But Microsoft got a much later start than Salesforce in the cloud. In terms of capabilities, the Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM software is very similar to the comparable Salesforce offering. (IDC) estimates that Salesforce has a 20 percent share of a CRM market that continues to be the fastest growing sector of the enterprise IT market. Given the overall expansion of the Salesforce offerings, it’s not clear how much of that growth will be specifically driven by CRM. In its most recent financial guidance, Salesforce forecasts it expects to achieve $16 billion in revenue next year, and within the next four years will be able to generate annual revenues in the range of $26 to $28 billion. Salesforce has spent the last 20 years building a $13 billion company, largely on the back of a CRM application delivered as a cloud service.
