He added: "After the due diligence process we decided to go ahead. There were still some risks associated with that and we are still hoping there will be an EU data centre one day."

Computerworld UK asked Salesforce's chief scientist, JP Rangaswami, whether the company was taking into consideration that EU organisations, particularly not for profit and government bodies, were concerned about data sitting on US servers.

Rangaswami confirmed that an EU datacentre is still part of Salesforce's plan.

He said: "The intention is still there. We have been public about our intent and we are committed to it, but we will do it at the right time."

"These concerns come up occasionally, but I would say it's more one in ten customers now, rather than the one in two like it used to be five years ago."