Apple and Salesforce announced a strategic partnership in San Francisco today that promises to bring together the best software with the best consumer technology. The partnership includes developing technology together and promoting each other’s products. Salesforce is to redesign its app based on the native mobile platform. Added to it will be exclusive iOS features. The Apple Salesforce partnership is also dabbling in a number of other areas like word processing and business presentation software.
As Salesforce partners with Apple, the partnership, as intended, will give Apple more access to corporate sales, an area which Apple requires to expand into from its dominant position in consumer electronics. Salesforce, meanwhile, hopes to cater to the businesses that are big users of Apple’s products. Apple, as noted, has been making key partnerships with key enterprise brands over the past few years, and its partnership with Salesforce is done to solidify its enterprise strategies.
Bret Taylor, president, and chief product officer at Salesforce, believes that by working together, the two companies can effectively organize mobile development for consumers. “Every single one of our customers is on mobile. They all want world-class mobile experiences, and this enables us when we’re talking to a customer about their mobile strategy, that we can be in that conversation together,” he explained. The two companies are going to work together to bring in some key iOS features such as Siri Shortcuts and integration with Apple’s Business Chat into the Salesforce mobile app. Apple and Salesforce will work together to build industry-specific iOS apps on the Salesforce platform, resembling the partnership between Apple and IBM.
Working with Apple, Salesforce has agreed to redesign the Salesforce mobile app to take full advantage of iOS features like Face ID, Siri Shortcuts, 3D Touch, Apple Business Chat via iMessage, and more. The new app, slated for release by early 2019, will also better adhere to Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines.
Salesforce also plans on releasing a new SDK (Software Developer’s Kit) for iOS by the end of 2018. Computed specifically for Apple’s programming language Swift, the native SDK will enable businesses and developers to build and install apps for iPhone and iPad on the Salesforce Lightning Platform and distribute them through the App Store. Also, the partnership involves Trailhead, Salesforce’s education platform, to have its Mobile app on iOS. Prescott said, “Trailhead is a successful platform for re-skilling,” which makes it a “great place to put our curriculum on.”
We’re excited to work with Salesforce and that their industry-leading CRM will embrace native iOS and deliver exclusive new features on iPhone and iPad. With the powerful combination of iPhone, iPad and iOS – the best hardware and software for business – together with native Salesforce apps and the new Salesforce SDK, we can deliver great customer experiences for businesses around the world. – Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO
“With this partnership, we’re bringing together the world’s number one CRM platform with iPhone and iPad, the world’s best devices for business,” said Marc Benioff, chairman, and co-CEO, of Salesforce. “Together, Salesforce and Apple are defining a new era of mobile innovation with native apps on iOS, and empowering millions of people with access to Trailhead and the skills they need for the jobs of the future.”
