Things have continued to heat up in the database competition that has raged in recent years starring Salesforce.com vs Oracle. Software giant Oracle has drastically changed its tune regarding cloud-based services with its recent announcement of the Oracle Public Cloud. By finally embracing cloud-based technology, Oracle is set to squarely face off with salesforce.com, a company which has openly embraced cloud-based technology for years.

In an announcement made at Oracle’s OpenWorld conference, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made a formal announcement about the company’s new cloud services. Previously, Oracle remained stoically against offering any form of cloud-based services for their customers. The company formerly took a firm stance of keeping Oracle products located at customer sites and did not offer any options for companies that wished to have their data hosted in the cloud.

Oracle’s new Public Cloud will offer a wide variety of services and options that are not available from other software vendors, including salesforce.com. One of the biggest advantages that the new cloud-based services have over competitors is Oracle’s support of open Java and SQL standards. With other companies, their applications are highly proprietary and cannot be used on other platforms. Oracle has taken a radically different direction by basing their services on open standards that can be transported to other platforms and providers.

Providers such as salesforce.com support only proprietary platforms, but the new Oracle Public Cloud will support a wide variety of industry standards including Java, SQL, XML and BPOL. While this may seem to be a risky move for the company, it grants their clients greater ownership over their data and prevents a business from being forced to use a specific platform due to compatibility issues.

Oracle will be offering a broad range of applications and services that provide a comprehensive data infrastructure that can be completely cloud-based. The offerings from Public Cloud are grouped as Application and Platform Services.

Oracle Platform Services
The platform services offered by Public Cloud include Java and database instances. The database platform has a focus on the traditional Oracle database, while the Java portion focuses solely on Java services.

Oracle Java Cloud
The Oracle Java Cloud service will allow businesses to create new cloud instances in minutes, with a platform based on the enterprise-grade WebLogic Server. Additionally, users of the service will be able to choose between deploying applications in the cloud or onsite, and they will have the ability to move applications seamlessly between the two environments. A major selling point of the Java Cloud service is how it embraces open development. Developers can create new applications using Java EE standards and Oracle ADF. Java Cloud also supports server clustering and 3rd party frameworks such as Hibernate, Spring and EclipseLink. Oracle will offer powerful management tools for its Java Cloud users as well. They will get access to the Enterprise Manager console, which grants finely tuned control over WebLogic Servers. Monitoring for systems will be done through REST and will use RESTful clients to monitor all services.

Oracle Database Cloud Service
With the Oracle Database Cloud Service, Oracle offers a comprehensive suite that addresses all aspects of database utility. It includes Oracle Database 11g Release 2, multiple access methods, powerful development tools and productivity applications. These features combine to make Oracle Database Cloud Service the most comprehensive and business friendly option available for hosted databases.

For the core database, clients get access to the powerful Oracle Database 11g Release 2. This version of the Oracle database includes support for SQL, PL/SQL and a variety of other features. It is a high availability service and Oracle offers redundant servers, storage and access.

Data stored on the Oracle database can be accessed using SQL and PL/SQL. The database can be either hosted in the cloud or onsite. Users can access the database directly from the cloud or through data loading. This grants a new level of customization to the database configuration. With these options, companies can access their data the way that they want to, without administrative headaches and shortcomings.

The Oracle Database Cloud Service also includes an array of powerful development tools. Databases can be created with APEX and applications can be developed and deployed rapidly with these unique tools. Additionally, Oracle also offers REST monitoring services and use of RESTful clients for service monitoring.

Application Services
The main components of the new Oracle Application Services are the Fusion CRM, Fusion HCM and Social Network applications. The Fusion CRM provides a new twist on traditional CRM functionality, while Fusion HCM provides a comprehensive HR management tool and Social Network seeks to improve collaboration between employees.

Oracle Fusion CRM
Fusion CRM is set to solidly intensify the competition of salesforce.com vs Oracle. Fusion takes direct aim at salesforce.com’s flagship database product and improves upon it greatly.

Fusion CRM appears to offer most of the same functionality as other major CRM platforms. It provides a way for companies to track, organize and analyze key data. However, Fusion CRM goes even farther than most typical CRM offerings. Fusion offers ways for companies to plan, prospect, collaborate and close smarter.

By using Fusion CRM, Oracle clients can dynamically create the most efficient and precise sales territories, design superior compensation and quota plans and create highly accurate forecasts. The technology behind the Fusion CRM allows it to assign different weights to sales leads and dynamically assign leads to different sales representatives based upon territories and custom rules that are fully customizable. In turn, sales representatives can even be supplied with customized sales campaigns by Fusion.

The way that Fusion CRM can customize and manage sales territories is remarkable as well. Instead of relying on managers to guesstimate territories and then hard code them into the CRM, Fusion does the legwork by utilizing ground-breaking analytics and fully customizable criteria. Territories can be assigned in a manner that will automatically assign sales opportunities to the right rep for the job based upon these factors. When looking to restructure territories, Fusion CRM takes all of the guesswork out of the process. It can forecast how clients, accounts, leads and future opportunities would be reassigned before any permanent changes are put in place.

Sales forecasts are often a point of contention for sales leaders, and Fusion CRM tackles this challenge as well. With the unique ability to use real-time analytics for the most accurate forecasts, it is possible to dynamically update and revise forecasts to be more in line with the reality that sales leaders are facing every day. With accurate forecasts available, sales leaders are able to spend less time endlessly exchanging emails and becoming frustrated due to inaccurate or impossible forecasts.

Along with the powerful forecast tools, Fusion CRM also offers the best reporting and analytics infrastructure available. The reporting tools in Fusion are extremely powerful and completely customizable. With advanced reporting tools, clients can pull the data they seek and represent it in ways that truly make sense to others. Clear and concise reports are the most effective way to present data to management, and Fusion CRM delivers on this front.

Oracle Fusion HCM
Fusion HCM seeks to bring a strong HR suite to the offerings available for cloud-based services. The Fusion HCM will encompass everything from organization management to benefits administration. The HCM application covers pretty much every HR aspect imaginable. It offers support and data analytics for hiring, budgeting, employee benefits administration, payroll and absence management. As a cloud-based service, it provides easy access for HR employees to critical data. While all data connections are secure, HR employees can use Fusion HCM from virtually anywhere. With its powerful analytical tools, Fusion can organize and present valuable data in methods that are understandable and actionable.

Oracle Social Network
The Oracle Social Network application aims to address the common shortcomings regarding workplace collaboration. It uses a wide variety of innovative tools to create a real-time collaborative environment to boost productivity across the entire organization. It has support for multimedia items amongst users and allows them to securely share videos, voice, text and content regardless of physical location. Oracle Social Network is fully integrated into other Oracle applications, including Fusion CRM and HCM. The real-time tools included in the application include real-time shared markup, chat, application and web conference sharing and full content searches. Users can manipulate their individual stream of messages by flagging critical information, utilizing extensive filtering capabilities and creating a live digest, which gives a snapshot of their unread activity stream.

The new cloud-based offerings by Oracle are comprehensive and provide a much more cohesive experience for companies wishing to take key applications to the cloud. While Oracle is a relatively late adapter of cloud-based services, their new platform appears extremely solid and offers functionality and control that is not currently matched by other cloud-based providers. With comprehensive tools that can be cloud-based or located onsite and the ability for customers to retain control over their data, the new suite of tools from Oracle looks to be a major contender in the world of cloud-based applications and databases. Oracle Public Cloud appears to be doing many things right that their leading competitors do wrong.

The Salesforce.com Winter ’12 release promises to bring many exciting new changes, upgrades and updates. Nearly every aspect of the wildly popular cloud-computing platform is changed or updated in some way. That being said, users will not be overwhelmed by the changes. They are just subtle enough to bring much-needed improvements without drastically changing the overall design and flow of the platform. According to the official release page, there are more than 150 new features. To get a better idea about what to expect, an overview of the most important updates, changes and new features is provided below.

Dashboard Filters

The Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com now features dashboard filters. This feature allows you to add easy-to-change filters to the dashboard. When a change is made, it is applied to every single dashboard component.

Data.com

In the latest version of Salesforce.com, Jigsaw becomes Data.com. More has changed than just the name, though. One of the most notable and exciting changes concerns Dun & Bradstreet information, which is now contained within Data.com. Thanks to that addition, Data.com offers superior account information and contact data, which makes it a more robust feature all around. The new version also works to keep track of company and contacts’ social accounts, which will enhance the other social media features of Salesforce.com.

Chatter Messages

Chatter messages allow users to send private messages through Chatter. This will come in handy in situations when it’s not appropriate or necessary to initiate contact with the entire company or team at one time. It also allows users to see when another person is logged into Salesforce.com.

Chatter Approvals

In the Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com, it is now possible to manage approvals through a user’s Chatter feed. This should enhance productivity and largely eliminate the need to switch between various screens.

Social Contacts

When viewing a contact’s record, information from their Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook feeds will also appear. This information will only be displayed, of course, when a contact’s usernames for such services are known. Thanks to the upgrade of Data.com, however, it will be easier than ever to keep such information current.

Updated Reports Tab

The Reports tab has been given a major facelift in the latest version of Salesforce.com. For the Winter ’12 release, it puts Dashboards and Reports in a single place, which makes it a lot easier to run them when they are needed. If you have many different dashboards and reports, you will appreciate the addition of an enhanced search function. This function allows you to track down precisely what you need a lot more quickly and efficiently.

Customer Interaction in Private Chatter Groups

It is now possible to invite customers and partners to join you in private Chatter groups through Salesforce.com. These private, secure groups are great places to exchange ideas and to perform a multitude of different tasks. Depending on the situation, such groups could be used to share messages, posts, files and other information. There is a great deal of control involved in inviting customers into these groups, so there is no risk of allowing the wrong people in.

Visualforce Charting

The addition of pre-built components for charts and reports dramatically streamlines and enhances the Visualforce process. They no long have to be built from the ground up, which is sure to save you a lot of time and effort. This update makes sense because many people create large numbers of very similar reports and charts.

Sharing Chatter Files

The Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com allows you to share Chatter files with anyone. They do not have to be on Chatter. This is accomplished through the creation of an encrypted URL. The URL can then be shared via email or instant message. Many people are sure to get a great deal of use out of this new feature.

Upload and Share Files Simultaneously

It’s now possible to kill two birds with one stone when uploading and sharing files. The latest version of Salesforce.com allows you to share and upload files at the same time. When you are ready to upload a file, you can also elect to share it with certain people or groups. There is no longer a need to go back and perform this in two separate steps.

Redesigned Chatter Desktop

The ability to use Chatter through the desktop has proven to be quite popular. The Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com improves upon the last design. The interface has been redesigned to make it easier and more intuitive to use than ever.

Chatter Feed Enhancements

Several exciting updates have been made to the Chatter feed. It is now possible to “like” comments that are made by others. This not only lets the person know that you “like” their comment, but it allows you to receive updates from the thread in question. This update is quite similar to the “like” function that has been available on Facebook for some time.

It is now also possible to share and play YouTube videos on the Chatter feed. Once a video has been posted, it does not automatically play. The user must click on the video to play it. This is an important point because some people may not want videos to start playing at random.

Salesforce Knowledge Articles Enhancements

Enhancements to Salesforce knowledge articles have been made in the Winter ’12 release. The most notable one is that articles can be imported along with 49 different translated versions at one time. It is also possible to save older versions of published articles.

Updated Service Cloud Console

The Service Cloud console has a sleek new look for the Salesforce.com Winter ’12 release. You will notice that a lot of the extra white space has been eliminated.

Security Enhancements

A significant array of security enhancements are debuting with the Winter ’12 release. Updated encrypted custom field permissions are just one example. Just-in-Time provisioning for portals is now also available.

Cloud-Based Flow Designer

This new feature is currently in beta, but it is sure to pique many people’s interest. It allows users to update content and create new flows from within Salesforce.com. You should be on the lookout for additional enhancements to this exciting new feature in future releases of Salesforce.com.

SiteForce

SiteForce is debuting with the Salesforce.com Winter ’12 release. It’s a CMS editor that makes it a lot easier to create pages for sites. It gives you a lot more flexibility when it comes to customization. Many people are anticipating it to be a major improvement over VisualForce.

The changes and updates that are debuting with the Winter ’12 release of Salesforce.com include a little bit of something for everyone. Whether you’d like more options when it comes to communicating with your customers, or if you would like to have greater control of the customization of various pages, you are sure to approve of the latest version of this very popular cloud-computing platform. A wide range of small but important aesthetic changes also make for a more streamlined and intuitive experience. Now more than ever, it is a breeze for newcomers to get up to speed with this platform. The new changes and features are creating plenty of buzz, and they will continue to do so.

Even as a vast array of businesses and organizations are discovering the benefits and advantages of cloud computing, many of them aren’t putting it as fully to use as they could. Despite the breathless reports about companies switching almost entirely over to the cloud, it’s clear that security concerns are holding many businesses back from fully implementing the benefits of cloud computing. In many cases, misconceptions about how security works in cloud computing are causing people to wrongly believe that it isn’t right for government entities and other organizations that deal in highly sensitive and confidential material.

According to the Cloud Computing Tracking Poll, which involved the participation of more than 1,200 IT professionals, 32 percent of companies cited security concerns as the reason for not implementing the use of cloud computing even further. Indeed, respondents generally stated that, while many companies are using cloud computing to some degree, a significant proportion of them haven’t made any sort of dramatic switch. In many cases, a significant portion of a company’s information technology continues to exist and run through physical hardware. The fact that security issues are cited as the main cause of this is interesting because many IT professionals agree that the cloud is exceptionally safe.

One of the biggest advantages of cloud computing from a security standpoint is that it eliminates the need for things like flash drives and DVDs. Those types of things can all too easily end up in the wrong hands. When that happens, sensitive information is a breeze for just about anyone to access. When such information is stored in the cloud, however, there is no chance of dropping a disc or another form of media and inadvertently allowing someone else to access it. Everything is stored virtually, so there’s no physical type of data storage that can be breached.

Naturally, many companies are aware of this benefit. However, they are quick to point out that hackers are becoming more sophisticated in their methodologies than ever. If a hacker breaches a company’s private cloud, for example, he would then have full access to a bevy of highly sensitive data. Many of these fears arise due to the possibility of a hacking collective like Anonymous gaining access to a government agency’s private cloud. If that was to happen, the hard work would be over. Upon leaping that hurdle, hackers would generally have free reign over the agency’s data and information.

Indeed, there are many reports about the misgivings of several top government agencies about the full implementation of cloud computing. One thing that has triggered so much discussion about the topic was the order to put cloud computing “first.” This order was given by the White House back in December 2010. At the time, Vivek Kundra was the White House Chief Information Officer. He is the one who relayed the order to all government agencies. The order did not make cloud computing implementation a requirement, but it did ask all agencies to consider cloud computing over traditional hardware solutions.

Under the terms of the order, all agencies were asked to identify three services that could be switched over to the cloud. The government’s primary motivation for this request was, of course, financial. It is much more economical to manage computer services in the cloud than it is to manage them via traditional hardware. Agencies were given a timeframe of 12 months to identify one service to switch to the cloud. They were then asked to identify another two services within 18 months. Despite the fact that this was a clear order, many agencies have been holding back.

The main reason that so many agencies have been dragging their feet about switching their services to the cloud is security. Just like many businesses, many government agencies have serious reservations about the security of cloud computing. The State Department, the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health have all voiced specific concerns about the security of full cloud computing implementation. Most government agencies do not want to be early adopters of the technology. They want to wait and see whether or not other agencies experience security problems before they go ahead with the switch themselves.

As reluctant as many government agencies have been about switching certain services to the cloud, many have already switched other services there. For example, the State Department has already switched its public website to the cloud. Basically, agencies seem to feel no reluctance about switching non-sensitive or non-confidential information to the cloud, but they are much less trusting when it comes to sensitive or confidential information. That is perfectly natural, of course, but many of those concerns are unfounded. While a successful hacking attempt would be catastrophic, it’s just as risky to keep the data on hardware-based systems too.

One thing that isn’t helping when it comes to perceptions about security and cloud computing is a recent report by the Government Accountability Office. According to that agency, reports of security problems have gone up by an incredible 650 percent in the space of just five years. This shouldn’t keep businesses or government agencies from considering the cloud, however. A hybrid model is one great alternative. Under that scenario, highly sensitive information is kept on a private cloud; non-confidential information is kept on a public cloud. Under this model, companies and government agencies can enjoy the cost effectiveness of cloud computing while still benefiting from enhanced security features.

Above everything else, it’s important to keep in mind that cloud computing is still a relatively new concept. It may seem like it’s been around forever, but it is still a newcomer when compared with other types of information technology. As a result, it’s going to take time for a wider range of companies and organizations to embrace the technology. As more and more government agencies move to the cloud, however, ongoing concerns about security should start to fade. Eventually, people may even come to consider cloud computing to be a lot safer than other alternatives.

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The Spring 2011 release of Salesforce.com is brimming with a bounty of new features that are sure to thrill every member of your team. From innovative additions to the Chatter platform to exciting new customization options for Force.com, the Spring ’11 release of Salesforce.com is being met with open arms by everyone who relies on it. Unlike traditional software, of course, Salesforce.com is able to continuously release new and exciting updates since it is based in the cloud. Without a doubt, Salesforce.com is cloud computing at its best; the Spring 2011 release is further proof of that.

New and improved features have been added to virtually every facet of Salesforce.com with the Spring 2011 release. The best way to get a grasp of what’s included in the latest release is by breaking things down into five basic categories: Service Cloud, Sales Cloud, Jigsaw, Force.com and Chatter. Whether your company makes full use of every available feature or tends to rely on a handful of them, familiarizing yourself with what’s new in each category could open up new horizons in terms of productivity and efficiency. The following information provides an overview of what you will find with the Spring 2011 release of Salesforce.com.

New Spring 2011 Salesforce.com Features – Service Cloud

There are plenty of exciting new ways to take your customer service to a whole new level with the Spring ’11 release of Salesforce.com. From multilingual functionality to first-rate search capabilities, the Service Cloud is more useful and effective than ever. A few of the most notable and important updates include:

Multilingual Knowledge in the Cloud – It’s now possible to translate knowledge articles into several different languages, all with just the click of a button. This feature makes it remarkably easy to succeed in business on a truly global scale. The world is getting smaller; the ability to pass along information in multiple languages is critical. With Salesforce.com Spring 2011’s release, you can do so with ease.

Global Search for Service Cloud Console – Not sure where to find the information that you need? The Spring ’11 release of Salesforce.com comes to the rescue with this nifty new feature. It allows you to search across Chatter feeds, files, articles and many different types of records – all in a single query. In turn, your productivity and efficiency are sure to explode.

Suggested Knowledge Sidebar – Nothing is more frustrated than getting hung up on a single case. When the right answers don’t appear quickly, you can end up spinning your tires and wasting a great deal of time. Saleforce.com’s Spring ’11 release includes a real-time suggested knowledge sidebar that provides ideas for you to explore. Instead of barking up the wrong tree, then, you can start heading in the right direction seamlessly and easily.

Unique Article Numbers – Organization is a critical part of running a successful business. With the Spring 2011 release of Salesforce.com, every article is given a unique article number. That way, nothing gets lost in the shuffle and organizing data is a lot more intuitive.

Case Milestone Validation Rules – The latest version of Salesforce.com also reduces the risk of things slipping through the cracks by allowing you to set rules for case milestones. You can also set it up so that certain standards must be met before a case can be saved. This will help keep those loose ends at bay and keep everyone in your organization on top of what’s happening.

The Spring ’11 Salesforce.com Service Cloud is more powerful and intuitive than ever. These latest updates are sure to make your Salesforce.com experience exceptionally rewarding. Of course, they are just the tip of the iceberg; the latest release has a whole lot more up its sleeve.

New Spring 2011 Salesforce.com Features – Sales Cloud

The Sales Cloud in the Spring 2011 release of Salesforce.com has been enhanced in many unique ways. Reports make it a cinch to analyze all of the data that you could ever want. These robust features will help to give you an edge on the competition while enhancing your bottom line.

Opportunity Product Sort – Not all products are created equal, especially from a marketing standpoint. After analyzing your data to determine which products need the most attention, you can sort them in order of priority. This allows you to zero in on what matters, without having to sift through mountains of confusing information. Your sales will be more effective and efficient with the Spring ’11 release of Salesforce.com.

Scatter Charts – All of the data in the world won’t do you any good if you can’t make sense of what it all means. Instead of poring over that information for hours or days on end, you can turn to the Sales Cloud’s Scatter Chart feature. This feature helps to discern emerging trends and patterns on your behalf. It also makes it easier to spot outliers and anomalies amid the information that’s being presented. In short, Scatter Charts help you work with data in a smarter and more effective way.

Enhanced Features for Outlook – There is a bevy of new features for Sales Cloud and Outlook in the Spring ’11 release. You can now associate any object with an email; in that way, you can keep tabs on important information in a more streamlined way. Chatter Sync lets you sync your Chatter contacts with your Outlook contacts. Web login via Outlook is also included in the latest version of Salesforce.com.

Report Builder Filters – Run reports and skim through the results more quickly with Report Builder filters. Filters can be applied in a variety of different ways in order to hone in on the data that is the most important to the task at hand. The one-click design of this feature ensures that virtually anyone can make positive use out of it. Any company that relies on reports in Salesforce.com is sure to appreciate this useful feature.

From sorting and filtering reports to syncing contacts across Outlook and Chatter, Salesforce.com’s Spring 2011 release is loaded with nifty new Sales Cloud features. Generating leads, making sales and closing deals can all be done more effectively and intuitively through these innovative new features and enhancements.

New Spring 2011 Salesforce.com Features – Jigsaw

Out-of-date information and contacts can put a huge damper on the success of any marketing or sales campaign. Every company knows the importance of accurate, up-to-date information. Salesforce.com has always offered prime features for keeping data current; the Spring ’11 release takes things one step further, with Jigsaw.

Jigsaw is a real-time data cloud that is loaded with plenty of remarkable features. A few of the key perks of Jigsaw include:

Access to Millions of Contacts – Business contacts are culled via a crowd-sourcing system to produce large volumes of accurate, useful information. More than 23 million business contacts can be accessed via Jigsaw for Salesfoce.com’s Spring 2011 release. More than 1.2 million people in the business community refresh that information continuously; in turn, up-to-the-minute data and contacts are always right at your fingertips.

High-Quality Leads – Instead of throwing away a lot of time and effort on leads that never would have gone anywhere, you can turn to Jigsaw for leads that pack a real wallop. These pinpointed leads aren’t just effective – they are also exceptionally accurate. Why waste your time with contact data that is woefully out of date, when the Spring ’11 release of Salesforce.com puts topnotch information in the palm of your hand?

Real-Time Data Change Notifications – Find out immediately whenever a contact’s information changes through Jigsaw’s real-time data change notifications. You’ll never waste your time with outdated phone numbers, email addresses and other contact information again when you start relying on Salesforce.com’s exciting Jigsaw feature.

Automatic Data Cleansing – Nothing is more frustrating than dealing with hundreds of old, useless records. Jigsaw automatically cleans out obsolete data so that you can keep plugging along in a productive and efficient way. You are sure to appreciate this automated feature, which requires no special effort on your part.

Complete, New Contacts within Salesforce.com – The best aspect of Jigsaw is the fact that all of this fresh, up-to-date information is pushed into Salesforce.com automatically. There is no legwork involved whatsoever. Everyone in your organization is sure to benefit from this important feature.

Jigsaw brings even more efficiency and usefulness to the table for Salesforce.com users. By updating to the Spring ’11 release, you can get your hands on this innovative new feature that is sure to enhance the way in which you do business. Most importantly, you will enjoy an even sharper competitive edge than ever.

New Spring 2011 Salesforce.com Features – Chatter

Since its debut, Chatter has been a wildly popular part of the Salesforce.com lineup. For the Spring 2011 release, Chatter gets even better. The incorporation of many well-known social networking features allows users to jump right in on the action without missing a beat. A handful of the most enticing features of Chatter for the Spring ’11 release are outlined below.

Unique New Ways to Communicate – Chatter for the Spring ’11 release of Salesforce.com includes features like @ mentions, which allow you to shoot quick replies to others. Private file sharing is also available. Email replies are also included so that you can take the conversation out of the stream, if necessary.

Trending Topics – Discover what topics are popular in your organization by making use of this exciting new feature. It’s a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on in your world.

My #Topics – Keep tabs on which topics are used the most by you and your team members with this innovative new Chatter feature. It works in a similar way as the Trending Topics feature, but its focused on the broader topics that matter to you and your organization.

”Like” Posts – It’s all too easy to let important topics fall through the cracks. The latest release of Salesforce.com allows you to “like” posts in Chatter. Once you’ve “liked” a post, you are kept apprised of any updates that occur within it – all without having to scroll back through all of the same information again.

Chatter Desktop – Access Chatter via your computer’s desktop in the Spring ’11 release of Salesforce.com.

Chatter Invitations – Allow others to make use of Chatter for free with Chatter invitations. You can get more people in on the conversation with this exciting tool. In turn, you will be able to take in a lot more information from a greater variety of sources – even if they don’t have Chatter set up at their own organization.

File Versioning – Stay abreast of what is happening with various files – and make sure that you’re always using the latest version – with file versioning.

Chatter Mobile Enhancements – Make quick and easy use of Chatter from your mobile device, whether it’s an iPad, an iPhone or a BlackBerry. On-the-go information is always at your fingertips when you enable this topnotch feature.

Chatter for Salesforce.com is more robust and useful than ever. The Spring 2011 release has brought many remarkable features to the table. Anyone who is acquainted with services like Twitter will be able to jump right in on the latest improvements.

New Spring 2011 Salesforce.com Features – Force.com

Generating new and useful apps for your organization couldn’t be easier, thanks to Force.com. The Spring ’11 release brings many new integral features to the table. A few examples of the most useful features include:

Rest API – These days, it’s vital to be able to integrate apps with popular online apps like Google and Facebook. The Rest API feature in the latest release of Salesforce.com streamlines the process considerably. Now it’s a snap to take advantage of everything that Facebook, Google and other topnotch apps have to offer.

Google Chrome Browser Support – The growing popularity of the Google Chrome web browser means that more people are using it than ever. In the past, Force.com was incompatible with the browser. Happily, the Spring ’11 release eliminates this issue. You can now use Google Chrome with Force.com for optimal performance.

Mass User Licensing – Quit wasting your time issuing one license after another. The newest version of Force.com allows you to mass issue user licenses. This will clear up a lot of free time that can be used for more important tasks.

Customizable Error Messages – It’s now possible to create custom error messages for users. This is important, since generic error messages simply don’t convey the specific information that you may need to pass along. Customize and tweak your error messages so that they are as relevant as possible to your users.

Visual Workflow – This exciting new feature works by applying business logic to the custom apps that you create. As a result, they produce better and more noticeable results for your organization. They are easy to put to work, too.

Customer Success Console – Provide more direct support to your users with this unique new feature that rolls out with the Spring ’11 release of Force.com and Salesforce.com. They will benefit from more direct support; you will benefit by being able to implement necessary changes in a more focused and targeted way.

System Log Console Execution Summary – Quit being in the dark about what’s happening with your code. This topnotch new feature lets you check your code’s performance quickly and easily. Nip issues in the bud, before they have negative impacts on your business and your users.

Getting the most out of the custom apps that you create for your business has never been more intuitive or simple. Salesforce.com’s Spring ’11 release bolsters the incredible effectiveness of Force.com in ways that you are sure to appreciate.

The Bottom Line on the Spring ’11 Release of Salesforce.com

As you can see, the Spring 2011 release of Salesforce.com is jam-packed with innovative new enhancements and features that make running a business easier. If you thought that your existing version of Salesforce.com was helpful, you won’t believe the difference that the latest version makes. Productivity and efficiency go through the roof with the most recent release of Salesforce.com. Key enhancements and improvements to everything from Chatter to the Service Cloud are sure to improve your company’s chances of success.

In addition to enhancements and improvements to existing features, the latest release of Salesforce.com brings entirely new functionality to the table. Chatter is bolstered by popular social networking features; Jigsaw puts up-to-date contacts at your fingertips. Support for everything from Google Chrome to the iPad, iPod and BlackBerry devices make on-the-go business simpler than ever. Bring your company up to speed with the Spring 2011 release of Salesforce.com. Whether you make regular use of all of the new and improved features or just a select handful of them, you are sure to see some marked improvements on the way in which you do business in the cloud.

Companies who already use Salesforce.com are anxiously awaiting the release of the Winter ’11 edition of the top-selling CRM software. The latest incarnation of Salesforce.com is loaded with a bevy of new and enhanced features that are sure to increase the productivity and profitability of organizations of all sizes, shapes and scopes. From a host of new customization options that will make developers smile, to streamlined features that will make sales reps’ jobs easier, the Winter ’11 release of Salesforce.com truly ups the ante across the board. The following overview will give you a basic introduction to the salesforce.com Platform newest and most exciting features.

Exciting Updates for Chatter

The biggest news about the Winter ’11 release of Salesforce.com revolves around Chatter. Chatter is a streamlined collaboration tool that makes it easier for everyone in an organization to work together. It’s already been a huge success for the Salesforce.com lineup, but the Winter ’11 release promises to make Chatter even more robust and useful. The vast majority of the major updates for Salesforce.com involve Chatter in one way or another. Clearly, companies have been asking for these updates; SFDC has delivered. You can get an idea for what these updates include by reading on below.

Chatter Filters – When a lot of information is flying at you all at once, sorting through it all – and making sense of it – can be daunting. Happily, the Winter ’11 release of Salesforce.com includes Chatter Filters. This feature can be used to short through your feed in a quick and easy way. You’ll be able to make faster use of the information that streams in – and you’ll be able to sort the important data from the not-so-important data. In the end, you’ll get up to speed without wasting a whole lot of precious time.

Chatter Files – The Winter ’11 release of Salesforce.com now includes Chatter Files. Essentially, this is a single location in which files can be shared, stored and updated. Scrambling around for various files will now be a thing of the past, thanks to this innovative feature.

Chatter Topics – If you’ve used services like Twitter before, you’re already well acquainted with the concept of the hashtag. Chatter Topics lets you use hashtags to help share and sort important information with others. For instance, you can add a hashtag that says #Q3 to denote information that pertains to the third quarter of the year. Hashtags are remarkably versatile to use; you’re sure to get a lot out of them.

Chatter Search – Like many people, you’ve probably become spoiled by how easy Google makes searching. Now, Chatter comes with Chatter Search, which allows you to zero in on the info that you need, when you need it. The longer it takes you to find what you need, the less productive you are. Your productivity will soar when you get on board with Chatter Search.

Chatter Analytics – For the Winter ’11 release, Salesforce.com now includes Chatter Analytics. It’s just one more way to make sense of the data that you’re constantly relying on in your day-to-day work. Spotting trends is a whole lot easier when you make use of Chatter Analytics; you can also make sense of how your organization is using chatter by putting this robust tool to work. Ultimately, Chatter Analytics will help you be a smarter, more strategic company.

Chatter Desktop – Having to open and close a browser just to check for updates can be very aggravating. That problem is eliminated, though, thanks to the newest version of Salesforce.com’s Chatter Desktop feature. This useful feature allows you to see what’s going on without having to open up a browser. You can also be alerted to new updates and other important things through this highly intuitive and streamlined feature.

Chatter Email Digest – As busy as you are, having to go through each email on a one-by-one basis can really slow you down. The latest version of Salesforce.com allows you to make use of Chatter Email Digests. You dictate when they arrive, then use them to enjoy at-a-glance summarizations of the day’s most important emails.

Mobile Updates for Salesforce.com’s Winter ’11 Release

Mobile devices are taking the world by storm. In order to stay competitive, it’s critical to be on board with today’s most popular mobile devices. The Winter ’11 release of Salesforce.com includes important updates for iPhones and the BlackBerry. You’ll now be able to update your status, upload photos and perform other tasks right through your mobile device. Better still, there’s now functionality for the iPad, which many business professionals have turned to since its release early in 2010.

Additional Features

The preceding updates are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Winter ’11 release of SFDC. Consider these extra benefits:

Salesforce for Outlook – Finally, Outlook can be fully integrated with Salesforce.com. Emails, contacts and calendar entries can be synched with the click of a mouse button. Life just got a whole lot simpler.

Quotes Template Editor – Creating and maintaining a fully customized operation is great. Thanks to the new Quotes Template Editor, it’s easier than ever to do so. You can add your company logo, custom fields and other important things to the quotes that you generate. The quote system itself can be completely customized so that it suits your company’s needs to a tee.

Real-Time Report Builder – Nobody likes toiling away at reports for hours on end. Salesforce.com’s new Real-Time Report Builder helps you cut to the chase in a remarkably short period of time. As you create your report, you’ll be able to make use of a real-time preview of it. That way, you don’t end up wasting a lot of time only to find out that your report isn’t what you wanted. In terms of time savings, you just can’t do much better than that!

Article Detail API – Make the most out of articles by sorting them based on number of views and vote counts. You can keep your finger on the pulse of what matters the most by making use of this exciting, new-for-Winter-2011 feature. It’s another way that the latest version of Salesforce.com ups the ante, helping you keep your company as competitive and sharp as possible.

Drag/Drop Dashboard – The dashboard of your Salesforce.com interface is vastly important. Shouldn’t it be completely customizable, too? It always has been, but now it’s easier than ever to make it exactly the way that you want it to be. Just drag and drop various components to arrive at the configuration that is right for you and your employees. As your company’s needs change, just perform quick updates to your dashboard – it’s so easy to do that you could tweak it anytime you want!

In addition to the preceding features, there are plenty of goodies for developers included in the Winter ’11 release of Salesforce.com. They’ll have an easier time than ever making Salesforce.com address your company’s individual needs. There’s never been a more robust or useful version of Salesforce.com before; everyone from sales reps to high-level CEOs can reap incredible rewards by putting this intuitive program to work for them. The days of puzzling over complicated programs are long gone. Cutting-edge companies know that good CRM is essential – and Salesforce.com is the gold standard when it comes to CRM. From top to bottom, the Winter ’11 release is a sure winner.

Make the Upgrade

If there’s one constant in the world of technology and business, it’s change. Innovations never stop cropping up; there’s always some new and exciting feature in the pipeline. The companies that stay ahead of their competition are the ones who embrace new technology wholeheartedly and enthusiastically. Salesforce.com has always been the gold standard for topnotch CRM. With each new version, many improvements and enhancements make the experience more useful than ever. The Winter ’11 release of Salesforce.com is no exception.

You can be sure of the fact that every company who’s serious about staying competitive will be upgrading to the latest release of Salesforce.com. Don’t get left in the dust! There’s sure to be plenty of features that will improve your company’s experience. From enhancing the productivity of your sales reps to making your developers’ jobs easier, Salesforce.com is always a worthwhile investment. With each new release, more and more intuitive and efficient features are injected into the already-robust CRM tool.

The sooner you make the upgrade, the better. The new features of the Winter ’11 release are seamlessly integrated into Salesforce.com. Your employees already know how to use Salesforce; making the upgrade will be a snap. Give your employees every opportunity to truly excel and shine in their roles within your organization. Make the upgrade to the latest version of Salesforce.com as soon as you can. The small amount of money that you spend initially will be paid back to you in spades down the road. In terms of return on investment, you can’t do better than the topnotch, high-quality features of Salesforce.com.

In today’s competitive business world, salesforce.com offers the simplest, most streamlined – and most effective – cloud computing and CRM solutions around. Technology is constantly changing; companies’ needs always are, too. Luckily, salesforce.com recognizes that and is continually working to provide new, cutting-edge solutions and features to its lineup. One of the latest advances that it has brought to the table is the Visual Process Manager. Whether you’re already using salesforce.com – or if you’ve been thinking about it, but are on the fence – the Visual Process Manager is something that might just convince you to give salesforce.com a chance.

What is the Visual Process Manager?

Put simply, the Visual Process Manager allows you to sketch out the business processes that you need – and deploy them to the cloud – without using a stitch of code, infrastructure or software. Whether the process that you’re working with is simple or complex, the Visual Process Manager lets you integrate it into the cloud seamlessly and effectively. By automating business processes with the Visual Process Manager, you can enhance your cloud computing experience and create a more efficient, cohesive business model. In turn, your company’s goals will be met more consistently and strategically.

If you have a business process that needs automation, the Visual Process Manager should be able to help. Already, hundreds of companies are using it to automate popular processes such as:

Sales Quotes – Whether your company is sprawling or small, the sales quotes that it generates should be consistent and useful. With the Visual Process Manager, there’s finally a way to create sales quotes that are the same across the board. You’ll no longer have to worry about conflicting information or other issues cropping up – and your reps will be more productive, too.

Call Center Scripting – When a customer calls your company for help, he shouldn’t have to worry about reaching somebody who can provide it. Regardless of who takes his call, he should be able to access the information and assistance that he needs quickly and easily. The Visual Process Manager makes it easy to put effective call center scripting to work, ensuring that every single one of your reps is armed with the information and strategies that they need to provide topnotch customer service.

New Employee Training – Bringing a new employee up to speed as quickly and efficiently as possible is critical. New employees can flounder if they aren’t given the proper tools and training. Coming up with a streamlined way to train new employees is critical, and the Visual Process Manager can make that happen. Whether it’s through the Process Simulator or another component of the Visual Process Manager, your new employees will learn the ropes more quickly and easily.

How the Visual Process Manager Works

Now that you have an inkling about the possibilities that the Visual Process Manager brings to the table, you’re probably wondering how it all works. The key thing to keep in mind is that, like any other salesforce.com feature, the Visual Process Manager is intuitive and easy to use. It takes the usually complex undertaking of designing and implementing processes and makes it quick, easy and painless. By understanding the basic components of the Visual Process Manager, you can get a better idea for how it works altogether.

Process Designer

The first step in working with the Visual Process Manager involves using the Process Designer. With this component, you create the apps that you need through a series of questions, choices and forms. You can also make use of approval processes, decision trees and task assignments. With these pieces, you create the basic design for whatever process you need. As you make use of each component, simply drag and drop it into the design diagram. Before moving forward, you’ll be able to see whether the process has the correct components.

Process Wizard Builder

Once your process has been put into effect and unleashed into the cloud, you’re going to want to bring everyone up to speed on it as quickly as possible. The Process Wizard Builder makes that easy to do. With it, you can create a wizard that walks end users through the business process in question. Instead of engaging in time-consuming training sessions and other cumbersome steps, simply create an easy-to-use – and easy-to-understand – wizard that will clarify how the process works. This feature will save your company a lot of additional time and effort, and it will make your employees more effective as well.

Process Simulator

Most people prefer to have a “hands-on” preview of the process that they are going to use. The Visual Process Manager’s Process Simulator makes that a snap. Customers and reps can sit down and run the simulator in order to have a clear idea about how the process you’ve designed works. That way, they can feel totally comfortable about it before actually deploying it. This is a simple, easy way to bring people on board and to market the processes that you develop through the Visual Process Manager.

Simple and Complex Process Development through Visual Process Manager

The Visual Process Manager allows you to create simple and complex processes with equal dexterity. For instance, once-off processes – like email alerts, automated quotes and data field updates – can be designed and deployed in seconds. At the same time, multiple-step processes can be mapped out and modeled on the Process Designer and put into effect without any trouble. Within an organization, the flexibility of salesforce.com’s Visual Process Manager makes it a cinch for everyone to streamline the processes that they use. At the same time, it provides exceptional scalability that appeals to large and small organizations alike.

Additional highlights of the Visual Process Manager include:

Approvals – If needed, the Visual Process Manager can create specialized workflows that are routed through a series of people. Each person can then approve or decline the process, ensuring the most impeccable quality. This is especially useful in situations where a single process is going to be used by multiple departments; each department is sure to have its own specific needs and concerns, and the approval process allows each one to be heard and considered.

Rules – Depending on the complexity and the specifics of the process that you are designing, the Visual Process Manager allows you to easily incorporate formulas and other rules into the process. That way, you can use such formulas and other rules to enforce the strictest standards possible; this also ensures that other processes within your organization aren’t derailed by poorly designed processes. Consistency and quality are, therefore, easier to maintain.

Alerts and Tasks – Teamwork is essential within any organization. Most processes will depend upon the participation of a number of different team members. Luckily, salesforce.com took this into account when designing the Visual Process Manager. Alerts and tasks are built right into the process, if needed, ensuring that the necessary input and participation are received. This enhances the teamwork and cohesiveness of the entire organization, which amps up productivity and efficiency, too.

Monitor and Queue – A process can’t be effectively designed and implemented if it’s sent out into the world with little consideration. The Visual Process Manager provides exceptional transparency, ensuring that important steps within a process don’t slip through the cracks. This is just one more safety net that can be used to guard against failed processes and other issues. It’s also a simple way to enforce time-based workflows.

Create, Deploy and Manage All Business Processes

The Visual Process Manager takes traditional process design and implementation and turns it on its head, making it easy and intuitive. The days of feeling your way around blindly while creating and implementing business processes are long gone. Best of all, it works seamlessly with the salesforce.com and force.com platforms. If you’re already using salesforce.com, you’re sure to appreciate the flexibility that the Visual Process Manager brings to the table. If you’re thinking about turning to salesforce.com, the Visual Process Manager is something that could tip the scales for you.

These days, there is no room for error when it comes to running a successful business. Your customer service, sales and other business processes must be impeccable and effective. Customers have plenty of options; if your organization isn’t up to par, they can easily move along to another one. The Visual Process Manager makes it easier to not only get a customer’s business, but to hold onto it.

When your business processes are streamlined and consistent, your entire organization is going to excel on a much higher level. Salesforce.com’s Visual Process Manager can mean the difference between so-so customer service and sales and exceptional customer service and sales. Your customers are sure to notice the difference once you’ve implemented the Visual Process Manager – and your employees will appreciate it, too. From top to bottom, your company is going to enjoy many practical benefits through the Visual Process Manager. Get on board with it today and sharpen your competitive edge.

New Features in Summer 2010 Salesforce.com Release
Existing Salesforce.com users are in for a treat Next week with Summer 10 release, as the 2010 release of the popular cloud computing software brings many new features to the table. Even if you don’t currently use SFDC, you are sure to be intrigued by what its latest incarnation has to offer. Below, a few of the most exciting new features are highlighted for your convenience.

Chatter Platform – One of the most highly anticipated developments in the newest version of Force.com and SFDC is the Chatter platform. This feature allows users to stay continually updated by others throughout their organization. Much like the popular “feeds” that are displayed on social networking sites like Facebook, Chatter will allow you to monitor and keep abreast of the most important information of the day. As changes and updates are made in various programs, everyone within your organization is informed about it. That way, everyone stays on the same page and the possibility of mix-ups and snafus is kept to an absolute minimum.

Patch Updates – Patch updates can now be performed automatically, allowing subscribers to enjoy uninterrupted service. This also makes life easier for developers, since the process is largely automated. This feature is available to ISV partners.

Enhanced Cookie Support – Cookies are an important part of running a topnotch website and online presence. The latest version of SFDC now offers enhanced cookie support and other exciting capabilities. Developers will now be able to access their cookies using Apex, which is sure to make life a whole lot easier.

Dynamic Dashboards – One feature that developers are especially going to like in the newest version of SFDC is dynamic dashboards. In the past, developers had to create cloned dashboards in many situations. Now, they can view information across an organization without all of that annoying legwork. In other words, what used to be a cumbersome process is now significantly easier.

Report Builder – The latest version of SFDC boasts an exceptionally easy-to-use Report Builder feature. With it, you can create incredibly complex reports with just a few clicks of the mouse button. Drag and drop the data that you want to assess in just a few quick seconds. All the while, you are kept constantly apprised as to how the report will look when it’s actually processed. That way, you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration.

There are many other prime benefits and advantages debuting in the latest version of Salesforce.com. Thanks to SFDC, an intuitive and simple cloud computing experience just keeps getting better and better.

Salesforce.com Summer ’10 (Sales & Service Clouds)

Salesforce.com Summer ’10 (Custom & Chatter Clouds)

VMForce: Java Meets Salesforce.com
When it comes to cloud computing, Java developers were out of luck for a very long time – if they wanted to integrate such programs with Salesforce CRM, that is. If you’ve been looking into the benefits of running Salesforce.com, but have been holding back due to its incompatibility with Java, there is some good news for you: VMForce finally bridges that gap. Finally, you can get in on the mobile app craze while enjoying all of the benefits of SFDC. Needless to say, this new feature is prompting a great deal of excitement in the world of Java development. The best part is that using it couldn’t be easier.

Deploy Java Apps into the Cloud with Ease

Companies whose businesses revolve heavily around Java-based applications have been holding back on making the switch to the cloud. Before VMForce, integrating Java applications with cloud computing was more trouble than it was worth. With VMForce, developers can do away with the cumbersome software stacks and hardware that made working with Java in the cloud such an ordeal. Already, developers around the world are excited about the great potential that VMForce brings to the table. Apps can be dragged and dropped into VMForce and put right to work.

Developing topnotch Java apps can be a very lucrative process. Imagine being able to get them out there that much sooner, without a whole lot of extra work. The sooner your apps go live, the sooner you can start to make decent money off of them. VMForce speeds up the process of developing an app and getting it out into the world. The lead time on generating a first-rate app is slashed by a considerable degree, and your organization starts making its profit that much sooner. Suddenly, Java development is even more lucrative than ever – and your company doesn’t have to invest in any extra equipment, software or hardware to make it happen.

Intuitive, Simple Interfaces

Even the most skilled and experienced developers would rather not contend with cluttered, confusing interfaces. Everybody loves a clean, intuitive look – and VMForce delivers that in spades. When using VMForce, there’s never any doubt about what goes where, or how to get tasks finished. Once you’re signed up, it’s as easy as logging in – there is no extensive training or learning curve involved. While VMForce can’t develop Java apps for you, it can handle the part that is so crucial to your enterprise: getting those apps live.

Your developers will appreciate the ease with which VMForce can be used. There are no confusing menus or fields to deal with when you use VMForce. Simply select the Java app that you want and drop it where it needs to go. Mobile, collaborative and analytical components can be added to any app within VMForce in a seamless, efficient way. In other words, you can tweak and improve upon your Java apps within the cloud. Once they’re ready to go, simply send them on their way – no annoying uploading or installing is necessary.

Incredible Support

One concern that many Java developers have revolves around the issue of support. Luckily, VMForce supports all of the most popular and useful types of Java code. Whether you use JSPs, Servlets, POJOs or Spring Framework, you can rest assured that moving within the cloud will be an absolute breeze. Keeping topnotch Java apps up-to-date and on the cutting edge will be easier than ever when everything is managed within the cloud. Your organization will benefit enormously from its ability to stay fresh and current – and it won’t have to spend an exorbitant amount of time or money to do so.

Impeccable Infrastructure

Nobody wants to deal with infrastructure that is poorly designed or ineffective, especially when it comes to information technology. Luckily, VMForce has been developed by Salesforce.com and VMware, two of the leaders in information technology. VMware is a leader in the world of technology virtualization; Salesforce.com brings sound, reliable cloud computing to millions of satisfied customers. The collaboration of these two IT giants ensures that VMForce is usable, trustworthy and versatile. All of the tools that Java developers need to integrate their apps into the cloud is right at their fingertips.

You Can Have It All

All too often, businesses are told that they have to pick and choose the different features and elements that they want when it comes to information technology. Luckily, Salesforce.com knows better, which is why they have partnered with VMware to produce the most useful Java enterprise cloud. If you think that you have to trade in efficient Java development when you make the switch to the cloud, think again – VMForce makes it possible to have your cake and eat it, too. There’s no longer any need to sacrifice quality for usability.

Salesforce.com bring a lot of exciting features to the table for today’s businesses. One feature that really has people talking is SFDC’s Knowledge Base. This product is designed to seamlessly integrate an ever-evolving and growing list of data for customer service reps, sales reps and just about anyone who needs instant access to pertinent information. Unlike in years past, SFDC’s Knowledge Base is constantly up-to-date; there is no worry of inadvertently supplying outdated information to customers, suppliers and others. In turn, your customer service reps will be more reliable and your customer satisfaction rate will soar. What does Knowledge Base have to offer? Check out the basics below.

Putting the Internet to Good Use – Many employers look at the Internet with concern, since they feel that it is nothing more than a distraction for their employees. SFDC’s Knowledge Base proves them wrong, though, since it pulls all of the most relevant information around and puts it right at sales reps’ fingertips. Why should your reps have to spend hour after hour searching for the right answer, when the Internet can harness all of that information for you? You can put the online world to work for you by plugging into SFDC’s Knowledge Base.

Provide 24/7 Support – The Internet never shuts down. If you have customers in multiple time zones, this is an especially convenient fact. Salesforce.com utilizes the power of the Internet to give your reps the answers they need, when they need them. There is no “down time” to deal with, and your reps will always be armed with the most current information. If anything, the Internet is growing larger and larger by the day. It’s not going anywhere, and the usefulness of SFDC’s Knowledge Base isn’t going anywhere, either.

Put Social Networks to Work for You – Social networking is often frowned upon by employers. However, it can be used for the forces of good, too. SFDC’s Knowledge Base is clear evidence of that fact, since it can incorporate elements from popular social networking sites to bring your customers the answers they need, when they need them. Knowing that your reps are out and about on social networking sites will bolster your company’s image, and Knowledge Base makes it very easy to do.

Continuously Involving – and Improving – Information – The information that is culled by SFDC’s Knowledge Base is never static. Instead, it is always growing and evolving. In turn, your reps can become more and more knowledgeable, too. Ultimately, your company will be able to provide streamlined and effective customer service each and every day. What’s not to love about that?

If you’re ready to bring your customer service strategy into the future, sign up with Salesforce.com today. Their Knowledge Base is sure to blow you away with its effectiveness and speed. Your reps are sure to thank you for it, too! At long last, knowledge management and CRM are joined together in harmony.

Chatter, the exciting new feature from Salesforce.com, stands to have a major impact on the way that customer service is conducted in the future. The new service, which seamlessly links social networking and other collaborative functions with traditional customer service tools, is sure to transform the way that companies handle customer concerns, inquiries and issues. What is it about Chatter that is so innovative? Many different components go into the program, which is why it is so well-rounded and useful. You can learn more about the main characteristics of Salesforce Chatter – and about a few pressing concerns – by reading on below.

Chatter and Knowledge Management

In the past, knowledge management relied on a series of cumbersome database programs. In order to share information between branches – or even between individual employees – a business had to invest huge sums of money in major software programs. Those programs required frequent updates, and tended to take up large amounts of valuable memory on local networks. Chatter’s knowledge management, however, exists in the cloud; wherever your employees may be, they’ll be able to access the information that they needed in an instant. In terms of passing information along, it couldn’t be easier.

Customers expect the reps that they speak with to understand their issues and concerns. Expecting your employees to remember what every customer needs is unrealistic and impossible. Clunky database programs used to provide an answer to this debacle, but they were far from perfect. After all, information changes in a heartbeat. Salesforce Chatter is always up-to-the-minute, allowing your reps to get their hands on updated information in seconds. In turn, your reps will be more informed and will be better able to serve your customers quickly and efficiently. The end result? Happy customers who will return again and again.

Social Networking, Knowledge Management and Chatter

Connecting with customers used to be difficult. In order to reach out to them, most companies used to send out newsletters or other slow types of correspondence. Even if you had the budget to handle a television advertising campaign, you weren’t opening up a line of communication with your customers. Salesforce Chatter truly does open up lines of communication between your reps and your customers, allowing them to bounce ideas off of one another – and work on concerns and disputes – in a flash. All the while, up-to-date knowledge management is always flowing.

Of course, Chatter is not without its detractors. There are people out there who are concerned that the open nature of the information that is accessed by reps who use Chatter could result in inferior or incorrect information being passed along. Indeed, it’s all too easy for strangers on the Internet to offer advice – even if it is totally incorrect. However, this problem should be mitigated by the fact that customer service reps will be highly trained enough to know bogus information when they see it. Between proper training and Salesforce Chatter, knowledge management should be streamlined and efficient.

Topnotch Customer Service in the Cloud

With Salesforce.com’s Chatter, you can finally enjoy truly first-rate customer service capabilities in the cloud. Many great benefits and advantages go along with that, and any concerns or problems that are being raised can be easily refuted. As long as it is used wisely by highly trained employees, this program is sure to have a very positive impact on the way that companies do business. If you are ready to kick your company’s customer service capabilities up a notch or two, it’s time that you considered Salesforce.com’s Chatter. Chances are, it will be one of the best moves you’ve ever made.

Chatter, the exciting new feature from Salesforce.com, stands to have a major impact on the way that customer service is conducted in the future. The new service, which seamlessly links social networking and other collaborative functions with traditional customer service tools, is sure to transform the way that companies handle customer concerns, inquiries and issues. What is it about Chatter that is so innovative? Many different components go into the program, which is why it is so well-rounded and useful. You can learn more about the main characteristics of Salesforce Chatter – and about a few pressing concerns – by reading on below.

Chatter and Knowledge Management

In the past, knowledge management relied on a series of cumbersome database programs. In order to share information between branches – or even between individual employees – a business had to invest huge sums of money in major software programs. Those programs required frequent updates, and tended to take up large amounts of valuable memory on local networks. Chatter’s knowledge management, however, exists in the cloud; wherever your employees may be, they’ll be able to access the information that they needed in an instant. In terms of passing information along, it couldn’t be easier.

Customers expect the reps that they speak with to understand their issues and concerns. Expecting your employees to remember what every customer needs is unrealistic and impossible. Clunky database programs used to provide an answer to this debacle, but they were far from perfect. After all, information changes in a heartbeat. Salesforce Chatter is always up-to-the-minute, allowing your reps to get their hands on updated information in seconds. In turn, your reps will be more informed and will be better able to serve your customers quickly and efficiently. The end result? Happy customers who will return again and again.

Social Networking, Knowledge Management and Chatter

Connecting with customers used to be difficult. In order to reach out to them, most companies used to send out newsletters or other slow types of correspondence. Even if you had the budget to handle a television advertising campaign, you weren’t opening up a line of communication with your customers. Salesforce Chatter truly does open up lines of communication between your reps and your customers, allowing them to bounce ideas off of one another – and work on concerns and disputes – in a flash. All the while, up-to-date knowledge management is always flowing.

Of course, Chatter is not without its detractors. There are people out there who are concerned that the open nature of the information that is accessed by reps who use Chatter could result in inferior or incorrect information being passed along. Indeed, it’s all too easy for strangers on the Internet to offer advice – even if it is totally incorrect. However, this problem should be mitigated by the fact that customer service reps will be highly trained enough to know bogus information when they see it. Between proper training and Salesforce Chatter, knowledge management should be streamlined and efficient.

Topnotch Customer Service in the Cloud

With Salesforce.com’s Chatter, you can finally enjoy truly first-rate customer service capabilities in the cloud. Many great benefits and advantages go along with that, and any concerns or problems that are being raised can be easily refuted. As long as it is used wisely by highly trained employees, this program is sure to have a very positive impact on the way that companies do business. If you are ready to kick your company’s customer service capabilities up a notch or two, it’s time that you considered Salesforce.com’s Chatter. Chances are, it will be one of the best moves you’ve ever made.

In order to provide topnotch customer service these days, your company has to have some sort of presence on the most popular social networking and social media websites. However, most businesses simply don’t have the resources to devote to making the most out of sites like Facebook and Twitter. Hiring someone to manage your social media presence for you is expensive and not very efficient; thanks to Salesforce.com’s Chatter tool, there’s a much better option. If you already use Salesforce.com, or are thinking about it, you need to know just how valuable its Chatter tool really is; check out key points below.

Connect with Your Target Audience – Like any successful business, you’d probably like to expand your customer base as much as possible; chances are, you’re continually striving to do so. The seamless integration of business with social media that Chatter provides makes it easy to let people around the Internet learn more about your products and services. A huge percentage of people are signed up with Twitter and Facebook; with SFDC, you can increase your odds of reaching out to them, without the need for special training or additional staff.

Handle Problems Before They Escalate – By monitoring all of the popular social media sites, SFDC’s Chatter tool helps you stay abreast of what people are saying about your company, and its products and services. At the first sign of trouble, your reps can use Chatter to communicate with people through these popular social networking sites. When they receive a quick and timely response, most people will feel a lot better about your organization. It’s a great way of showing that you care about your customers, and it’s an exceptional way to enhance your customer service capabilities. It’s just one more tool that you can use to be the best company you can be.

Enhance Your Customer Service Capabilities – In the past, customers only had a few ways to communicate with a business; with social media, they have yet another option at their disposal. By creating and maintaining a presence on the most popular social networking sites, you can stay on the cutting edge of new customer service tools. This will enhance your reputation and make others more likely to sign up with you. Advertising your presence on various social media sites is a great way to let your customers know that you’re receptive to their needs.

Are There Any Drawbacks?

Like any new form of technology, the merging of social media with business has raised concerns for some people. The biggest concern is that social media will simply add one more thing for busy reps and other employees to juggle. In other words, some people worry that social media integration may distract employees and make them less productive. The reality, however, is that a tool like SFDC’s Chatter is designed with running a business in mind; it is crafted to be useful for providing great customer care, not for entertainment purposes.

The bottom line is, SFDC’s Chatter tool is an exciting breakthrough that is sure to be highly beneficial to just about any business that uses it. If you’re interested in getting on the cutting edge, and would like to integrate social networking and social media into your current customer service or call center setup, then Chatter is well worth your consideration. The few concerns that have been raised are not very troublesome, and are unlikely to cause your organization any problems whatsoever. Arm your reps with as many tools as possible; sign up with Salesforce.com today and give them the power of Chatter.

SFDC’s Impact within the Call Center With Salesforce.com, or SFDC, call centers are transformed into incredibly efficient – and extremely useful – parts of an organization. SFDC’s many tools help streamline the process of running a call center, making it a truly interactive and intuitive experience. All of the best aspects of Web 2.0 are brought to bear on this unique new take on customer service, allowing all of your agents to be knowledgeable experts who get things done for their clients, in no time flat. Thanks to its integration with popular social networking sites, SFDC blows all of the competition away.

What are some of the best things that SFDC has to offer when it comes to call centers? They include:

With so many different social media and social networking platforms out there, how can you determine which is going to be the best one for your business strategy? Social media platforms have certainly exploded in terms of popularity, and this has created tough choices for many of the companies that need to find the best possible means of communicating in the public eye.

There are a number of different popular social media platforms to choose from, including MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and numerous others. With so many choices out there, it can be difficult to figure out which platform, or what combination of platforms is going to drive the best possible results for a business.

The thing that needs to be understood about these social media platforms is that each one serves a different purpose or a different niche, which is why so many have become popular throughout time. The key to understanding which social media platform is going to be the best possible platform for your business is to know two things:

1 – What strategy your business is trying to enact, or what goals it is striving to achieve,

2 – What social media platform best addresses that need or best serves the niche that you are attempting to reach out to,

For example, if you are looking for a way to build brand awareness and get to know your customers, then you may want to create a profile for your company on social networking websites like LinkedIn, MySpace and FaceBook. These websites allow you to build up a following, sharing blogs, photos, news information and messages with friends and other members of the site.

If you are looking for a way to build company and brand awareness while sharing news and other information about the company, or if you are looking for a way to start one on one conversations with past, present and future customers, you should look into a social media platform like Twitter. Twitter offers the ultimate in one on one conversation as well as public communication, allowing your profile to speak out to its followers or to communicate directly with individual users. Twitter is all about finding the right conversations and joining in.

The key to choosing the right platform for social media marketing, then, is to know what you want to get out of it. Once you know what it is that you hope to achieve in social media marketing, then that is when you can make the right platform selection. If you choose the wrong social media platform, you put your company in jeopardy of never quite getting the message out. The solution may simply be to try different platforms for social media until one is found that your company is comfortable with. There are plenty of conversations to participate in out there. Social media marketing is a great way to build brand awareness, get to know customers, communicate news and simply hold conversations all over the globe in one collaborative space.

The social media marketing game is changing the way that big brands mold the messages that they used to reach companies, and CRM is playing a crucial role in the whole process. Big brands are currently discovering a brand new way that they can mold messages to meet the needs of customers both personally and in a public way as well, and one example of this process involves a social media website called Twitter. Twitter makes it possible for businesses and companies to participate in one on one conversations with other users all over the globe, allowing these businesses and companies to completely transform their images.

The important thing to understand when it comes to the role that CRM can play in social media marketing is that websites like Twitter are designed to be social spaces rather than selling spaces. If you treat them as anything other than what they are, your attempt to share your company will backfire. Companies are making it possible to break new ground in how they are marketing themselves. Companies are hiring special social media experts to their teams so that they can man accounts on social networking and social media websites for this very purpose.

Customer relations management is a vitally important part of running any business, no matter how the company normally associates with its customers. By joining the community, and the conversation, as part of the social media marketing game, businesses can find new and innovative ways to get to know customers and potential customers, learning a lot about them and sharing of the company in the process. When used correctly, this method of marketing can be truly successful because it is not really marketing at all in the way that customers look at it. It’s simply a way to let customer and potential customers get to know you.

Even multi national companies are starting to turn to social media outlets for the purpose of increasing positive sentiment about the company, building a rapport with customers and even correcting information to build positively on the company’s image. Some of the companies that have entered into the social media world include Ford Motor Company, Coca Cola and Best Buy. The social media marketing game is making it easier than ever for businesses to emerge in their respective industries, building brand awareness and customer rapport in the process.

There is a serious power of conversation behind social media. Businesses that believe in it can harness that power to do good within their respective companies. Many large Fortune 500 companies are beginning to adopt these social media strategies, but smaller companies are doing the same and having a great amount of success in the process. These businesses can take advantage of social media marketing as a way to get to know their customers, get feedback, build new relationships and grow brand awareness just as easily as starting a conversation.

The Salesforce.com cloud computing platform is becoming increasingly useful for non profit organizations. There is a lot of speculation about the ways in which cloud computing platform from Salesforce.com can help non profit organizations and groups.

Salesforce.com happens to be one of the most popular Ondemand Application Platform , and it is gaining a lot of popularity among non profit organizations because there is a special nonprofit starter pack that Salesforce.com offers. Accessible from virtually any browser and customizable in a myriad of different ways, this special web-accessible, web-enabled database solution for cloud computing is quickly gaining a serious amount of popularity for good reason. What makes it even better for non profit organizations is that it is offered for no fee through what is known as the Salesforce.com foundation.

Salesforce.com offers a powerful tool in the nonprofit starter pack. It offers a et of customizations that are specifically designed to turn the salesforce.com CRM into something that supports some of the most common processes for a non profit business or organization. This starter pack consists of a myriad of custom objects, custom fields, custom reports, page layouts, workflow, Force.com code and also Visual Force pages. This starter pack intended for non profits is being made available as a collection of Managed Packages that anyone can install. When nonprofit groups sign up for Salesforce.com CRM assistance, they can choose to use the regular salesforce.com software, or the special nonprofit starter pack version, which basically means that the starter pack is pre-installed on their donated instance of the app.

The purpose of the Nonprofit Starter Pack offered by Salesforce.com is to help non profit organizations utilize Salesforce.com so that they can further their unique missions. This is a very flexible and user friendly platform, that makes it truly powerful when it comes to helping an organization manage everything that it needs to manage. Because Salesforce.com is so flexible right out of the box, it can seem a little bit too much like a completely blank slate for people that are brand new to using it. The purpose of the nonprofit starter pack is to fill that blank slate in with a setup and configuration that already addresses many of the group’s key business practices and processes.

Although every nonprofit is unique, this starter pack, coupled with Salesforce.com software has been built to support many of the most common business practices and processes along a very large group of different non profit organizations. It aims to support a wide number of different business and non profit processes that are needed in order to handle the CRM aspect of managing an organization. It supports the tracking of organizations and individuals, the grouping of people within a common household, tracking of donations that are pledged over a period of time, tracks key relationships between different individuals and supports tracking of relationships between organizations and people as well.

The recent Salesforce.com and Adobe alliance has made it possible for businesses to leverage the power of Force.com in conjunction with Adobe. There are new plenty of new possibilities that have been made available in the realm of cloud computing. The Adobe Flash Builder is going to help Force.com change the offerings included in its platform, and this alliance is also going to make it possible for enterprise applications to become easier not only to develop but to use as well.

This alliance is bringing about a brand new offering that combines the Force.com platform’s power with the ubiquity and the richness of the Adobe platform in order to enable an all new generation of rich internet applications or RIAs that are cloud based in nature. This brand new office, which is known as Adobe Flash Builder for Force.com is integrating these two platforms together in order to bring the richness behind consumer Web to the enterprise cloud applications so that a brand new and significantly improved level of productivity by developers can be enabled and maintained.

Both Adobe and SalesForce.com clearly share a common vision when it comes to the acceleration of developer success with the use of cloud computing. By bringing Adobe Flash together with Force.com, it is becoming more possible to create new types of business applications capable of running in the cloud and they will be easier than ever to use in the consumer web.

Adobe’s Flash Builder for Force.com is going to empower developers from the cloud to the client by allowing them to build applications that will work in the same way that people do. It will make it possible for intuitive and interactive UI or User Interface features to be added including drag and drop, increasing user acceptance, improving upon productivity and reducing help desk requirements. It will incorporate in advanced visualizations for data including dashboards and charts which will provide a greater level of decision support.

Adobe’s Flash Builder for Force.com will make it possible to turn multiple step process applications into single screen experiences in order to build upon efficiency as well as usability. Adobe’s Flash Builder for Force.com will also provide client side integration on a light weight basis in order to unify the experiences of users all across systems both inside and outside of firewalls into single applications for greater business visibility.

This is a solution that is also going to empower developers with the flexibility that they need to scale applications so that they can apply to a wide variety of different businesses. This includes building applications that support desktop and browser deployment, adding rich user interface elements to SalesForce and Force.com applications that already exist, and creating new components for applications that are specifically tailored to certain job functions and use cases so that they can be integrated into already existing applications.

This combination of Adobe Flash and Force.com technologies is completely changing the speed at which developers can create excellent content for clients and their business applications.

The term “applications in the cloud” may sound esoteric because it is not commonly used in a single breath like many other contemporary technological trends, but you’ll be surprised to know that you’ve been using such applications for a few years now. Do GoogleDocs, Zoho, SalesForce or ThinkFree ring a bell? Yes, all these applications are hosted in the cloud.

Most of the applications, especially GoogleDocs, SalesForce and Zoho, have almost become mainstream applications and they are hosted remotely. You just need a contemporary browser to use these applications. For bigger organizations and big or small businesses using cloud-based applications means big savings in terms of money, and effort required to run such applications locally and for common users it simply means an ability to access their documents and data from wherever connectivity is available.

These applications are gradually eliminating need to install and maintain advanced software and hardware configurations locally.

The main problem faced by applications in the cloud is erratic connectivity in some parts of the world, and once this hurdle is crossed these applications will easily take over the mainstream applications.
Despite being a relatively newer technological development, applications in the cloud are gaining popularity in major business area. Some of them are:

• Online office applications: GoogleDocs and Zoho enable authors, writers and journalists to collaborate on documents from all over the world. Since all the documents and the word processing applications are hosted in the cloud they can be accessed and shared by whoever has Internet access. Other cloud-based online office applications include SlideRocket, ThinkFree, Pxlr and Zoho Tools.

• Online project management applications: Prominent examples of online project management applications that are hosted in the cloud are BaseCamp, Clarizen and Redmine. They all let their users share data and different modules (based on access levels) from remote locations and as it happens with all major cloud-based applications you just need a decent browser to access and use them.

• CRM and human resource applications: Customer relationship management applications like SalesForce, Employease, SugarCRM (it can be installed on a cloud as well as locally) and IBM BlueHouse have been almost leading the wave of cloud computing because they totally cater to the nature of work involved. Sales people are constantly traveling and they need to update details using handheld devices and remotely connected computers and even while working on different leads they need to access critical data and generate reports.

As the need to cut costs and find more environment friendly ways of doing business gain more ground more and more organizations and individuals will adopt models that will involve cloud-based applications.

Have you ever used car pooling? I sometimes do and I believe that I am helping to keep the country green and reduce my carbon -footprint. The idea is simple – resource pooling. The cost and benefits are evenly shared amongst all the users. I have always been a proponent of simplicity and I definitely like the concept.
In the world of business resource pooling is not something new. From the very beginning, when mainframes were costly, companies willing shared and pooled mainframe resources to save capital cost and covert capital expenditure into operating expenditure. This concept slowly faded with the advent of web technologies and the idea of using in-house IT systems and application to gain competitive advantage. This required upfront investment in resources – men (Software Developers, Hardware experts, Configuration Managers, etc), money and material (Servers, Databases, etc) to develop and maintain IT applications. But, amidst today inclement economic weather, CIOs are finding it ever more difficult to find capital. Cloud Computing can be the answer.
Financially, Cloud Computing has two distinct advantages:
1) Pay-as-you go: As an organization you do not have to invest in capital upfront, this can be converted into monthly operation cost. Services and resources can be hired and rented from services providers and vendors.

2) Dynamic Scaling: As required resources can scaled and accordingly the cost. One of the several advantages is that services and features can be upgraded or downgraded dependent upon the need of the business at the time.
There are associated risks and issues that we have to be aware of
1) Undefined SLAs: Before entering into any contract, it is extremely important to clearly define the Service Level Agreements. Any ambiguity or assumptions in the SLAs can result in serious consequences in business operations.

2) Availability of Services: I am sure many of you are aware of the recent outrage faced by Google. Similar outrages will be disastrous for any company reputation, be it for the provider of the services or the user of the services.

3) Vendor locking in: This can be a serious issue if not properly managed. Remember to clearly chalk out the exit criteria.

I am sure Cloud Computing can be the answer for many ‘cash’ problems if understood and used clearly.

Cloud computing is currently being perceived as a big thing for businesses on the internet. Everybody appears to be looking forward in an attempt to move their data toward cloud computing. But what is going to happen after the cloud? More specifically, what’s next after cloud computing?

The concept of Cloud Computing focuses on being able to provide user access to services, storage and applications without needing to reveal any of the underlying science and technology that makes the elements work.

Cloud computing has already existed for quite some time now, but many people are just now beginning to realize its full power and potential thanks to the improving of speed in computers and the internet. Cloud computing allows businesses and organizations to store their applications and data in a way that they can access them from absolutely anywhere. Some cloud computing applications are capable of being extremely reliable and secure, making it a nice option for many businesses.

Cloud computing makes it possible for online applications to interact with other applications and websites. Cloud computing has made it possible to interact on the internet without having to install certain applications on your computer, negating the need for software and hardware updates and making it simpler to access information and data online. Just as you can access an e-mail account from virtually any computer with an internet connection, it is quickly becoming possible to access a myriad of other types of data and information in the same way. There are many examples of what cloud computing is attempting to achieve, such as Google Apps and Google Docs, Amazon Turks, YouTube, Flickr and other web based applications and storage systems for example.

There is a lot of information moving around on the internet. There are purported to be more than 5 billion users on the internet today, and with so many people online, there has never been more information available at our fingertips. With so much information moving around, now is as good a time as any to begin to work with more capable information systems, and cloud computing is making this happen. By making it possible for different web technologies to communicate with one another, a business can easily take all of its important information and communication to the web for easier accessibility, better security and increased usability. The improvements in accessibility and usability that cloud computing is achieving are making the internet simpler to use both for businesses online and their customers as well.

Cloud computing technology may have been around for a while now, but we are only beginning to realize its full potential. Right now, cloud computing is the future of the internet, and the future of technology collaboration for many businesses. The future is currently in our hands, and it will be interesting to see what can be done by leveraging the power of cloud computing to improve business on the internet.

On Monday, Salesforce.com and Cisco Systems made an announcement that they would be offering a service uniting the on-demand software for customer service from Salesforce.com with the unified communications technology from Cisco to support small and medium sized businesses.

This offering, this Customer Interaction Cloud, is designed to be aimed at businesses that have between 30 and 300 call center agents or sales representatives. One of the main motivating forces in this partnership is to create a complete contact center rooted in cloud computing, which is a concept that is gaining serious popularity as of late. E-mail interactions and phone interactions within traditional business call centers may still be on the rise, but as many as 50 percent of all customers are now turning to a variety of social media technologies in order to find the answers that they seek.

This offering is tying together the Service Cloud 2 from Salesforce.com with the Unified Contact Center from Cisco. It will be made available on a general basis during the first quarter during next year, 2010, and it will be sold by both of these companies, at least according to a recent statement. Pricing information for this offering was not immediately made available.

The partnership between Cisco and Salesforce.com is designed to bring a Customer Collaboration vision to market, allowing the partnership to deliver a complete and total contact center in the cloud computing concept through combining the Service Cloud by Salesforce.com with the Unified Contact Center solutions offered by Cisco Networks.

The Customer Collaboration is compelling, revolutionary and groundbreaking. It is providing clear choices and options for companies that want to cater to the exploding numbers of people using social media to find the answers that they seek online rather than phoning up traditional customer service call centers.

This new partnership is really just the most recent move by Salesforce.com in expanding its unique technology footprint through the forming of partnerships rather than through development internally. Last week, Salesforce.com partnered up alongside Unit 4 Agresso in order to form a new website, FinancialForce.com, which is a brand new financials software company rooted in SaaS, which is Software as a Service.

Also during the statement on Monday, Salesforce.com made an announcement about an up and coming five minute upgrade, which is an option that would be made available for the Service Cloud. What it means is that customers are going to receive access to an application on a read only basis during certain scheduled maintenance windows, except for a specific five minute period of time known as a cut over time. This is being made possible by the mirrored data centers provided by Salesforce.com, according to the statement that the company made.

This is an option that is going to set a brand new standard for providing on demand software, according to the statement made by Salesforce.com.

The CEO of Salesforce.com, Marc Benioff, is likely going to discuss these announcements in much greater detail during a presentation during an upcoming DreamForce event in New York.

I do not think that you can blame technology anymore for the failure of IT projects. Technology has made rapid advancement since the very first time it became associated with business processes. The power of computing, the speed of internet and customer experience of technology has improved manifold. The superiority of technology capability to deliver value is improving even as I write this blog. Then what or who should be blamed?

There are essentially two important ingredients (if I may call it so) necessary to build a ‘commercially successful’ IT system or application – first ‘Technology’ and second ‘Economic Rationale’. Let me try and explain each of the ingredients in details.

Technology is the ‘real’ necessary ingredient (Both Hardware and software). You can draw parallels with your cooking utensils and the food to be cooked. Without technology you cannot imagine IT. Technology has evolved and changed over the years. From simple ledger keeping system technology can now understand react to human behaviour. The computing power, the speed of internet and the processing capability of chips have increased and improved manifold.

Now lets us talk about the next ingredient – ‘Economic Rationale’. IT applications like any other goods and services are governed by the Law of Supply and Demand. Therefore, before we start to develop an IT system we got to understand the need or the demand of the IT application. This is a ‘compulsory’ ingredient but often found missing.

A decade ago many IT projects failed because of technology issues; latency issues, hardware failure, poor customer experience or even availability of the application at places where or times when required. Therefore, earlier you could blame it on technology and many did even if technology had no hand in it. What about the second ingredient? It definitely did matter. In the early 1990s IT was consider essential to gain competitive advantage over rivals. Organisations invested millions in developing IT applications that streamlined business processes, reduced operational cost and allowed faster time to market. IT brought in many benefits and companies were quick to cash on IT. IT professionals and companies soaked themselves in millions and banks invested in anything that was .com. This created another problem and many know about the dotcom burst.

Now times are different. The capability of technology to deliver and generate value has increased tremendously. But, unfortunately this has led to other problems, technologist in their effort to prove their worth embedded solutions and functions that were not needed or asked for in the scope of the project. This proved to be a disaster. Many projects failed miserably because it failed to deliver what was asked for but instead provided ‘excitement’ functionality that was unnecessary. IT project managers failed to understand that IT too is governed by demand of feature. Consumers did not appreciate the extra bells and whistles. (I hope you appreciate the Google webpage because of its simplicity). Consumers need simple solution that solved their problem. Therefore, I believe that now IT projects fail because of failure to understand ‘Economics of IT application’.

Although the term was first coined back between 2000 and 2001, SaaS – which stands for Software as a Service – has only truly come into its own in more recent years. Original incarnations of this form of software deployment were greeted with enthusiasm by many customers, but fell far short of realizing their true potential. In the meantime, the Web 2.0 revolution has occurred, further changing the game and raising customer demands considerably. Today, SaaS has reached a point where it can offer truly amazing benefits to companies of all shapes and sizes – and has become affordable enough for more companies to participate in than ever before. In order to see how SaaS has gone from point A to point B, it is necessary to take a look at its evolution in a more in-depth way; but first, it is necessary to have a firm grasp of what it is and all that it entails.

What Is SaaS?

Software as a service is an application that is hosted on remote servers and accessed through the Internet. Rather than having to install multiple copies of the same expensive software on every employee’s computer, an organization can sign up for SaaS solutions that are paid for on a recurring basis. By doing this, the organization can avoid the hassle of having to continuously update many forms of software, and can reduce the amount of time that it spends applying patches and other maintenance to that software. In addition, SaaS largely eliminates the problem of maintaining costly EULAs (End User License Agreements) for a large percentage of the applications and software that are relied upon by a company’s employees.

By implementing SaaS solutions, an organization can cut many of its information technology expenditures considerably. Many forms of commercially available software have been introduced by SaaS providers; for a monthly fee, for instance, an organizaton and its employees can gain regular access to these applications through the Internet without ever installing the actual software on their computer hard drives. At the same time, SaaS can be configured to allow individuals within a company to collaborate on projects and other important functions on the same platform in a virtual way. Software updates for SaaS applications are handled remotely and are no longer the responsibility of a company’s IT department.

The SaaS Evolution Defined

The concept of evolution is an important one; it refers to the “survival of the fittest,” and creates an environment where continual improvement is the consistent goal. The evolution of SaaS has been no exception to these concepts, and has benefited enormously from them. Interestingly, although original inceptions of SaaS were greeted with enthusiasm and excitement by many business owners, they fell short in many key ways. The promise of SaaS as it was originally introduced failed to live up to the big dreams that many held for it on the onset, and the benefits that it provided – while exceptional – were limited almost immediately by practical concerns. The SaaS evolution is the process by which this form of software deployment has matured over time – and it continues on to this day. By definition, evolution is a never-ending process; as evidenced by the distinct phases undergone by SaaS, evolution continually hones and perfects a concept, while weeding out inferior models.

The Phases Of The SaaS Evolution

Defining the precise phases of the SaaS evolution is hardly cut and dry; many different changes have occurred over time – many simultaneously and overlapping – making analysis difficult. However, four general phases can be discerned from the time that SaaS was originally conceived all the way through to the present day – and into the future. As outlined below, these phases in the evolution of SaaS have taken it from an infancy marked by immediate but restricted benefits, through a more robust and functional adolescence into a maturity marked by increased customization. Many people believe that the true “golden years” of SaaS are yet to come, and that its potential is only just being tapped into in earnest.

Phase One Of The SaaS Evolution: Inception

During its initial inception and original incarnations, SaaS immediately allowed those implementing it to reduce their costs and increase the return on investment of their information technology processes. The quick realization of these benefits made SaaS skyrocket in popularity right off the bat; where it once made up approximately eight percent of all software, it was expected to include thirty percent of all software by 2009. However, those immediate benefits that organizations enjoyed when implementing and using SaaS were also quickly hampered by a lack of automation and customization; companies could tap into applications remotely, but could not easily customize them to enhance their benefits.

Phase Two of The SaaS Evolution: Increased Functionality

Convinced that they were off to a powerful and promising start, SaaS providers began working on and developing ways to enhance the experience for organizations that chose to implement it. The clamor for a more intuitive, customizable experience was intense, and SaaS began to meet those demands more and more. Where original examples of SaaS allowed users remote access to the same programs they’d always used, this new phase in the evolution of SaaS made it more adaptable on a business-by-business basis. Within an organization, users could now enjoy broader solutions to their software needs. When a particular type of software didn’t meet an organizations needs, it no longer needed to add a whole new kind of software in response; rather, it could customize the existing software and make it work in a more effective way.

Phases Three and Four Of The SaaS Evolution: Collaboration Among Organizations

The third and fourth phases of the SaaS evolution represent current conditions and the expected future of the platform. Rather than simply allowing an organization and its employees to work together on projects within the business itself, new incarnations of SaaS are increasingly allowing collaboration between separate organizations within an industry – and beyond. This is streamlining process improvement for many companies, and the spirit of collaboration fosters a spirit of continual improvement unlike any other phase of the SaaS evolution. Going forward, SaaS and CRM products that fail to provide these types of services will be weeded out, and SaaS will continue to become more sophisticated and beneficial for companies of all sizes.

SaaS: Customized and Intuitive Solutions For All

As SaaS continues its evolution, more and more companies will be able to run it. Where SaaS was once reserved for businesses with a certain budget, it is increasingly becoming realistic for a much wider variety of companies to enjoy. Applications and software that once cost an organization tens of thousands of dollars every year now cost only a couple of hundred in many cases – all thanks to the intuitive solutions offered by SaaS. There is little doubt that this evolution will continue on, and that innovations and improvements to the products provided by SaaS companies will become more and more customizable and beneficial to the organizations who choose to implement them. Where creating custom applications to run on SaaS platforms like Salesforce.com once required highly trained – and highly paid – IT personnel, creating them will become cheaper and easier as time moves on. A truly customized, specially designed software solution will one day be within the reach of virtually any sized business – and the promise of SaaS will be realized in ways never dreamed possible.

Custom Cloud: The Force.com Platform

Cloud computing has become the preferred environment for many successful businesses – and in the world of cloud computing, no one enjoys a better reputation than Salesforce CRM. Businesses who want to take their cloud computing and Salesforce CRM to the next level can create custom applications built around their individual needs by using the powerful tools and application services of Force.com. If you are looking for a true Custom Cloud experience, you should look no further than Force.com. Developers, IT personnel, CRM administrators and many others within your organization can benefit from the many key advantages that Force.com has to offer. More than 100,000 business applications already run on Force.com – why shouldn’t yours be one of them?

What Is Cloud Computing And Salesforce CRM?

To understand what Force.com is and what it has to offer, you must first know a little about cloud computing, PaaS (Platform as a Service), and its gold standard – Salesforce.com. Cloud computing refers to running business applications and software “in the cloud” – i.e., over the Internet. Rather than having to maintain multiple editions and copies of expensive software on computers throughout an organization, you can use the pay-as-you-go services offered by Salesforce CRM to gain access to those applications. The software that is accessed via cloud computing and Salesforce.com is kept up to date, eliminating the need to run extensive and continuous patches. Your organization can reduce costs and become more efficient by implementing Salesforce CRM.

Within Salesforce CRM and cloud computing in general, many businesses found that existing applications do not meet their specific needs; that is where Force.com steps in. With Force.com, your organization can develop and implement its own, customized software and run it on the powerful Salesforce.com platform. No matter what kinds of solutions your business requires, they can be developed through the creation of customized applications on Force.com. Force.com takes cloud computing to a whole new level, making it a more powerful way than ever before for organizations to maximize the advantages of Salesforce CRM.

Application Development In The Custom Cloud

Force.com largely reduces the need to keep a large information technology staff on hand strictly for developing and maintaining custom applications. Its intuitive interface allows you to create business applications at the click of a button. People within your organization can easily develop apps that will provide major power and produce incredible benefits for your company via the Force.com platform. In addition, you can tap into the Force.com AppExchange marketplace to promote your user-created applications – and explore the creations of other developers.

By using Force.com to develop applications for use with Salesforce CRM, you can free up a great percentage of your personnel to work on more important and strategic matters. The applications that are developed through Force.com allow you to expand the power of Salesforce CRM from strictly sales, service and marketing to absolutely any area imaginable. In effect, the power of cloud computing is unleashed and can be used to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of virtually any aspect of your business – all through the Custom Cloud solutions made available through Force.com.

Customization And Force.com

With Force.com, there is absolutely no need to trade usability for customization. Excellent options can be created to suit virtually any organization – most of them through simple point-and-click methods. The beauty of Force.com largely lies in its simplicity; for more intricate or involved applications, tool kits are available for most major development languages. Apex – the development language that forms the backbone of Salesforce.com – is now available for use by all developers, and can be used to create even more effective and highly customized applications for your organization.

People who elect to use the powerful tools of Force.com can do so in two different, equally customizable means. Point and click techniques can be used to modify existing Salesforce applications, allowing you to tweak them to fit your company’s specific needs. Otherwise, tool kits for popular development languages – including Apex – can be used to develop more complex applications. Either way, your company is certain to be able to develop solutions that work with amazing efficiency and that provide unbelievable results.

Force.com For IT Personnel

Force.com frees up your IT personnel to focus on more important matters. The applications that can be developed with Force.com are run via Salesforce CRM, largely eliminating the need for servers, networks, storage and extraneous staff members. IT just needs to deploy the applications and let Force.com do the rest. In many cases, no code at all is required to develop quick and easy applications – allowing IT to turn their attention elsewhere. The APIs and adapters provided with Force.com allow its applications to integrate seamlessly with countless systems, too.

Force.com For Developers

Developers within your organization are sure to be pleased with the amazing benefits associated with creating applications with Force.com. The time saved in using Force.com will allow your developers to generate a greater number of more effective applications for your organization; no matter what kinds of code your developers prefer to use – whether its one of the popular development languages or Apex – they can use it effortlessly and with maximum effect through Force.com. Various types of cloud computing platforms can be connected for maximum power – including those by Amazon, Google and Facebook – maximizing the possibilities and power that your developers have access to.

Force.com For CRM Administrators

Since all Salesforce CRM applications run on Force.com, customization is incredibly simple; your CRM admins will relish the ability to add or remove various fields, create new process rules – and much more – without needing to know a single line of code. In fact, your CRM administrators can break out beyond the sales department, enabling most other departments within your organization to take advantage of applications created with Force.com. By bringing the power of Salesforce CRM to all other parts of your business, your CRM admins can push your company’s overall performance to a whole new level.

Unleash The Power Of The Custom Cloud

The promise of PaaS – Platform as a Service – have never been more easily realized than they are with Force.com. Everything that you love about Salesforce CRM Service and Salesforce CRM Sales can be expanded to have incredibly beneficial impacts on all other areas of your organization and how it is run. Inventory, human resources, finance and other functions can all stand to benefit from what applications created on Force.com have to offer. Whether you have a large IT department – or a very modest one – you can enjoy custom applications in many of the same ways that some of the biggest corporations in the world do.

Thanks to Force.com, the Custom Cloud and everything that cloud computing has to offer can be enjoyed and taken advantage of by just about any organization. Your company is no exception; whether you currently use Salesforce CRM for sales or service – or if you would like to start using it in conjunction with powerful, customized apps – you can jump right in with Force.com. In the end, every single department and area within your business will benefit from having the power of Salesforce CRM unleashed via Force.com custom applications.

Cloud computing is more beneficial than ever before. The powerful team of Salesforce CRM and Force.com makes it applicable to just about any organization. Don’t get left behind – stay abreast of emerging technology and trends by implementing these amazing tools today. Get into the Custom Cloud and experience the ultimate in PaaS solutions with Force.com.

Service Cloud – Salesforce CRM Service

Providing excellent customer service is a far different game than it used to be. As customers become more and more savvy and demanding, they expect more effective and helpful customer service wherever they go. In order to succeed, today’s businesses need to find software solutions that will help them enhance their customer service capabilities as much as possible. Fortunately, the Service Cloud offered by Salesforce CRM Service provides the right tools – in the most intuitive and engaging ways – to allow absolutely any organization to increase its customer satisfaction skills to an incredible degree. Below, we highlight some of the most exceptional characteristics of the Service Cloud, demonstrating the benefits it can provide to virtually any business.

Giving Agents The Right Tools

When customer service representatives or agents have the proper tools, they can provide more exceptional customer service in a more speedy and efficient manner. Salesforce CRM Service gives agents the tools that they need to excel in all of the most important ways. New agents are able to jump in more quickly, requiring far less training – helping to keep productivity humming right along. Cases are sent directly to the agents who can help the most effectively, reducing wait times for customers and increasing their overall satisfaction. Challenges are escalated in a more effective way, and are kept from stagnating and worsening. Because agents using the Service Cloud are equipped with the right tools, the incidence of first-contact resolution is much more frequent – and that’s a win-win situation for everybody.

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Sales Cloud

Salesforce CRM has built its reputation by helping companies realize the full potential of cloud computing and allowing them to unleash that potential in incredibly beneficial ways. Their sales platform – Salesforce CRM Sales – is absolutely no exception. Sales has always been a very competitive field, regardless of industry; staying on the cutting edge of emerging trends and taking advantage of advances in technology is essential to get ahead. With Salesforce CRM Sales, businesses can reap all of the benefits that cloud computing has to offer as applied toward competitive and effective sales strategies. From generating leads to keeping an eye on sales forecasts, Salesforce CRM Sales is an efficient way for companies to maintain that edge over their competition. Below, we highlight some of the most compelling features enjoyed by Salesforce CRM Sales clients.

Sales Lead Management

Leads are the backbone of any successful sales team, and Salesforce CRM Sales ensures that none slip through the cracks or go unexamined. Leads get routed to the appropriate rep or group automatically, saving time and increasing effectiveness; secure access to leads is guaranteed, eliminating unproductive competition between reps. Leads can be quickly imported from offline sources, like spreadsheets and other documents and seamlessly integrated into Salesforce CRM Sales without trouble. With Salesforce CRM Sales, leads will go where they’re supposed to, be focused on by the appropriate rep and be converted into opportunities with incredible ease – creating increased sales for your team.

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