Tokyo data center with NTT Communications scheduled to open in November 2011
Salesforce.com to build Ruby developer community with Ruby creator Yukihiro Matsumoto
Company to invest in Toyota Motor Corporation’s global cloud platform development
Company to make strategic investment in e-marketing firm Netyear Group Corporation
TOKYO — Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing company, today announced its latest strategic investments in Japan. The goal of these investments is to drive the continued growth of Japan’s Cloud 2 industry and accelerate the availability of locally developed social, mobile, and open cloud computing services. Salesforce.com will invest in a Tokyo data center scheduled to open in November of this year; further development of the Ruby programming language in collaboration with Ruby creator Yukihiro Matsumoto; Toyota Motor Corporation’s open cloud platform development organization Toyota Media Service Co.; and e-marketing firm Netyear Group Corporation.
"Salesforce.com remains committed to Japan and to growing the Cloud 2 economy globally," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "Through our investments, we hope to inspire and incent Japan’s innovators to transform Japanese businesses with social, mobile, and open cloud computing."
Salesforce.com’s Latest Strategic Investments in Japan
- Tokyo Data Center with NTT Communications Scheduled to Open in November 2011
Its build-out complete, salesforce.com’s Tokyo Data Center announced with NTT Communications in 2010, is currently in testing phase and is scheduled to be operational in November of this year. The data center was established in order to serve Japan’s rapidly growing customer base. Salesforce.com’s large customers in Japan, such as Fast Retailing, Japan Post and Sompo Japan, are world leaders in cloud computing innovation. Small and medium-sized businesses, the bedrock of the Japanese economy, also make up a large portion of salesforce.com’s customer base in Japan.
- Further Development of Ruby Programming Language
Heroku, the leading Ruby cloud platform, will lend support to Ruby creator Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto’s efforts to further develop the Ruby programming language as part of a broad initiative to accelerate the growth of the Ruby developer community in Japan and worldwide. Ruby is emerging as the leading development language for social and mobile applications in the cloud. Salesforce.com acquired Heroku in December of 2010.
- Investment in Toyota Media Service Co.
Salesforce.com plans to make an investment of approximately 223 million yen in Toyota Media Service Co., which oversees the Toyota Motor Corporation’s global cloud platform development. Announced on May 23, 2011, the investment will be part of salesforce.com’s strategic alliance with the Toyota Motor Corporation to build Toyota Friend, a private social network for Toyota customers and their cars. Toyota Friend will be powered by Salesforce Chatter, a private social network service for businesses. Toyota Friend will be offered, first in Japan, initially with Toyota’s electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles slated to ship in 2012.
- Investment in Netyear Group Corporation
Salesforce.com will invest in the Netyear Group Corporation, which offers e-marketing and business consulting services to large enterprises. Salesforce.com has been investing in Japanese start-ups since October of 2010, when it announced a strategic investment in marketing automation firm Synergy Marketing. In March of this year, salesforce.com purchased a stake in cloud systems integrator Uhuru. All of these firms plan to develop applications with salesforce.com’s proven, open cloud computing technologies. Further, in order to accelerate its investments in Japanese companies, salesforce.com has appointed a head of strategic investments for Japan.
These investments build on salesforce.com’s longstanding commitment to Japan. Recently, salesforce.com made a concerted effort to aid the victims of the March 11 disaster. The company has offered its services free of charge for 90 days to both private and public organizations offering aid to victims. SoftBank Telecom has developed a Materials Management Application using salesforce.com’s Force.com enterprise cloud computing platform, and more than 30 businesses and government entities, including the City of Chiba, the City of Sendai, and the City of Tsukuba, have also developed innovative cloud applications. In addition, the Salesforce.com Foundation has raised and donated approximately $1 million for relief efforts through a global matching fund and the contributions of executives.
About Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is the enterprise cloud computing company that has transformed the way companies collaborate and communicate. Salesforce.com is leading the effort to bring Cloud 2, the next paradigm for computing, to the enterprise by offering its customers the social collaboration, mobility and openness that are the hallmark of this new world.