Datorama Joins Salesforce in Israel’s Expanding Tech Economy
When Datorama was founded in 2012, Raanan Raz was its first employee. He was well aware of the company’s Israeli co-founders Ran Sing and Efi Cohen, having heard great things about them for their work at an earlier successful startup. Raanan was intrigued by their grasp of marketing analytics and the knowledge they’d gained about navigating the early challenges of a startup — not the least of which was a more measured approach to its often frenetic pace.
“The whole mantra around the company was ‘We’re here for the long run; and we’re not going to burn out working nights and weekends.’ It was the idea of work-life balance from day one.”
Salesforce shares this culture of wellbeing, and the relationship between the companies has even more to offer. Raanan feels Salesforce will significantly boost Datorama’s already strong position in the marketing analytics space — bringing its unique technology to many more customers.
“We look at it as having a rocket on our backs, pushing our limits. With the Salesforce customer base we need to be ready for a tsunami of data coming in from 150,000 customers. What we’re tackling in terms of scale and technology will make the coming years really interesting.”
Born to code — the path of a young tech entrepreneur
Raanan began coding at age 12, helped initially by a neighborhood friend. He built his own websites, then took a job as a support engineer. The tech bubble of the early 2000s was in full swing and he joined some local startups.
Next stop: the military. Raanan served for seven years, four of which were voluntary, and stayed in the technology field.
“What I took from the military was a sense of responsibility. It’s pretty amazing to see 18 and 20-year olds in charge of mission-critical platforms. You learn how to keep your cool. Keep calm and carry on.”
Good advice in a fast-changing commercial tech world as well. After completing his military service, Raanan started an online payments company, which he sold before joining Datorama.
For others trying to find a satisfying career path, Raanan recommends two strategies.
“Go to places where you don’t know people. It’s the only way to change the way you think and learn new methods. And do something you’ve never done before. It will push you to succeed. You can do both at Salesforce.”
Taming the tsunami of data
Salesforce has the intriguing challenges of a startup, but backed by the resources of an established, successful company. He encourages those who shy away from large companies to give Salesforce another look.
“Some think American companies are past their peak. They’ve made their impact. But for Datorama, it’s quite the opposite. We have the challenge of pushing the Datorama platform to solve more complex problems and integrating all the data from Salesforce and its huge customer base.”
Moreover, at Salesforce Raanan will continue to have the opportunity to contribute to the open-source tech ecosystem, which is the main technology stack for Datorama. In Salesforce, it’s a very common to contribute to open-source projects, such as Kubernetes (k8s). Salesforce has made nearly 2,000 contributions to the Kubernetes container orchestration system.
Israel and technology transformation
Raanan has seen firsthand the impact of a growing technology marketplace in Israel. He witnessed a surge in startups spurred by a lot of easily available funding and the gradual return to a preference for bigger, more established companies.
“Salaries rose in Israel when American companies started gaining a foothold here. Companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Salesforce. Datorama is now very competitive in that area, and since we’re inside Salesforce, it’s easier to attract top talent.”
Raanan also sees a trend toward greater ethnic and gender equality in Israel’s tech culture.
“At Datorama, we’re starting to attract talent from places we haven’t seen before. And there’s a lot of awareness in Israel right now around equality. For example, we’re working on boosting the percentage of women in engineering roles.”
As for what’s needed to thrive in the tech economy, Raanan sees a shift from a focus on skills to a focus on value — a decidedly Salesforce perspective.
“I want to see what value you can bring to the customer. I don’t care how you do it. It’s not about a specific technology. It’s about how can you make life better for customers, for people. It’s the human element.”
And speaking of the human element, Raanan has already taken advantage of the Salesforce volunteer time off (VTO) policy. Every three weeks, he and some coworkers work with local high school seniors on their final technology projects, reviewing code, architecture, design, and programming languages.
“They’re also in touch with us outside the VTO via WhatsApp and Facebook, asking for guidance and input. They’re super engaged.”
The future looks bright for Raanan, Datorama, and Salesforce. The Israeli tech economy is booming and Salesforce is eager to build its presence there, while helping Datorama reach more customers.
To learn more about Salesforce and Datorama in Israel, please check out our Employee Spotlight page. You can also apply for open positions right now!
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