To eliminate the confusion around having two AppExchange-related blogs, we've decided to combine "App of the Week" and "the AppExchange blog" into a single blog feed. You will still have access to the same posts, musings, and recommendations... now all consolidated into one place.

Check out the latest posts on some of our favorite marketing apps -- http://blogs.salesforce.com/the_appexchange_blog/. Happy reading!

Your CRM solution is only as good as your data is. Even as the proven leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM), salesforce.com needs clean customer data to automate your sales processes and manage your business relationships. Salesforce's innovative technology, functionality, point-and-click customization, global capabilities, and the best user experience available still needs the foundation of clean business data to be utilized to its full and complete potential. Diamond Data IS provides a top-notch data quality service for Salesforce users. This application from Trillium Software leverages the power of their data quality services with the platform capabilities of salesforce.com to enable users the power to cleanse, de-duplicate, and enrich their customer, lead, contact, and account data. Combining the power of Trillium Software (of Harte-Hanks) and the Salesforce platform, Diamond Data IS provides users accurate and invaluable sales intelligence to drive your business.

Enjoy.

I've been a Golden State Warriors fan since the day I was born. I have pictures of me as a small child swimming in an oversized Warriors jersey like in the movie Big after Tom Hanks turns back into the kid and he's still wearing the adult sized suit. I was there for the last time we made the playoffs and have waited patiently for 13 long years for our return. I haven't been this excited since I found out Ben and Jerry's made low fat ice cream. The Warriors are in the PLAYOFFS; I feel like the #7 employee at Google right after the IPO.

So how is this relevant? Well it makes absolutely everything in my life better and more exciting; food tastes better, the air is crisper, being crammed on the bus ride home doesn't bother me nearly as much as it should. So when I got a new application submission from ShareMethods called ShareOffice, I was already excited. So when I saw the application in action I needed to take a little break and step away from my computer; my heart rate was a little elevated, I was genuinely geeking out. I felt like Hurley on LOST after running away from "the others". ShareOffice is a suite of applications combined and integrated together in one application. It has a Word-like document creation and management application, a Excel like spreadsheet creator (I wrote about this solution earlier this year), and a PowerPointesque Presentation creator. I would be genuinely this excited for this AppExchange solution, even if the Warriors weren't in the playoffs. We always preach the end of proprietary software only to make the quiet and resigned realization that the On-Demand revolution deck we just presented was prepared on Microsoft PowerPoint. We preach software as a service but use Excel to manage our data and spreadsheets. We preach document collaboration via the web but this is usually limited to emailing Word attachments back and forth. Until now...

If Microsoft Office is the perennial Goliath of desktop software, then ShareOffice would be the David of the Business Web. ShareOffice provides an online application for easy and quick creation, management, and sharing of online documents, spreadsheets and presentations. The pre-built templates make creating proposals, quotes, contracts, coversheets, etc. a breeze. Additionally, all the applications integrate with standard Microsoft programs, PDF, OpenOffice, etc. And most importantly, online collaboration becomes so much easier since this management system is on-demand and available wherever you or your customers or employees have internet access. This application ties three great on-demand solutions together in one package for easy use and implementation. As a small caveat, the integration points with salesforce.com are not incredibly high level and the setup is somewhat tedious but the potential is definitely there. I'm not saying that ShareOffice is going to take over Microsoft Office's throne but then again, not many people thought the Warriors would take down the 67 win, best team in the NBA, Dallas Mavericks. It could happen.

Enjoy.

P.S. My second round prediction: Warriors over the Jazz in 6. We Believe.

I started looking through my queue of potential picks for app of the week and was overwhelmed by the choices. This solution integrates well with salesforce, but this one has incredibly straightforward UI, but this one provides so much business value, and so on and so on... I felt like one of those contestants dressed up like a robot talking to Monty Hall on Let's Make a Deal, trying to decide between the mystery box and what was behind door number three. If only there was an application that would analyze my pipeline of potential applications and to decide the best and most appropriate choice for App of the Week.

And while there's no application to manage my queue of potential Apps of the Week, there are applications that can manage your sales pipelines and all your business processes. So till there's an application that manages my blog, I guess we'll stick to the business applications. This week I'd like to introduce SalesAdvizor from Advizor Solutions, Inc. SalesAdvizor is a query tool that lets you run dashboards on your desktop so you can conduct your analysis anywhere. With this solution you can work offline or online. The results from the SalesAdvizor analytics allow you to view your sales pipeline and quickly drill in on one dimension or many. These dashboards provide invaluable information on your sales pipeline. You can isolate and find your highest probability deals, see what your channel partners are selling, and manage all your leads. SalesAdvizor also allows you to export your analysis to Powerpoint, Excel, and other visual formats. SalesAdvisor is a valuable add-on to your salesforce implementation and will boost sales and your analytics.

Enjoy.

Sure, salesforce.com has made its name in business applications. But the AppExchange isn't just for businesses. Now even political hopefuls are getting the old on-demand religion.

Yesterday, the New York Times ran an article describing presidential candidate Mitt Romney's successful use of "com-MITT software" to outdistance GOP rivals John McCain and Rudy Giuliani in the all-important realm of fund raising. Then the guys over at ZDNet blogged about the fact that the application referenced in the Times was actually built on our own Apex platform. (Where do they get these ideas, I wonder?)

Just to prove that the folks on our side are no laggards, before you could say "no software" three times, a beta version of the CampaignForce app appeared on the AppExchange. This app has tabs for the things campaigners would expect: Donors, Donations, Campaign Events, and all that. It sure looks a lot handier than an Excel spreadsheet for tracking who has given what to whom.

But my vote for the feature "most likely to be talked about" goes to the Candidates tab, where you can select a candidate and see the latest postings for him or her from YouTube and Yahoo News. This will clearly provide a lot of entertainment value for political operatives right from inside Salesforce. I guess the staffers will be asking each other, "Anyone for a video of John McCain singing Streisand standards?"

Take the app for a test drive and let us know what you think.

April 15th (Tax Time!) is just around the corner, looming overhead like a teacher making sure her students aren't cheating on her surprise popquiz. But worry not, I was a good student this year; I had my paperwork and taxes put together and turned in weeks in advance. I'll be honest though, trying to match up Box 6 of Line A of subsection 12 on your W-2s with line Z of Page 23x of secret section 14 of your 1040 without it being the night of April 14th just didn't have that same sweat and adrenaline induced stress that I'm usually accustomed to around the tax deadline. Doing my taxes at my own pace was a worry-free experience and a welcomed change. I did have one slight freak-out moment though, that split second reaction you can't avoid when you're halfway to work and you're not quite sure if you left the iron on. I was finished and had the return printed out and I realized I didn't have any stamps to send in my signature. Cue light bulb! I could e-file my tax return and electronically sign my taxes. Seriously, does it get any easier? In minutes I had my tax return filed and in days it was direct deposited into my bank account. I can't tell you have much time and effort I saved by signing my paperwork electronically. Not to mention the peace of mind I gained from knowing almost instantly that it had been filed and accepted rather than worrying if it was lost in the mail or devoid of ample postage. Now if we only had an application available for salesforce that enabled you to have your contracts and documents signed and returned electronically? An application that was integrated with your salesforce implementation? (The plot thickens.)

I'd like to introduce EchoSign Contract Management Service from EchoSign. This AppExchange application picks up the final step of any contract management cycle. EchoSign takes your contracts and customers through the final stages of getting signatures, tracking progress, and filing; this is all done electronically. EchoSIgn gives you real time visibility into all of your contracts directly from your salesforce account. The system also updates your accounts with PDF copies of all your signed contracts. Just like with my tax return, EchoSign lets you know the second your customers have signed their contracts or agreements. It also lets you know when agreements have been viewed so you can follow up on possible problems or outstanding issues. Signed copies are automatically emailed to your customers and yourself and filed in your salesforce account. EchoSign takes your contracts and customers from prospecting to closed. "Because it's only closed when it's signed."

Enjoy.

P.S. That being said, I still hate doing my taxes.

The Madness is upon us. When it comes to sports, this is my favorite time of year. Sixty four teams and sixty three games in three weeks. Upsets, cinderella stories, your alma mater running it deep into the tourney, winning the office bracket, it doesn't get much better than March Madness. I notice it bleeding over to other facets of life, effectively making everything a competetion. And in accordance, to select this weeks' App of the Week, I selected eight of my favorite new apps and assigned them each to a NCAA Team in a simulated tournament and I let my Playstation decide. And while all were worthy, only one could win...

I'd like to introduce this weeks champion from Drawloop Technologies. This new application, LOOP to PDF, is available now on the AppExchange. LOOP to PDF can simply and effortlessly combine multiple documents and files into one secure PDF. Rather then sending out multiple attactments, you can just send out one PDF. You can browse through all your documents and files both on your hardrive and in your salesforce database. Your new PDF can be automatically attached to an e-mail within salesforce and your PDF will be logged as an activity to be viewed or downloaded at anytime. LOOP to PDF is a clean and seamless on-demand PDF converter that lives right within your salesforce org to let you efficiently deliver your outward facing documents.

Enjoy.

P.S. As it were, if there were a real AppExchange March Madness Tournament, my sleeper dark horse pick would be Restaurant Guide (Yelp.com Mashup). This tool lets you see the local restarurant/bar/parking/map information for your contacts, leads and accounts seemlessly integrated in your salesforce implementation. But why is it my sleeper favorite? Cause I wrote it.

It's not what you know, it's who you know. And this is especially relevant in the world of business. Business is all about finding new customers, qualifying new leads, and driving new revenue. With Jigsaw from the Jigsaw Data Corporation you can be instantly connected to millions of business contacts, all with complete data of Email and Direct Phone, Name, Title, Company, and Address. The Jigsaw database is maintained by its hundreds of thousands users and subscribers and is constantly growing. You can create targeted lists of desired business contacts to find hard to reach potential clients and leads. With Jigsaw you can find updated and fresh contact info to drive your business and sales processes.

Enjoy.

I love the Salesforce Excel Connector. I use it all the time and would consider it a close friend. And if  you're anything like me... what am I talking about... there's no one like me... I'm special. Well you don't have to be special to use or love the Excel Connector, you just have to be a Salesforce admin/customer/metrics manager/nerd/hero/all of the above, to know how helpful and useful a tool it can be. Being able to take data populated in an Excel spreadsheet and populate your Salesforce implementation really has limitless value for populating huge data chunks. I love the connector and why wouldn't I? It's a great tool and it used to be the only tool with that functionality.

Cue the moving vans. Cue the furniture out on the neighbor's front lawn. Cue the housewarming gifts of muffin baskets and homemade pies. Becasue there's a new kid on the block. Introducing QueryAmp from forceAmp.com. Along with having all the functionality of the Excel Connector, QueryAmp utilizes the new capabilities Winter ’07 release to build robust and intelligent custom Excel reports. Using Excel's BI capabilities, QueryAmp lets you improve your data quality and reporting with this bi-directional tool to populate data, de-duplicate data, create new records, and much more. With the intuitive Query Builder you can build a visual representation of your data mapping, ensuring that you are only seeing and affecting the data you specify. The UI is clean and straightforward and is great for bulk data updates, mass cleansing, upserting, updating, merging, etc. It's a great tool and a great option for a more visual Excel data mapping interface.

Enjoy.

P.S. It's great to see a new kid on the block. I love to see the AppExchange growing so that for every solution, customers have choices between multiple offerings. It's great to see an Excel Connector app on the AppExchange to challenge the Salesforce Excel Connector. But it's important to check out all offerings and see which one best fits your needs. Cousin Oliver just joined the Brady Brunch, but let's not forget about Bobby.

I know what you're thinking... Where have you been? Where has our App of the Week blog been the past few weeks? Has anyone heard from Dominique? Is he ok? Well worry no longer friends, the prodigal son has once again returned (now my mom can stop e-mailing me to check up). Like many of you, the beginning of any year is a hectic and crazy time; that frantic excitement is only more so apparent with a new product and offering such as the AppExchange. If dog years are 7 years to 1 human year, I'd say it seems like the AppExchange is aging at around 16 years per human year and it's amazing to see it grow and mature right before our eyes. And while there is no real excuse for the absence of my literary perspectives on the AppExchange for the past few weeks, I'm sure you can you remember your teenage years and turning 16 years of age. It's amazingly chaotic in a remarkable way:

• It's your Birthday- As of January 17th, the AppExchange has officially been around for one (human) year. And like a parent watching a child take its first steps or taking them to their first day of school, its amazing to see how far the AppExchange has come in only a year. In only a year, the AppExchange now boasts over 500 applications coming from over 280 partners, from independent developers and from salesforce employees. My mom claims that I taught myself to read at 16 months but I submit that 500+ applications in a year might be a bigger feat.

• Gotta Celebrate- What's a birthday without a Super Sweet 16th Birthday Party? On January 16th we held Apex Day at the Palace hotel in San Francisco. This event marked the introduction of Apex Code - The World's First On-Demand Programming Language. Apex day also showcased the wide assortment and robust capabilities of over 30 of our partners very own applications that are available on the AppExchange. Our Partners and developers were proudly displaying their solutions like, well, like a sixteen year old kid shows off his very first suit at his first Cotillion. They grow up so fast.

• Turn 16, Get New Car!- As you probably have noticed, the AppExchange just got a whole new redesign a couple weeks ago. Along with its obvious aesthetic facelift, the redesign is also accompanied by functional enhancements and more navigable UI. The redesign allows you to filter applications to search only apps that meet your needs. It also enables you to save apps in a queue or wish list to be visited later. All in all, I think the redesign is just another marker showing the tremendous progression the AppExchange has made in the past year.

As you can see it has been a busy month for everyone here at salesforce. And on top of that dedication, employees have been internally developing applications for our Salesforce Labs program. Our employees are constantly developing applications for their own use and utility; why not share these applications with the entire salesforce community? These applications were developed on the employees' own time (unbridled salesforce enthusiasm? intense nerdiness? or both?) and are supported by our community boards. They are some pretty useful utilities and components that may help further fulfill your needs of your salesforce implementation. After all, we're not only employees, we're also users.

My apps of the week: Case Detachifier, Auto-Complete Lookups, Timeline S-Control Mashup, Maildrop, PRM Channel Sales Dashboards, AJAX Tools 0.8.4, Trapdoor for OSX, Scripting Toolkit.

Enjoy.

P.S. Happy Birthday AppExchange!