Salesforce stages UK partner love-in
Cloud firm claims 'Salesforce economy' will contribute more than £5bn to UK GDP by 2018
Salesforce has said it is so committed to the UK market that together with its partners and customers, by 2018, it will have contributed £5.6bn to the country's economy.
The cloud firm said over the same period, the "Salesforce economy" – consisting of the firm itself, its partners and customers – will together create 50,000 jobs in the UK.
Salesforce announced the figures, which were arrived at independently by IDC, at its Salesforce World Tour event in London today, at which the firm claims more than 14,000 customer and partner attendees gathered and one million viewers tuned in online to follow.
Salesforce's president Keith Block took to the stage and pledged the firm's commitment to the UK market.
"We are absolutely committed to the UK and Ireland." he said. "A huge part of our strategy is international growth, international support, international success and international customer success. Over the last 12 months we have driven over $1bn revenue in EMEA. We are super, super excited about that.
"Here, locally in the UK, which is the hub of EMEA and the growth engine of EMEA, the Salesforce economy – and that's not just us, it is about all of us – IDC is predicting that we collectively will contribute £5.6bn of GDP impact by 2018. Because of you! Because of your sponsorship and your trust. We want to say thank you for that. I can't think of a better way to help out here than to be able to contribute that sort of impact on the economy."
Block added that its partner model was essential for Salesforce's success.
"We are now the sixth-largest software company in the world," he said. "We have over 16,000 employees worldwide and we feel really good about what we do. What we feel great about is that our success has been driven by you. Everything we do is motivated and inspired by you. Forbes for four years in a row named us the most innovative company in the world. We could never, ever do this without... the best customers and partners in the world."
Thomas Volk, chief executive of Salesforce partner Lumesse – which is based in the UK and has offices across Europe and in the US and Hong Kong – said he is convinced by Salesforce's pro-European talk.
"I think they have a close commitment to Europe, especially in the UK, with the investment they made in not just the [UK] datacentre but the Salesforce Tower here and the investments in the non-profit world here," he said. "They are establishing themselves as a real global player here in the UK.
"When you look at the growth opportunities, they ensured a lot of growth in the US but if you look at their total business, there is only about 20 per cent [coming from] Europe, so that is underrepresented for a global company. So from a business perspective, they see the incentive to do it. I have known Salesforce for many years and their engagements with local economies, local governments [and] local societies shows they are not just here to make a quick buck but they are committed."