Salesforce has completed one of the biggest enterprise deals ever, acquiring data visualisation platform Tableau for $US15.7 billion ($AUD22.5 billion).
It’s a move that sees the world’s leading CRM platform team up with the top data software company and brings Salesforce one step closer to market dominance.
The all-stock transaction will allow Salesforce customers to better engage with their data, while it will bring Tableau to a far greater audience.
“We are bringing together the world’s #1 CRM with the #1 analytics platform,” said Salesforce chairman and co-CEO Marc Benioff.
“Tableau helps people see and understand data, and Salesforce helps people engage and understand customers.
“It’s truly the best of both worlds for our customers–bringing together two critical platforms that every customer needs to understand their world.”
The companies indicated they are particularly keen to pair Tableau’s interactive data visualisation software with Salesforce’s AI engine, Einstein.
According to Salesforce, the acquisition will “supercharge” digital transformation for its customers, who will now be able to gather deeper insights from their existing data.
Although expensive, it brings Salesforce closer to being able to provide a complete view of their customers.
“Only Salesforce can provide companies with a complete, intelligent view of their customers across every touchpoint—sales, service, marketing, commerce and more,” said the company in a statement.
It is expected to bring Salesforce an estimated $US350 million ($AUD503 million) to $US400 million ($AUD574 million) in extra revenue in the next financial year
Data visualisation is clearly seen as a valuable space, with Salesforce’s purchase coming less than a week after Google acquired one of Tableau’s competitors Looker for $US2.6 billion ($AUD3.7bn).
Tableau will continue to operate independently under the Tableau brand and will remain headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
The acquisition will be completed by 31 October.