If you can’t beat them, buy them: Salesforce.com is snapping up SteelBrick, a startup that builds quoting and billing functions for SMEs on the Salesforce cloud platform.

Apps built natively on the platform allow Salesforce.com customers to add functionality to their CRM systems with fewer integration hassles than they might face with software hosted elsewhere.

SteelBrick makes configure-price-quote and subscription-billing apps for small and medium-size enterprises, and recently added subscription billing functions with the acquisition of U.K.-based Invoice IT. The apps automate much of the process from establishing a customer’s requirements to collecting payment. Customers for the software include Japanese manufacturing company Mitsubishi Electric and Silicon Valley neighbors Cloudera and Nutanix.

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