Salesforce.com unveils user interface as a service
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(InfoWorld) - Next Monday, Salesforce.com will, in the words of one industry analyst, "extend the value proposition of software as a service" when it introduces Visualforce at its Dreamforce Conference in San Francisco. The Visualforce layer introduces the user interface as a service. Visualforce is the latest component of Salesforce.com's Platform-as-a-Service, which the company announced earlier this summer as Force.com. Other components include the database and logic portions. Visualforce will allow Salesforce.com customers to design custom application interfaces while incorporating other technologies such as HTML, AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), and Adobe Flex. The company made the move following requests from customers who wanted to present a more diverse UI, rather than creating applications that had a similar look and feel to the Salesforce.com CRM, according to Ariel Kelman, senior director of platform product marketing at Salesforce.com. Doug Menefee, CIO at The Schumacher Group, sounded quite enthusiastic about what he could do with Visualforce, although he hadn't used it yet. "By being able to build applications utilizing Visualforce, we will be able to build custom interfaces that improve workflow and productivity for data-entry-intensive job functions," said Menefee. Menefee was also pleased about the opportunity to build wizards in Visualforce. According to Jeff Kaplan, managing director of THINKstrategies, with each user conference, Salesforce adds another layer of value to SaaS (software as a service). Up until now, customization has been a thorn in the side of SaaS. It has been a topic of concern and criticism by SaaS skeptics, said Kaplan. "This new feature and capability is a clear indication of how quickly the SaaS industry is evolving to permit customization. And it is another example [of] how those misconceptions of the past are continually being eroded by these developments," Kaplan said. Menefee said that Visualforce will allow his organization to apply best practices to user interface design in various applications. This, in turn, will let them customize the employee experience based on their needs for data entry or viewing. Visualforce uses a "page-based model" built on current Web presentation technology and adds a component library for incorporating common interface elements. The UI platform tool leverages the data, logic, and workflow capabilities found in the greater Force.com platform. Among the features included in Visualforce are the following: * Pages, which allow developers to create pages using standard Web technologies. * Components, which allow companies to assemble current user interface elements in a new UI. * Logic Controllers for creating user interface behavior. Visualforce will be available for developer preview next week and generally available in the fourth quarter.
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This integration enables a Salesforce.com customer to integrate and use StrikeIron's CRM-related Web services without having to leave their Salesforce.com account. &quot;By utilizing our Web Services Business Network, Salesforce.com users can be assured of the reliability and security required for their applications.&quot; said Richard Holcomb, CEO of StrikeIron.
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(InfoWorld) - Salesforce.comÂ is starting to provide some details about the next version of its hosted CRM (customer relationship management) software, including the product's primary focus, which will be customization. Known as Salesforce Winter '07, the upcoming release will become generally available in the fourth quarter of this year, Salesforce.com said Wednesday. The vendor plans to launch aÂ Web siteÂ on Thursday to invite user feedback on the Winter '07 version. The idea is to foster a closer working relationship between Salesforce users and the vendor's developers, Marc Benioff, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, wrote in an e-mail. Winter '07 will feature a new user interface based on Ajax or asynchronous JavaScript and extensible markup language, a group of software development tools and standards that help create interactive Web applications. Users will be have the ability to customize the CRM application's desktop console and components. Other new features include a hook-in to Cisco Systems' computer telephony integration option and full support for IBM's Lotus Notes collaboration software. Salesforce.com's on-demand CRM is available in different versions targeting a variety of users including its Personal, Team, Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited Editions. The vendor's last major CRM version, Summer '06,Â debuted in JulyÂ along with a connector for its Enterprise and Unlimited Editions integrating its software with SAP's R/3 ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications. Salesforce.com competes with a variety of players in the hosted midmarket applications arena including SAP, Oracle, and NetSuite.
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As organizations roll out service-oriented architecture, they will turn to rich internet and web applications for the final link: the human-machine interface.
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SAN FRANCISCO -- At the Dreamforce 2004 Salesforce.com user conference on Monday, the company that says "just say no to packaged applications" continued to expand on its strategy of tightly integrating its hosted solution with in-house enterprise applications.
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Plays nice with Oracle Salesforce.com is today expected to take its latest step towards improving integration with third-parties' software, including business rival Oracle.â¦
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Adobe Systems Flash-based service, already integrated with Salesforce.com, lets developers embed voice services into Web applications.
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Microsoft Corp. is finally launching its long-awaited CRM service at its Business Solutions Conference in Denver this week.
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EnterpriseWizard this week is releasing the 2.0 version of its CRM application, a product built on top of its SaaSWizard Web application development platform and designed to be easily customizable.EnterpriseWizard 2.0 employs templates and drag-and-drop style customization of tables and fields through a browser-based interface. Users can also define business rules, sketch out workflows, and generate reports. Other new features include an improved search engine and the ability to automatically transmit information from a client computer when a trouble ticket is sent out.The SaaSWizard platform represents &quot;man-centuries of development,&quot; rather than the man-hours usually used as a measure, according to CEO Colin Earl. But EnterpriseWizard is not alone in offering end users the ability to change its application.&#160;SAP&#39;s recently unveiled CRM 2007&#160;product features an Web 2.0-style interface that users can manipulate to their liking.A difference lies in EnterpriseWizard&#39;s underlying business model. Earl said his company is looking to partner with systems integrators and value-added resellers. The company hopes they will use the core SaaSWizard platform to create and sell customized applications -- both CRM (customer relationship management) and other types -- to customers in vertical industries.&quot;Our vision is not to build these products ourselves,&quot; he said.Many on-demand software companies have the wrong idea, he argued. &quot;What I see happening in the market is the SaaS vendors have a direct sales model, and they are effectively trying to take the whole pie for themselves. I think this is a strategic mistake,&quot; he said.While the J2EE-based product is available on-demand, it is also possible to deploy it on an internal server, a fact that drew a nod from one close observer of the CRM scene.&quot;Generally, the fact they offer both on-premise and SaaS is great -- we feel customers like the choice of being able to move seamlessly between the two environments, assuming the two products are functionally the same,&quot; China Martens, an analyst with the 451 Group, said via e-mail.&quot;It&#39;s impressive they&#39;ve retained high-end customers over years such as Chevron and have a bit under 400 customers in total,&quot; she added. &quot;If they do want to garner more attention amid the plethora of their competition, we&#39;d expect them to seek some VC funding, also advice from VCs as to how to best grow their business.&quot;The company has about 40 employees and financially is &quot;very healthy&quot; these days, according to Earl, though he acknowledges that the years spent developing SaaSWizard were &quot;pretty lean.&quot;EnterpriseWizard costs $65 per staff user per month for the hosted product, and $950 per staff user if it is purchased outright on Linux, with unlimited end-user access, according to a spokesman. The company also offers the software for purchase on Windows or Solaris for about $1,150 per staff user.End users have limited capabilities, including the ability to submit and update their own records, whereas staff users -- such as sales representatives -- have a more sophisticated interface and can gain the ability to change records from other users, the spokesman said.
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Link to Salesforce.com data brings "software as a service" offering to back-office data integration tools.
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Hoping to bridge the gap between software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and on-premise application software, Informatica on Thursday released an on-demand service designed to swap data between Salesforce.com and two in-house database apps.
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Salesforce.com today announced the immediate availability of the enhanced sforce Toolkit for IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer (WSAD).
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Firm shoots for power users among Hotmail crowd, marking first time an Office component is available as subscription service.
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Company's subscription services now include an array of security tools, including the basics.
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Customer relationship management (CRM) specialist Salesforce.com is adding customization features to its hosted suite as well as increasing its reliance on partners to develop complementary applications.
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Hosted CRM service provider Salesforce.com took another step forward last week in its strategy to build an online ecosystem of vendors that offer software as a service.
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Salesforce.comÂ is starting to provide some details about the next version of its hosted CRM (customer relationship management) software, including the product's primary focus, which will be customization.