CloudSherpas merges with GlobalOne to create a cloud computing service provider powerhouse, or as close to one as there can exist in the nascent market for Web-based applications.
In a
megamerger of cloud software service providers, Cloud Sherpas and GlobalOne
have joined forces to combine their expertise in installing and supporting
Google Apps and Salesforce.com applications.
Cloud Sherpas
counts itself as among the first Google Enterprise support partners, helping more than 1,5000 businesses shuttle more
than 1.5 million workers to Google Apps collaboration applications.
GlobalOne
helps new Salesforce.com customers integrate, install and configure Web-based
software into legacy, on-premise ERP and CRM apps. GlobalOne has crafted custom
solutions on Force.com, mobile apps and enabled B2B collaboration on
Salesforce.com's Chatter app.
Together, the
companies hope to form a potent one-two punch, versus locally stored business
and collaboration software from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), SAP (NYSE:SAP), Oracle
(NASDAQ:ORCL) and others.
The new
company will retain the Cloud Sherpas name after taking $20 million in funding
from Columbia Capital, which manages some $2.5 billion worth of enterprise-oriented
investments. That includes $15 million in funding for GlobalOne in 2011.
GlobalOne CEO
David Northington is taking the helm at Sherpas, with former Sherpas CEO
Douglas Shepard becoming president of Sherpas Google business unit. GlobalOne
and Sherpas senior management will remain with the new company, which will be
headquartered in Atlanta with offices throughout the United States and Asia.
Northington
said Sherpas will maintain its focus on the public cloud, using its new funding
to fortify its cloud services position and extend that into other markets in
the U.S. and abroad.
Northington
said the merger came as both Cloud Sherpas and GlobalOne were heading down
parallel paths to determine whether to find more capital, merge with another
company or make acquisitions to drive their growth.
Both companies
also wanted to expand beyond their respective Google Apps and Salesforce.com
solutions. In other words, each wanted more room to grow.
While Google
Apps and Salesforce.com are certainly enjoying their share of traction among
businesses, Microsoft, SAP and Oracle remain the dominant business
collaboration and apps providers. This makes it hard for service providers to
subsist by supporting a single cloud ecosystem, such as Google or
Salesforce.com.
Google and
Salesforce.com share some of the same clients. Accordingly, this merger could
give each company an entry point for new selling opportunities.
"We're
really looking at different opportunities to diversify revenue, without
partnering with a competitive technology," said Michael Cohn, founder of
Cloud Sherpas and the combined companies' senior vice president of marketing.
"Salesforce is the obvious first stop on that journey."
Cohn also said
that while Google is important, he expects to expand the company's purview into
other cloud ecosystems. Amazon Web Services is certainly emerging as a major
cloud computing ecosystem.
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