????這也許是一個(gè)時(shí)代的終結(jié)。抑或像甲骨文（Oracle）和Salesforce所描述的，是一個(gè)新時(shí)代的開(kāi)始。上周四下午，這兩家曾經(jīng)的死對(duì)頭突然召開(kāi)電話會(huì)議，宣布簽署一項(xiàng)為期9年的合作協(xié)議，將緊密整合各自的云服務(wù)。

????Salesforce是全球最大的客戶關(guān)系管理軟件（簡(jiǎn)稱CRM）供應(yīng)商，同時(shí)也是云計(jì)算的先行者。這家公司的首席執(zhí)行官馬克?貝尼奧夫說(shuō)：“我們將為客戶帶來(lái)無(wú)以倫比的產(chǎn)品。這是一個(gè)嶄新的世界，這是一個(gè)全新的時(shí)代。Salesforce和甲骨文的合作將是新紀(jì)元的開(kāi)始。”

????Salesforce和甲骨文過(guò)去一直在相互競(jìng)爭(zhēng)——兩家公司的首席執(zhí)行官還經(jīng)常高調(diào)的在媒體上大打口水戰(zhàn)，也算是娛樂(lè)大眾。【它們?cè)凇敦?cái)富》（Fortune）“史上50大商業(yè)對(duì)手”排行榜上排名第31位。】現(xiàn)在，兩家公司表示，通過(guò)合作，用戶有望更便捷地部署和整合位于云端的應(yīng)用。按照協(xié)議，Salesforce承諾將使用甲骨文數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)及其它基礎(chǔ)構(gòu)件，還將部署甲骨文面向HR部門(mén)的Fusion人力資源管理軟件。作為回報(bào)，甲骨文承諾使用Salesforce的拳頭產(chǎn)品——客戶關(guān)系管理軟件，不過(guò)它并未透露應(yīng)用范圍。

????甲骨文首席執(zhí)行官拉里?埃里森說(shuō)：“幾乎每家我們收購(gòu)的公司都在使用Salesforce的CRM軟件。”他補(bǔ)充道：“我們會(huì)讓一些公司繼續(xù)使用這些軟件。”

????兩家公司的客戶都將享受到這些創(chuàng)造性的集成能力，不過(guò)兩家公司不會(huì)實(shí)行交叉銷(xiāo)售。甲骨文將繼續(xù)銷(xiāo)售甲骨文應(yīng)用程序，而Salesforce將繼續(xù)出售Salesforce應(yīng)用程序。

????雖然兩家公司的結(jié)盟出人意料，但也合乎情理，尤其是對(duì)甲骨文而言。甲骨文公司一直試圖進(jìn)軍云計(jì)算領(lǐng)域，周早些時(shí)候還分別與微軟（Microsoft）和NetSuite達(dá)成了合作伙伴關(guān)系。NetSuite是一家基于云計(jì)算、服務(wù)于中小型企業(yè)的企業(yè)資源規(guī)劃軟件供應(yīng)商。雖然客戶可能希望轉(zhuǎn)移到云端，但他們不一定希望自己使用的所有應(yīng)用程序都出自一家軟件廠商。

????埃里森和貝尼奧夫上周四的互動(dòng)與兩人過(guò)去的針?shù)h相對(duì)形成鮮明反差。（埃里森曾經(jīng)將貝尼奧夫領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的Salesforce稱為云服務(wù)領(lǐng)域的“蟑螂屋”。）但在上周四的電話會(huì)議中，這兩位“掌門(mén)人”不停地互相恭維，連連禮讓對(duì)方先回答問(wèn)題。

????貝尼奧夫一度對(duì)埃里森說(shuō)：“今天同你一道宣布我們兩家公司的合作，我激動(dòng)萬(wàn)分。”（旁白：貝尼奧夫的職業(yè)生涯始于甲骨文，他在埃里森手下干了十多年。）之后，他還邀請(qǐng)埃里森出席Salesforce一年一度的“Dreamforce”大會(huì)。埃里森欣然接受了邀請(qǐng)。

????問(wèn)及這個(gè)新的伙伴關(guān)系是否將終結(jié)過(guò)去兩人間“妙語(yǔ)如珠的嘴仗”，貝尼奧夫稱他希望不會(huì)。貝尼奧夫說(shuō)：“我樂(lè)在其中。”他補(bǔ)充道：“我們一直享受兩人的共事和互相調(diào)侃。不過(guò)有些時(shí)候我們可能說(shuō)得有些過(guò)火了，但愿今后不會(huì)這樣了。”

????埃里森自然同意貝尼奧夫這番說(shuō)法，他說(shuō)：“我敢肯定馬克和我都將繼續(xù)試著娛樂(lè)大眾，同時(shí)確保它不會(huì)影響我們合作的承諾。”換言之，埃里森和貝尼奧夫打口水仗的時(shí)代宣告結(jié)束。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))

????譯者：項(xiàng)航

????It's the end of an era. Or the beginning of one, as Oracle and Salesforce.com would describe it. The formerly sparring enterprise tech companies hosted a conference call for press and analysts Thursday afternoon, in which they outlined a new, nine-year partnership through which their respective cloud-based applications will work hand-in-hand.

????"The value we can provide to customers is just awesome," said Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce (CRM), the largest provider of customer relationship management tools and a pioneer in cloud-based software. "This is a new world, this is a new time. Companies like Salesforce and Oracle working together are evidence that that's how it has to be."

????Salesforce and Oracle (ORCL) have competed in the past -- and the companies' CEOs have long maintained a vocal, often entertaining war of words. (Their rivalry landed at No. 31 on Fortune's Greatest Business Rivalries of All Time list.) Now the two companies say they plan to allow customers to easily deploy and integrate their various applications in the cloud. As part of the agreement, Salesforce has committed to using Oracle's database and other infrastructure technologies and to implement Oracle's Fusion human capital management software, used by HR departments. Oracle, for its part, has agreed to run Salesforce's flagship customer relationship management software, though it didn't specify how widespread its implementation would be.

????"Almost every time we buy a company, they are running Salesforce CRM," said Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, adding that he plans to "leave some of those companies on those applications."

????Those same "out-of-the-box" integration capabilities will be made available to customers of both companies, though there won't be cross-selling involved. Oracle will continue to sell Oracle applications, and Salesforce will continue to sell Salesforce applications.

????The alliance, while surprising, could make sense, especially for Oracle, which has been trying to push its way into the cloud. The company inked other partnerships earlier this week, with Microsoft (MSFT) and NetSuite (N), a cloud-based provider of enterprise resource planning software for small- and medium-sized businesses. And while customers may want to move to the cloud, they don't necessarily want all of their applications from one vendor.

????But Thursday's call was a far cry from the tit-for-tat Ellison and Benioff have engaged in previous interactions. (Ellison once referred to Benioff's Salesforce as the "roach motel" of cloud services.) Instead, the two alpha males showered each other with compliments and kept telling each other they should "go first" when answering questions.

????"I couldn't be more thrilled to make this announcement with you today," Benioff said to Ellison at one point. (An aside: Benioff started his career at Oracle, where he stayed under Ellison for over a decade). Later in the call, he invited Ellison to attend Salesforce's annual "Dreamforce" conference. Ellison gladly accepted the invitation.

????When asked whether the new partnership will mean the end to the "fun, entertaining potshots" of the past, Benioff said he hopes not. "That's one of the things I've enjoyed in our industry," he added. "We've always enjoyed working together and having fun with each other. Hopefully it will be the end to us getting a little too revved up at times."

????Naturally, Ellison agreed with Benioff, saying "I'm sure both Marc and I are going to try to continue to be entertaining, while making sure that the entertainment never distracts from our commitment to work together." In other words, the era of entertaining potshots is over.