Salesforce to set up 'local instance' in India for hosting data by year-end

Cloud-based software provider Salesforce on Thursday said it will set up a "local instance" in India this year as part of its efforts to provide solutions for hosting data in the country.

"...We are committed to our customers in India. When we look at our conversations over the last 12 months, we have been talking about solutions of hosting data locally, and I am proud today to announce that we would have a local instance in India before the end of this year," Salesforce Senior VP and Country Leader India Sunil Jose said at the Salesforce Live: India event.

He, however, did not disclose any other details.

Salesforce uses the term 'instance' as a unit of scale or capacity for its multi-tenant cloud infrastructure. A single instance supports multiple customers and the data for customers is stored within the instance. These 'instances' are spread across the Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) regions.

Salesforce has also announced grants of USD 2,40,000 impacting over 15,000 people across India. These grants will be split across six NGOs in India in an effort to collectively help bridge inequalities around education, sanitation and nutrition.

The grants will go to six organisations -- The Akshaya Patra Foundation, United Way of Hyderabad, Anthill Creations Foundation, Goonj, SOS Children's Villages of India and Protsahan India Foundation.

These grants are part of Salesforce's ongoing commitment to help ensure the Indian workforce of today is equipped with the skills and experience needed in the professionals of the future, especially in tech careers, Jose said.

A recent research commissioned by Salesforce surveyed 20,000 people globally, including 2,000 people across India, which focused on gaining insights about the participants' perceptions of the future of work.

About 65 per cent of participants from India said closing global inequalities should be a high priority for businesses, while 58 per cent believe companies will invest more in workplace equality as a result of COVID-19.

Around 89 per cent said they trust businesses to create a better future, and 70 per cent believe business leaders to create a better future.

Businesses can be a platform for positive change and the technology industry has played and continues to play a unique role in connecting people - forced apart by this pandemic, keeping supply channels open, tracking the disease and in multiple other ways, Salesforce India CEO and Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said.

"As we help organisations adapt to change and embrace digital transformation, we also believe in reaching out to individuals bridging inequalities that curtail innovation. These grants reflect our commitment to empower individuals with enabling skills and creating an equitable future for all," she added.