Is Microsoft buying Saleforce?





Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella has made some bold moves since taking over the world's largest software company last year. But nothing like a $50 billion-plus acquisition.
At least one analyst sees it as a real possibility.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter, that Salesforce.com hired financial advisors upon being approached by potential buyers. While much of the speculation immediately turned to rival Oracle, Alex Zukin of investment bank Stephens says Microsoft makes the most sense.
Nadella has made cloud computing his No. 1 priority as CEO, and even projected at a company conference this week that Microsoft could reach $20 billion in cloud revenue by 2018, up from a current annualized rate of $6.3 billion. The centerpiece of growth is Azure, the cloud hosting platform that competes with Amazon Web Services.
Microsoft and Salesforce tightened their relationship in December, making it easier to run Salesforce on Windows Mobile phones and in Office. Owning Salesforce would enable Nadella to control the entire cloud suite.

Tguila UK delivering cloud solutions for Salesforce acquired byAccenture






London, May 6, 2015 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has today acquired Tquila UK, a leading independent Salesforce consulting services provider. This is part of a strategic move to strengthen Accenture’s position as a provider of Salesforce services and cloud implementations. Tquila is one of the largest Salesforce partners in Europe and specialises in delivering cloud solutions powered by the Salesforce1 Platform.

As a result of the acquisition, Tquila will become part of Accenture’s Emerging Platforms business within Accenture Technology. The addition of more than 100 Salesforce skilled staff from Tquila will more than double the number of Accenture’s Salesforce skilled people in the UK, making it one of the largest Salesforce capabilities in the UK with approximately 185 skilled consultants.

“We have seen significant growth in SaaS as more companies adopt the cloud and digital strategies to collaborate better, drive greater operational efficiencies and accelerate the development of new products and services,” said Emma McGuigan, managing director, Accenture Technology, UK and Ireland. “One key factor for our continued success in delivering Salesforce solutions depends on having the right skilled professionals to meet the growing demand. With Tquila on board we have the critical mass to more proactively target big opportunities both in the UK and Europe, which will extend our position in the region.”

“Being able to offer deep technology skills coupled with industry-experience at scale is critical to getting ahead in the market,” said Mark Wakelin, CEO, Tquila. “As one of the largest pure-play Salesforce partners in Europe, we have those skills, and Accenture has the scale. By joining Accenture, we can offer our Salesforce expertise and experience to an even wider range of clients.”

Founded in 2010, Tquila is a privately held company headquartered and operating out of London. It delivers a full range of services from strategy, consulting, implementation and integration, through to custom application development, governance and support. The company helps global clients get the most from their investments and has more than 100 dedicated Salesforce professionals and over 270 certifications. Prior to this acquisition by Accenture, Salesforce Ventures was an investor in Tquila.

Accenture is a global leader in Salesforce implementation services. It has more than 5,000 skilled Salesforce consultants globally – including more than 1,900 certified consultants. In the last year, Accenture has worked with more than 250 unique client organizations to deliver enterprise solutions based on Salesforce and has six Fullforce Master designations.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 323,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.


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