If you consider the history of how long it takes for most technology partnerships to make a market impact, the ink on the alliance between IBM and Box is barely dry.
Financially speaking, their pact had very little impact on cloud storage and collaboration in the company’s second quarter, which it reported Wednesday evening. That is, until you consider IBM (IBM) is in the process of becoming one of Box’s biggest corporate accounts. It shares that honor with Airbnb, Alcoa (AA), Cushman & Wakefield, Lionsgate (LGF), Limited Brands (LB), and Uber.
The expansive relationship covers built-in support for each other’s technologies, the creation of joint products, and a sales relationship. It’s not overstating things to describe IBM as Box’s most strategic partner. At least to date.
“The scale that they are putting toward this as well as the amount of investment we are doing to support it are consistent with that,” Box CEO Aaron Levie told Fortune after the company’s analyst briefing.
That said, while IBM and Box (BOX) already make joint sales calls, don’t expect the union to have a “meaningful impact” until next year, Levie said. Considering that it can easily take three quarters for software companies to penetrate corporate accounts, that projection makes sense.
Even without IBM’s help in the field, Box officially passed the 50,000-customer mark during its second fiscal quarter, with more than 39 million registered users. Four of those deals were worth more than $500,000, while 33 contracts topped $100,000.
Box logged Q2 revenue of $73.5 million, up 43%. Its net loss was $50.1 million. Both of those metrics surpassed analysts’ expectations. The company boosted its financial guidance for the year: It now expects to generate $295 million to $297 million.
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