June 23, 2008 6:42 AM PDT

Salesforce extends Google link with new toolkit

by Mike Ricciuti

Salesforce.com is furthering its alliance with Google through a new toolkit that lets developers tap into Google's services.

The two companies inked an initial deal in April to link Salesforce's CRM (customer relationship management) applications with integrated Google Apps.

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff and Google chief Eric Schmidt.

(Credit: Dan Farber/CNET Networks)

On Monday, Salesforce.com said it has launched the Force.com Toolkit for Google Data APIs, which will let developers using its Force.com development platform connect to data in Google Apps.

Force.com is Salesforce.com's cloud computing service for building hosted Web applications.

The companies envision that the toolkit will pave the way for new applications, such as business forecasting and quote generation systems, that combine customer data within Salesforce.com with spreadsheet and other functions within Google Apps.

Salesforce.com said the tool will be posted for free download at its Force.com Web site.

Mike Ricciuti joined CNET in 1996. He is now CNET News' Boston-based executive editor and east coast bureau chief, serving as department editor for business technology and software covered by CNET News, Reviews, and Download.com. E-mail Mike.

Topics:: Web 2.0,; Google,; Enterprise software

Tags:: salesforce.com,; google,; cloud computing

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