Salesforce.com has integrated Google's online productivity applications with its on-demand CRM (customer relationship management) offerings, the companies announced Monday. The deal, which was the subject of rumors recently, heightens an existing partnership between the companies, marked in part by their pact to plug Google's AdWords service into Salesforce. The companies have "always had similar models and philosophies," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement. One industry observer said the deal has clear benefits for both companies. "The corporate standard [for productivity applications and e-mail] is, of course, Microsoft, but if you look at [Silicon] Valley and the startups, they are using Google Apps because of the collaborative aspects," said Ray Wang, an analyst with Forrester Research. "There are a lot of startups using Salesforce.com, especially here in the Valley." The move could provide a stronger foothold for Google among business users, Wang said. "Google is already quite pervasive, but they want to be more pervasive in the enterprise." The Google Apps integration will enable Salesforce users to work in concert with Gmail, Google Docs, Google Talk and Google Calendar. A demo provided by a Salesforce spokesman showed how users could perform various tasks, such as pushing Gmail messages sent regarding a particular customer into the appropriate place in Salesforce. Salesforce customers hailed the integration, terming it an ideal fit for their business needs. Douglas Menefee is chief information officer of The Schumacher Group, a Lafayette, Louisiana, company that provides medical staffing for emergency departments. TSG works with 2,000 to 2,500 independent contractors and uses Salesforce to manage its relationships with them, according to Menefee. TSG is now starting to build out a "Google framework" involving Google Apps, he said: "It just creates a brilliant environment to deal with 2,500 individuals that aren't employees of ours, but whom we need to collaborate with." | 
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