Salesforce’s spending spree continues with $1.35bn ClickSoftware buy

Salesforce’s 2019 spending spree crosses $17.6 billion threshold with ClickSoftware buy

Salesforce has announced it has acquired field service software company ClickSoftware for $1.5 billion, just days after finalising the $15.7 billion Tableau deal.

ClickSoftware is an Israeli company that provides field management software – in other words, tools that enable companies to monitor employee activities, track vehicles, schedule work and dispatch technicians. ClickSoftware, which was founded in 1997, specialises in scheduling and dispatch, capacity planning and demand forecasting, and serves customers including Bosch, Vodafone and Ericsson.

ClickSoftware will fit nicely into Salesforce’s Service Cloud segment. In July, the CRM giant revealed that the segment crossed the $1 billion revenue mark for the first time.

Salesforce already operates a field service tool within Service Cloud called Field Service Lightning, which leverages IoT devices to integrate company service fleets into a centralised platform.

Salesforce said ClickSoftware will enable the company to deliver more comprehensive and insightful customer service.

“Delivering exceptional field service is an increasingly important priority for companies across industries with more than 70 percent of customer service leaders making significant investments to transform their mobile workforce,” said Bill Patterson, EVP and GM of Salesforce Service Cloud.

“Our acquisition of ClickSoftware will not only accelerate the growth of Service Cloud, but drive further innovation with Field Service Lightning to better meet the needs of our customers. We are thrilled to welcome the ClickSoftware team to Salesforce.”

Salesforce and ClickSoftware have already worked together to expand Field Service Lightning’s capabilities since the service was launched in 2016.

Under the terms of the agreement, Salesforce will acquire ClickSoftware for an amount expected to be around $1.35 billion. The acquisition is expected to close during Salesforce’s fiscal quarter ending October 31, 2019, subject to closing conditions, and US & Israeli antitrust clearances.

Last week, Salesforce announced a partnership with Alibaba that gives the Chinese cloud giant exclusive selling rights to Salesforce’s CRM software.