Big announcement announced

What may already be considered the biggest story in the CRM sphere for 2007 is about to get even huger.

PC World online, among others, is reporting that a press conference has been called by Salesforce.com for Tuesday, 11am Greenwich Meridian Time. Salesforce Europe/Middle East/Africa region co-president Lindsey Armstrong will be making a “strategic announcement.”

Naturally, everyone figures said announcement will be all about the proposed Google/Salesforce linkup designed to help exterminate Microsoft from the SaaS sphere; in case of doubt, PC World’s got a knowledgeable sounding classic “source” that implies such.

A bit later in the day, Salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff will host a customer, media and analyst luncheon at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco at noon Pacific Standard Time. An audio webcast of Benioff’s presentation will be available on the salesforce.com website thereafter.

Though none too many specifics have been released regarding the Google discussions with Salesforce since the whispers began in late May, taken for granted is the reality that it’s all about designing some sort of alliance against mutual foe, the biggest of them all, Microsoft.

The story appears to have been broken by the Wall Street Journal just about two weeks ago under the headline “Google, Salesforce.com Weigh Alliance to Battle Microsoft.” Reported in the piece was that some results from the discussions will be revealed “within the next few weeks.”

The WSJ article went on to hint at what “could be a Web-based offering that integrates some of Google’s online services such as email and instant-messaging with those of Salesforce.com, whose customer-relationship management tools help salespeople track their accounts.”

We’ll see in a couple of days, eh?