings. Potential future acquisitions could include Marketo or Equloa that are known for their lead and campaign management capabilities. As the competition heats up in this space, it would help Salesforce strengthen its foray into marketing and help the company move a step closer to its dream of being “the enterprise cloud computing company”.
Related Link:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/bi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229400634
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