Before 2020 came to an end, CEO Marc Benioff ensured that Salesforce would be on the minds of everyone in tech and finance. On December 1, Salesforce, the software giant he co-founded and leads, announced its largest acquisition to date—the popular workplace communication platform Slack. The deal, worth $27.7 billion, puts Salesforce in a strong position to challenge Microsoft in a race to become the first choice in business software, and as remote work grows in popularity, the winner could power a whole lot of work-from-home.
With a net worth of almost $9 billion and his company climbing 50% on the Fortune 500 List, it’s safe to say that Benioff has everyone’s attention, bringing the most popular workplace messaging platform on board is just his first step toward an imminent battle with Microsoft. The charismatic billionaire has a rocky history with the ubiquitous Microsoft, but this could be his window of opportunity to make Salesforce the next household name in tech. In the effort for Benioff and Salesforce to catch up to their rival, the CEO hopes to drive his company to create and innovate the software that powers the next generation of telecommuting.
While the pandemic has created chaos for workplace management and customer engagement, Salesforce offers a scalable, secure, and easy-to-integrate suite of products covering a wide range of workplace needs, especially while many companies plan for an “office-optional” future. In preparation for this future, Benioff’s company is developing a new product, Service Cloud Workforce Engagement, with assertions of a launch by mid-2021.
With the addition of Slack as a versatile internal communication tool, Salesforce is one step closer to being a comprehensive solution that can give Microsoft a real competitor. The free PR generated by the outspoken Benioff just shines a greater light on his company, which boasts 4,900 happy employees. The CEO knows that in order for his company to shape the future of remote work, it doesn’t hurt to have the workplace accolades that Salesforce has earned.
Nobody can truly predict what awaits post-pandemic, it has become apparent that many more companies, across all industries, are considering implementing remote work permanently. With Slack, Salesforce gives the enterprise underdog a greater infrastructure and a wealth of financial support. As long as Benioff is in charge, Salesforce will continue its status in the top tier of tech.
