Google and Salesforce.com are reported to be in talks to form a potential partnership that may help the firms compete with Microsoft.

The Wall Street Journal has reported the talks citing unnamed sources, and says a formal partnership is expected to be announced in the next few weeks.

The newspaper says the outcome could be a web-based offering integrating Google’s online services - such as email and instant-messaging - with Salesforce.com's customer relationship management tools.

Ovum analyst David Bradshaw says the two companies have been best friends for a long time, so the talks are not surprising.

‘The most likely area of partnership is office applications and Saleforces.com application exchange,’ said Bradshaw.