Salesforce.com and VMware Form Strategic Alliance to Launch VMforce(TM), the World's First Enterprise Java Cloud

SAN FRANCISCO, April 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing company and VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in cloud infrastructure, today announced a partnership to jointly deliver, sell and support a new enterprise Java cloud called VMforce™. To be announced at an event today in San Francisco hosted by the Chief Executive Officers of the two companies, VMforce will bring together the technologies, expertise and communities of the two leading cloud computing companies driving the tectonic shifts in the information technology industry.

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With VMforce, the more than 6 million enterprise Java developers, including the over 2 million developers using the Spring framework backed by the SpringSource division of VMware, will have an open path to cloud computing. Now, CIOs and IT departments will be able to leverage their existing programming skills and investments in Java applications, and take full advantage of the industry-leading Force.com platform to build Cloud 2 enterprise applications that are social and work on any mobile device in real-time. VMforce will dramatically simplify how enterprises and enterprise Java developers can harness the economics of cloud computing without compromising the flexibility, control and choice they require.

"Enterprise Java developers, welcome to Cloud 2," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "This fundamental shift incorporates cloud computing, real-time collaboration and mobile devices like the iPad to meet the new needs of the enterprise. Now, in partnership with VMware, we are delivering VMforce and bringing Java to Force.com so enterprise Java developers can create powerful new innovative Cloud 2 apps."

"Companies are looking for solutions that deliver the benefits of cloud computing while leveraging existing resources, expertise and infrastructure," said Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware.  "By creating a dramatically simplified solution for modern application development, VMforce is a significant step forward in offering our customers a path that bridges existing internal investments with the resources and flexibility of the cloud."

VMforce is designed to deliver the first enterprise Java cloud that is:

• Trusted: Running on salesforce.com's trusted global infrastructure, VMforce will inherit the benefits of a service delivery infrastructure that has received some of the most stringent security industry accreditations including ISO 27001, SysTrust and SAS70 Type II. Thousands of the largest companies worldwide are already working with VMware and salesforce.com. Now, with VMforce they can leverage the combined strength of both companies to take their mission critical enterprise apps to the cloud.
• Open: VMforce will support standard Java code: plain old Java objects (POJOs), Java Server Pages (JSPs), Java Servlets, and more through the popular Spring Framework. By building enterprise Java apps with Spring, companies will be able to easily port enterprise Java apps onto VMforce or vice versa.
• Elastic: With VMforce, applications can scale automatically. VMforce customers will not have to worry about scaling up app servers, databases or infrastructure to meet performance demand. VMforce can handle scalability automatically, as a service.
• Complete: VMforce will provide a comprehensive solution for enterprise Java development in the cloud, including the trusted global infrastructure, virtualization platform, orchestration and management technology, relational cloud database, development platform and collaboration services, application run time, development framework, tooling and more.
• Cloud 2: Cloud 2 combines next generation mobility, social collaboration and real-time information access, creating new levels of productivity and taking enterprise cloud computing the next level.

VMforce™: The Trusted Cloud for Enterprise Java Developers

VMforce will be the first mission critical deployment environment for enterprise Java apps in the cloud. VMforce will be jointly delivered by salesforce.com and VMware, combining the world's most popular language, Java, the world's most popular Java framework, Spring, the leading virtualization platform, VMware vSphere™, and running on the world's most trusted cloud platform, Force.com.  VMforce will be designed to include:

• Spring Framework: VMforce will use the Spring Framework, the leading Java development framework which is backed by VMware's SpringSource division. Spring makes it easy for developers to build powerful enterprise Java apps, increasing development productivity and runtime performance while improving test coverage and application quality. VMforce will also use the SpringSource Tool Suite, an integrated, tested and certified development environment offering the most complete set of Eclipse-based tools for creating Java apps.
• SpringSource tc server:  VMforce applications will run on the tc Server® runtime, the Enterprise version of Apache Tomcat.  tc Server is a wildly popular lightweight application server optimized for virtual and cloud environments.
• Force.com Chatter Services: As the world migrates towards Cloud 2 social and mobile applications, developers will be able incorporate collaboration services from Chatter in their applications. These pre-built services include profiles, status updates, groups, feeds, document sharing, the Chatter API and more.
• Force.com Development Platform and Services: Since VMforce will run on the Force.com platform, developers have access to pre-built business services that can be configured into their apps without requiring any custom coding. These services include search, identity and security, workflow, reporting and analytics, a robust web services integration API, mobile deployment, and more.
• Force.com Database: Developers using VMforce will get the benefits of the proven Force.com relational database, including automatic scalability, high availability, auto-tuning, back up and disaster recovery.
• VMware vCloud technology: VMware's vCloud technology automatically manages the software stack that powers VMforce applications, freeing developers from the cost and complexity of managing hardware and software. VMware's vCloud technology will onramp the Java application onto the cloud, automate the wiring of the application to the Force.com database, and manage the underlying vSphere virtualization platform.
• VMware vSphere™: The industry leading virtualization platform provides the building blocks for VMforce by providing the resource isolation, management, and virtualization for the Java applications.
• Force.com Cloud Infrastructure: VMforce will run on salesforce.com's trusted global cloud computing infrastructure, which handles an average of 250 million transactions daily from more than 72,500 customers for their most important business applications and their most sensitive data.

Pricing and Availability

VMforce is currently scheduled to be available in developer preview in 2010 and pricing will be announced at that time.

Additional Resources:

• For more information about VMforce, please visit http://www.vmforce.com.
• Follow @salesforce and @VMware on Twitter, and join the conversation with #VMforce.
• A live web cast of the VMforce event today will begin at approximately 10:30 am PT. Please visit www.vmforce.com to watch.
• Blog posts from salesforce.com's Parker Harris and Peter Coffee can be found at http://cloudblog.salesforce.com/.
• Blog post from salesforce.com's Anshu Sharma can be found at http://blog.sforce.com/sforce/2010/04/vmforce.html.  
• Blog post from VMware's Steve Herrod can be found at http://blogs.vmware.com/console/2010/04/vmforce-and-vmwares-open-paas-strategy.html.
• Blog post from VMware's Rod Johnson can be found at http://blog.springsource.com/2010/04/27/vmforce-spring-cloud/.

About salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is the enterprise cloud computing company. Based on salesforce.com's real-time, multitenant architecture, the company's platform and CRM applications (http://www.salesforce.com/crm) have revolutionized the way companies collaborate and communicate with their customers, including:

• The Sales Cloud, for sales force automation and contact management
• The Service Cloud, for customer service and support solutions
• Chatter, for social collaboration
• The Force.com platform, for custom application development
• The AppExchange, the world's leading marketplace for enterprise cloud computing applications

Salesforce.com offers the fastest path to customer success with cloud computing. As of January 31, 2010, salesforce.com manages customer information for approximately 72,500 customers including Allianz Commercial, Dell, Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE, and SunTrust Banks. 

Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all.  Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

Copyright (c) 2010 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce and the "no software" logo are registered trademarks of salesforce.com, inc., and salesforce.com owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About VMware

VMware delivers solutions for business infrastructure virtualization that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes.  With the industry leading virtualization platform – VMware vSphere™ – customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2009 revenues of $2 billion, more than 170,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com. 

VMware, VMware vSphere, SpringSource and VMware vCloud are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this press release which are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate, but are not limited, to, VMforce availability and features and customer deployments.  Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) changes in macroeconomic conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the cloud-computing market, and new product and marketing initiatives by competitors; (iv) customers' ability to develop, and to transition to, new products, (v) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology initiatives; (vi) rapid technological and market changes in cloud computing; (vii) changes to product development timelines; (viii) the ability to protect intellectual property rights; (ix) successful integration of VMware and Salesforce technologies and go-to-market deployments; and (x) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees.  These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including VMware and salesforce.com periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K and current reports on Form 8-K, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware and salesforce.com disclaim any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

SOURCE salesforce.com