Microsoft and Salesforce seal partnership with focus on Office 365, Windows integration

As reported earlier today, Microsoft Corp. and Salesforce.com confirmed this afternoon a strategic partnership to create new solutions that connect salesforce.com's customer relationship management (CRM) apps and platform to Microsoft Office and Windows.

In what Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff described in a conference call as "step one" in the new partnership, the companies will be working to integrate Saleforce's CRM software with Microsoft's Office 365 and Windows "at a deeper level than was previously available."

Salesforce will also start using Azure more in its development environments, Benioff said. Microsoft has also renewed its intention of using Salesforce's ExactTarget email marketing software.

For Dynamics CRM ecosystem, the news doesn't 'appear to push Salesforce too deeply into their own territory. There won't, for example, be Salesforce apps running on Azure. But there was one turn of phrase by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella early in today's conference call that might rub a few Dynamics CRM loyalists the wrong way.

"We are bringing the leading CRM application to Windows devices, both phones and PCs," Nadella said as he summarized the elements of the deal.

The "leading CRM application"? Ouch. It's a true statement in terms of market share, or even based on some analyst rankings, but it might sting to hear if, say, you're working on the Dynamics CRM team or in its partner channel.

The specific integration plans, were described in a press release.  There will be a new Salesforce1 integration for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1. Salesforce for Office 365 will offer new interoperability and access to the content. From within Salesforce and on Salesforce1, there will ...