VMware Inc and Salesforce.com Inc, two software makers whose sales have outperformed the industry in recent years, plan to introduce a new cloud-computing product.

Officials at the companies declined to elaborate on a brief statement that they issued on Tuesday on the website www.vmforce.com. The site said that the chief executives would make a joint product announcement on the future of cloud computing on April 27.

Cloud computing refers to the use of software and computers at large-scale remote data centers that are accessed via the Internet.

Salesforce.com is the world's biggest provider of software that is delivered via the Web. VMware is the top maker of virtualization programs that allow companies to boost the efficiency of computer hardware by running multiple virtual machines on a single piece of equipment.

Other cloud computing technology providers include Amazon.com Inc, Google Inc, International Business Machines Corp and Microsoft Corp.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle. Editing by Robert MacMillan)

Software Salesforce