Salesforce is buying Own Company for $1.9 billion. Salesforce’s own CRM platform will thus boast stronger data security features without needing a third party.
The acquisition should be complete in Salesforce’s fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, which runs through Jan. 31 of calendar year 2025.
It is the largest acquisition for Salesforce since it acquired Slack in 2021. However, the acquisition amount back then was considerably larger: $28 billion. A turbulent period followed with activist shareholders demanding a change of course.
Salesforce will acquire Own for $1.9 billion in cash, net of the value of the approximately 10% of outstanding shares currently owned by Salesforce.
The Own mission
Salesforce itself already offers a native backup solution (Salesforce Backup), but there are a variety of third-party applications available with more capabilities. One of these is Own, which was founded in 2012 as OwnBackup. It protects data within Salesforce, as well as other SaaS platforms such as ServiceNow and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Own’s focus is on comprehensive data security, but its rhetoric extends beyond that. According to Own, SaaS solutions have not given users the freedom promised after migrating toward the cloud. Claiming data autonomously, Own argues, requires an independent platform that handles everything from compliance to lifecycle management to secure access.
In addition to providing a backup solution for Salesforce (and other) environments, we heard about other plans earlier this year at A3 Technology Live! in London during a session we attended. For instance, Own spokespeople told us about a partnership with Cohesity. A joint solution was also in the works. Furthermore, they talked about the ambition to enter into partnerships with other backup solution providers as well.
Different tone
Salesforce and Own’s announcement reveals a different tone, though. President & GM of Salesforce’s Einstein 1 Platform and Unified Data Services Steve Fisher touts the increased importance of data security. The Own acquisition will help Salesforce better protect data and keep customers compliant.
This will result in an expansion of Salesforce’s existing offerings. Salesforce Backup, Shield and Data Mask are expected to integrate Own’s capabilities. During the aforementioned session, it also became clear that Own offers more than just backups. It offers several modules: Recover, Secure, Accelerate, Archive and Discover. The spokespeople had high expectations of the latter module in particular. This module was supposed to turn data into a “strategic asset”, spokespeople indicated. It eliminates the need for ETL between data and the tools that need to access it. This module was only working for Salesforce environments at the time of the session (February 2024), but there were plans to expand it to other environments.
Own CEO Sam Gutmann sees that his company’s mission has expanded. AI-driven innovation is also a focus these days. Together with Salesforce, Gutmann promises to create even more value for customers in the most complex and highly regulated industries. We do wonder what remains of Own Company’s broader plans, towards Microsoft and ServiceNow and towards existing and new partnerships with backup vendors. Time will tell.
Also read: Both Rubrik and Own drop eye on Salesforce data protection