Salesforce Essay Example

and software. Benioff believes that all of these advantages will inevitably lead to 'the end of software', or, more appropriately, a new future of software in which the software-as-a-service model will supplant the current model and become the new paradigm. However, it's still too soon to tell whether this prediction will turn out to be true. Salesforce faces significant challenges as it continues to grow and refine its business.

The first challenge comes from increased competition, both from traditional industry leaders and new challengers hoping to replicate Salesforce's success. Microsoft, SAP, and Oracle have rolled out subscription-based versions of their CRM products in response to Salesforce. Smaller competitors like NetSuite also have made some inroads against Salesforce's market share. Analysts predict that Microsoft has a chance to compete with Salesforce by developing merely an acceptable on-demand CRM product, because of the average customer's already-established familiarity with Microsoft applications.

Also, Microsoft plans to offer their product at half the price of Salesforce. com, using a tactic they have employed with great effect in other marketplaces to pressure their competitors. Salesforce. com still has plenty of catching up to do to reach the size and market share of their larger competitors. As of 2007, SAP's CRM market share was 25. 7 percent, compared to only 7 percent for Salesforce. com. IBM's customer base includes 9,000 software companies that run their applications on their software and that are likelier to choose a solution offered by IBM over Salesforce. om. Another challenge for Salesforce. com is to expand its business model into other areas. Salesforce is currently used mostly by sales staff needing to keep track of

leads and customer lists.

One way the company is trying to provide additional functionality is through a partnership with Google and more specifically Google Apps. Salesforce. com is combining its services with Gmail, Google Docs, Google Talk, and Google Calendar to allow its customers to accomplish more tasks via the Web. The partnership between Salesforce. om and Google represents a united front against Microsoft intended to cut into the popularity of Microsoft Office. Currently, Salesforce. com describes the partnership as "primarily a distribution deal", but it could grow stronger based on the idea that businesses prefer to manage CRM in one place. Salesforce. com and Google both hope that their Salesforce. com for Google Apps initiative will galvanize further growth in on-demand software. Salesforce opened up its Force. com application development platform to other independent software developers and listed their programs on its AppExchange.

Using AppExchange, small businesses can go online and easily download over 800 software applications, some add-ons to Salesforce. com and others that are unrelated. 24 Hour Fitness, the world’s largest privately owned and operated fitness chain, uses App Exchange along with Salesforce. com’s Enterprise edition for companywide salesforce automation and customer service. One of its App Exchange applications integrates Hoover’s database of up to 21 million companies and 28 million executives with Salesforce and another allow users to easily create and distribute on-demand surveys and response forms.

The question is whether the audience for the App Exchange application platform will prove large enough to deliver the level of growth Salesforce wants. Some analysts believe the platform may not be attractive to larger companies for their application needs A

third challenge is availability. Salesforce. com subscribers depend on the service being available 24/7. But occasional outages have occurred making some companies rethink their dependency on software as a service. Salesforce. com provides tools to assure customers about its system reliability and also offers PC applications that tie into their services so users can work offline.