According to the WSJ (sub req’d):
The companies are still hashing out details of a potential partnership, expected to be announced in the next few weeks. But one outcome, these people said, could be a Web-based offering that integrates some of Google’s online services such as email and instant-messaging with those of Salesforce.com, whose “customer-relationship management” tools help salespeople track their accounts. Details about how such a service might be sold are still in flux, they added.
By teaming up, Google and Salesforce.com could be better equipped to contend with Microsoft, a mutual rival. Google has long competed with Microsoft in areas such as search and email. More recently, Google began offering online word-processing, spreadsheet and calendar services for consumers and businesses — Web-based applications known as Google Apps — that offer an alternative to Microsoft’s productivity software.
Google and Salesforce already have a partnership (similar to Google’s with Intuit) in which AdWords can be bought, managed and tracked via Salesforce.
Recently, Google has emphasized Apps as a source of potential revenue beyond its traditional advertising model.
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