The AppExchange Blog - May 2007

• First-ever Salesforce Developer Conference highlights a new model for entrepreneurship and innovation

  May 30, 2007

  Sorry for the hiatus - I was on vacation the last few weeks. Luckily for me, I returned just in time for last Monday's Developer Conference in Santa Clara. It was a cathartic experience. The standing room-only ballroom was packed with developers and entrepreneurs young and old and of every color (though mostly male :) from around the globe. Waiting in line to get in, I met a software engineer from Dublin who came across the Salesforce Platform, decided then to leave his big-company job, and was there that day to get ideas, learn the API, network, and start building AppExchange solutions for EMEA. Incredible!

  Marc and Parker kicked off the morning with a keynote outlining the Salesforce platform vision. We heard inspiring eBay-like stories about how customers and developers can more easily than ever find one another. Also, there are AppExchange customers from 70 different countries around the world, and nearly one-quarter of all AppExchange applications are built outside the US! The AppExchange is rife with compelling examples of innovation, globalization and community.

  

  Parker talked about some of the applications we're using internally that were written 100% natively on the Salesforce platform, including Vacation Requests, Sales Compensation, Bug Tracking, Adaptive Development Methodology (used by our R&D teams), Volunteering, and Employee Success Plans. He also unveiled SalesforceSOA, a revolutionary way to quickly create and integrate with web services, all on-demand.

  Guy Kawasaki concluded the morning with an exceptional presentation of some of the ideas from his book, Art of the Start.  My favorite was actually his first point: Make meaning.

  He used the example of the ice business and how the dominant means of production changed over the years. First, there was ice harvesting (think Bubba and son with ice pick and sled in hand). Then, ice factories. And now, refrigerators. Each of these was a quantum leap that was orders of magnitude more efficient than the prior model. This was not evolution. These were each revolutions. The best ice harvester did not make the best ice factories. The best ice factory entrepreneurs I guarantee you were the last to embrace refrigerators. They probably did everything in there power to discourage refrigerators.
  Key lesson for ice entrepreneurs: Learn how to make refrigerators.
  Key lesson for ice consumers: Buy refrigerators. Your life will be a lot easier and you will have better drinks and picnics!

  It's the classic innovator's dilemma. Guy likes ice, I like cameras. Just ten years ago, Kodak was king. Then came the disruption of digital cameras. Kodak tried to ignore digital cameras for as long as they could. People want to be able to print and touch and feel their photos, their executives argued. When the consumer market was clearly lost, they focused on professional photographers. And then finally, one day they woke up and realized things were never going to be the same again. They embraced digital photography as quickly as they possibly could. But it was too late. And frankly, it wouldn't have mattered, since the technology to make refrigerators is totally different than the technology to make ice factories. Or ice picks.
  Key lesson for photograph entrepreneurs: Learn how to make digital cameras and process digital photos.
  Key lesson for photograph consumers: Buy a digital camera. Your life will be a lot easier and you will have better pictures! Also, non-digital cameras won't be supported for very much longer.

  Multi-tenant On Demand is a quantum leap for the software industry. It's already changed the way you communicate with friends and families, share photos, read the news, shop, sell the junk in your attic... and it's going to empower your business to achieve new heights of efficiency and success. The Salesforce Platform is the Frigidaire of software, the Canon of digital cameras.
  Key lesson for software entrepreneurs: Learn how to write apps on the Salesforce Platform.
  Key lesson for software users and admins: Start using on-demand applications. Your life will be a lot easier and you will have a better business! Thanks to the Internet, traditional software is on its way out.

  As for ice harvesters, ice factory tycoons, or on-premise software vendors... does anyone even remember them?

  

  Ten-year stock price of Eastman Kodak (EK)

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• Today's webinar on Salesforce Platform Edition (SPE)

  May 10, 2007

  During today's webinar (recording now available through that link), we walked through Salesforce.com's first non-CRM product, which was announced and made available starting last week. SPE allows you to access Salesforce platform functionality minus the CRM application.

  What does platform functionality include? Well, lots of things, such as the API/web services architecture, workflow, approvals, customization, development, integration, reporting and management functionality, just to name a few. Whether you are an existing Salesforce CRM customer or not, you can use SPE to access AppExchange apps and/or build your own custom apps on the Salesforce platform, 100% multi-tenant on-demand. This means automatic upgrades and pre-integrated, reliable, secure, mobile applications not just for sales, marketing, and support, but for every department and user in your company.

  Some popular areas where we are seeing customers use SPE include human resources (for recruiting, paid time off/vacation request apps, human capital management, etc), finance (budgeting, expense tracking, accounting, etc), and R&D (quality assurance and bug tracking applications), but where you begin all depends on where in your organization you are encountering the greatest bottlenecks and manual processes.

  We recommend a few easy steps to get started with bringing the efficiency and power of on-demand to other areas in your organization:

  1. Prioritize your application backlog. Where are people wasting the most time and doing the most redundant work?
  2. Once you hone in on an area, take a few days to document the manual processes which you are trying to replace. Work with your employees to get their buy-in. Maybe you can explain the benefits of all the paper you'll be saving, or the fact that you will no longer be working across ten different versions of Excel spreadsheets.
  3. Visit the AppExchange for partner solutions in your top need areas (why reinvent the wheel?). If you are keen on developing your own solution, the AppExchange may also have ready-to-go application templates which you can use as a starting point to hit the ground running. Some popular templates include project management, recruiting manager, expense tracking, and event management.
  4. Finally, if you haven't already, visit ADN and sign up for a free Developer Account, watch a few online training sessions, and be on your way to customizing and building your own apps, either through our easy point-and-click, or if you are feeling adventurous, through Apex Code!

  Thank you to everyone who joined us for today's webinar on Salesforce Platform Edition (this now links to the recording). Please post your comments below!

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• Save on your corporate phone bills with the new Skype for AppExchange

  May 8, 2007

  Everyone's favorite consumer web telephony app is now available for use with all your Salesforce contacts! The new Skype CTI Connector for AppExchange provides full integration of Skype into your Salesforce org. You can make and receive calls and conference calls all from within Salesforce. There is even a caller ID feature for inbound calls. Best of all, the basic service is free!

  I also like the integrated "availability status" and instant messaging functionality so that you can make sure whomever you want to call is around and available before making the call. This is a huge timesaver, especially in sales and support. I've also been using it to chat with people internally, say to ask a quick question about a project or to check in with my team. It's the best of both worlds, combining the unique power of IM and a good old-fashioned voice call.

  

  Read more about this new mashup or try it for yourself!

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• Tell us your AppExchange stories!

  May 2, 2007

  My team is working on creating a new section on AppExchange.com to feature AppExchange customer success stories, and we want yours! Have you installed an app from the AppExchange? Share your experiences with the Salesforce community! Tell us about your favorite (or least favorite). What apps should everyone try? What advice and recommendations do you have for your colleagues?

  Here are some snippets from Jason Hunter, who manages support and services at Vicon Motion Systems and also guest-starred in last month's AppExchange 101 Webinar. First, here is their Salesforce dropdown menu, which shows all of the apps they've deployed in their company.

     

  As you can see, Vicon uses two Salesforce CRM applications: SFA and Service & Support. They also have seven custom apps that they built on the Salesforce platform. Some of these, like System Installations, are customized apps based on templates from AppExchange (Jason installed Project & Issue Management from the AppExchange, tweaked it to match Vicon's needs, and renamed it to "System Installations"). Finally, Vicon also has installed four partner applications.

  Vicon's Business Challenge

  Vicon offers 3D motion capture devices with applications ranging from healthcare and automobile safety to motion picture films. It is an expensive and complicated product requiring high levels of customer service. Their on-site installations involved assessing customer needs, allocating necessary resources, tracking all communication and activity with customer contacts, as well as providing visibility to management.

  Technology Challenge

  The primary technology challenges were disparate islands of information that prevented the team from achieving optimal productivity and avoiding redundant work, and limited resources and expertise regarding each unique customer site.

  Select Solutions

  Jason tells me two AppExchange applications in particular really helped to transform Vicon's business. First, they used Pollzter, a free survey app from Astadia Consulting, to collect and share across the team critical customer information. A pre-installation survey was created to assess customer expectations. A post-installation survey assesses customer experiences and satisfaction, the results of which Vicon then uses to help guide future projects with this customer as well as future customers.

  Jason also raves about Project & Issue Management from the AppExchange, which he fully customized for how Vicon does business. Instead of wasting time dealing with the mess of outdated Excel spreadsheets, emails, and data silos, his team can now maximize productivity by assigning appropriate resources for each installation and track project progress through to completion with just a few clicks.

  Results

  Well, according to Jason, "applications from the AppExchange have delivered real and immediate benefits to [his] business." First, they have dramatically increased visibility and accountability into their operations. Second, survey results reduce costly on-site installation delays and oversights. Finally, it is easy to equitably distribute project assignments across team members because everyone knows who is engaged with which projects.

  For more, including why they use AppExchange, future plans, and tips & tricks, you'll have to watch our webinar!

  In the meantime, send me your stories and feedback via email (cshih at salesforce.com) or the widget on the left sidebar! And stay tuned for these stories to start appearing on AppExchange.com!

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