Dreamforce 2016: A Lot to Uncover

This year, I have the incredible opportunity to attend Dreamforce 2016 (many thanks to Marc Benioff)

Taking a step back for a moment: this year, dubbed the "Year of Tech M&A," has the potential to really shake up the industry. Over $260 billion of tech deals have been announced so far in 2016 - and the year is not yet over. As cloud, data and connectivity continue to come to the forefront of growth and the next generation of business, the technology major players are flexing their muscles and taking out their wallets. It's not just Oracle and NetSuite shaking up the game, nor Microsoft and LinkedIn's wedding either. Salesforce has also been on the hunt, compiling a remarkable list of perhaps obscure but strategic acquisitions: 

Date    OrganizationAmount
Sep 7, 2016Unknown
Sep 1, 2016Unknown
Aug 15, 2016$110M (terms undisclosed)
Aug 1, 2016$750M in Cash & Stock
Jul 21, 2016Unknown
Jun 1, 2016$2.8B in Cash
May 9, 2016Unknown
Apr 4, 2016$32.8M (terms undisclosed)
Feb 19, 2016Unknown
 Credit: Crunchbase

NOTE: This list is not all inclusive. 

The competencies of these acquisitions range from eCommerce to machine learning to AI to business productivity software. And, while the acquisitions may very well bolster Salesforce's existing product portfolio (and add to its industry position as the #1 CRM solution) they also continue Salesforce's rapid expansion and vision of a wide but deep "Enterprise Cloud Ecosystem." Historically, Dreamforce has been Salesforce's playground to showcase the latest in product strategy, direction and vision. Suddenly, we quickly have great reason to be excited for (No) Software's Biggest Conference of the Year.

Likewise, the announcement of Salesforce Einstein has generated a large amount of publicity around machine learning and AI. This will be especially interesting given Microsoft's timely Ignite Conference Announcement of expanded AI and Machine Learning capabilities baked within its forthcoming Office 365 and Dynamics 365 Offerings.

As I prepare to go to Dreamforce, I've put together a list of questions I hope to have answered. 

 Questions for Salesforce @ Dreamforce 16


  • What’s the state of the Lightning UI experience?
    • Performance Improvements?
    • Utilization?
    • Vision?
  • What will the Quip acquisition mean for customer productivity?
    • What's Salesforce's vision?
    • What will it mean for Microsoft partnership (Office 365/Power BI)
  • What's the plan with Demandware?
    • Demandware has a strong, recognizable customer base with a strong product and brand recognition
    • "Commerce Cloud" has an exciting ring to it
    • Ability to provide a consistent, integrated CX from lead to customer, click to shopping cart can be realized
  • What's the plan for Wave?
  • How fast are new, not legacy product offerings being leveraged?
    •  Are Wave, IoT Cloud, Health Cloud, Financial Services Cloud evolving from marketing, demos and hype to real, supported products? 
    • Are current sales and/or service cloud customers converting to the new products?
  • What is Salesforce doing with GravityTank, an innovation consultancy it acquired out of Chicago this year?
  • How are major platform ISVs and Partners shifting focus as Salesforce's identity and vision changes?
    • Salesforce paid $360 million for the configure-price-quote (CPQ) and quote-to-cash solution SteelBrick, a move seen as a surprise for many ISVs
    • Other Solutions will need to adapt and find niche within new product offerings
    • Solution Integrators will need to quickly get up to speed on new services

See you in a week.

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