Yesterday, Alibaba Cloud and Salesforce announced a significant strategic partnership. Under this agreement, Alibaba Cloud became the exclusive provider of Salesforce’s customer relationship management (CRM) software in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. The CRM offerings included Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Commerce Cloud, and Salesforce Platform. If you missed it, you can check the official announcement here.

According to Salesforce, “At Salesforce, customer success is at the center of everything we do. And, more and more of our multinational customers are asking us to support them wherever they do business around the world”.

From a business standpoint, this partnership represents a major milestone for Alibaba Cloud. By gaining exclusivity for Salesforce in China, a major market for CRM software, Alibaba Cloud has positioned itself ahead of competitors and is poised for further growth in the region.

On the other side, from the customer’s perspective, this partnership allows for access to both the global and Chinese versions of Salesforce from within China, providing the best of both worlds. This is especially beneficial for enterprises with a presence in China or those planning to enter the Chinese market.

Solutions

Now let’s consider all potential cases and determine which solution to implement.

Case 1:

If your organization or team is based in China and you wish to use Salesforce as your CRM platform in the country, your only option is to go through Alibaba Cloud. As mentioned previously, Alibaba Cloud is the exclusive provider of Salesforce in China. My recommendation is to contact me and I can assist in setting up Salesforce through Alibaba Cloud. Alternatively, you can directly contact Alibaba Cloud to explain your needs and they will provide you with access to Salesforce.

Case 2:

If your organization or team based in China wants to access the global version of Salesforce, you will need a global network to connect the network resources of Alibaba Cloud around the world. Here, I can help with this as part of my services, which specializes in building cross-border solutions. Please get in touch with me to discuss the best way to work together.

I have written an in-depth blog post about the Alibaba Cloud Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN), which is specifically designed to address global connectivity issues. You can find it here.

Case 3:

If your organization or team is based outside of China and you wish to access Salesforce in the country, this situation is the same as the one described in case 2.