Salesforce took a bold step toward a more fully integrated cloud platform by announcing VMForce, an exciting collaboration with VMware.
Both VMware and Salesforce are leaders in cloud computing. VMware is known for virtualization, while Salesforce for software-as-a-service via the Force.com platform.
VMforce is significant because it opens the Force.com platform to 6+ million java developers worldwide, allowing any company with Java developers to easily develop Java apps locally and deploy them to the cloud. Because all Java apps on VMforce are elastic, you don’t have to worry about scaling up app servers, databases, or infrastructure. You also inherit rich Force.com functionality like reporting and dashboards, full text search, calendaring, contact management and workflow.
We anticipate this will accelerate adoption of the cloud. Everyone at Myriad Minds is excited to see what innovative Java applications will soon be hosted on the Force.com platform.
Salesforce.com was recently honored for their role in shaping the Internet.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the registration of the .com domain, VeriSign and the 25 Years of .com Honorees Committee has nominated 25 online companies which have helped shape the internet as we know it today and Salesforce.com has been nominated in a category that includes industry giants such as Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook.
Salesforce.com was also recently named one of web’s most innovative companies by Fast Company for its enterprise cloud computing and overall Software As A Service innovation.
Salesforce CRM > AppExchange > SF Mobile > Force.com/Sites > Chatter…the innovation continues.
“Cloud computing represents a new dawn in enterprise computing and business leaders are beginning to ready their companies for the big changes that lie ahead,” said Matthew Oostveen, IDC research manager and analyst. “Facilitating this change will be services organisations from consultants to systems integrators.”
In a recent ComputerWorld article, Kwok Suk-wah, CIO of AON Hong Kong, discusses fear of data security, a common obstacle to cloud adoption.
“People think that if you outsource, you lose control of your data and assets,” she said. “I’ve been using this home-cleaning analogy to explain to others how we should approach cloud computing. Say that you’re considering whether to hire a cleaning lady to clean your windows or to do it yourself. You’ll soon realize that the cleaning lady can do the job five times faster and better than you do. But then you also worry about your valuables might be stolen. Like hiring a cleaning lady, there are many privacy and security concerns of adopting cloud computing, and yet these third-parties do the job much cheaper and cleaner than if you do it yourself. Don’t discard the idea—instead, take necessary precautions,” concluded Kwok.”
In Gartner’s global annual CIO survey of 1,600 IT leaders, cloud computing technologies shot up from the 16th slot to the No. 2 priority for CIOs. This is higher than web 2.0 technologies, networking, voice and data communications, business intelligence, security and data/document management.
Agility and flexibility are the main drivers of this shift in priorities. “These technologies, implemented properly, create the opportunity for IT to change its role, and the operational performance of the enterprise,” reads a Gartner presentation on the CIO survey findings. “Asymmetric technologies like virtualization, cloud and Web 2.0 enable companies to get out from under a front-loaded heavy investment model that limits IT’s agility and flexibility.
We’d like to hear from you. What are your company’s top priorities for 2010? How have they changed over the past several years? Let’s discuss.
Scheduled Data Export is a rarely talked about feature that may make you a data savior one day.
Data Export lets you prepare a copy of all your Salesforce data. You can generate backup files manually once every six days or schedule them to generate automatically at weekly or monthly intervals. When an export is ready for download you will receive an email containing a link that allows you to download the file(s).
Below are the directions to schedule a backup.
1) Click Setup | Data Management | Data Export and Export Now or Schedule Export. The Export Now option prepares your files for export immediately. This option is only available if a week has passed since your last export. The Schedule Export option allows you to schedule the export process for weekly or monthly intervals.
2) Select the desired encoding for your export file.
3) Select Include attachments… if you want your export data to include attachments.
4) Select Replace carriage returns with spaces if you want your export files to have spaces instead of carriage returns or line breaks. This may be useful if you plan to use your export files for importing or other integrations.
5) If you are scheduling your export, select the frequency, start and end dates, and time of day for your scheduled export.
6) Select the types of data to include in your export. If desired, you can include all data in your export file. We recommend that you include all data if you are not familiar with the terminology used for some of the types of data.
I’ve personally seen this feature save many companies time, money and embarrassment, so setup this free feature today.
Increasingly, customers prefer to receive service through the internet. According to Gartner, by 2012, 65% of all support conversations will happen over the internet. How is your company adapting?
Here at Myriad Minds, this trend has created strong demand for Salesforce Customer Portal and it’s helping our clients deliver faster, anytime service while lowering customer service costs. In fact, Gartner studies have shown the average cost of a customer interactive via phone is $7.50, while the same interaction via a self-service portal is only 50 cents. The value of customer portal is even greater now that Salesforce Content is free.
Using customer portal, your company can deliver a tailored web experience by selectively exposing internal processes to your customers. Because customer portal is built on the Force.com platform, custom portals can be rolled out in weeks, not months. A basic portal can be setup in a few days.
Some of the more common uses of customer portal include:
Knowledge Base/Service/Cases: Provide easy self-service, 24×7
Help & Training: Deliver rich content in an engaging experience
Ideas: Let customers post ideas or questions, vote on the answers of their peers, and add their own comments
Reporting: Allow customers to create reports and track their service
If you want to learn more, below is a recorded webinar that provides a comprehensive overview.
Eric Karjaluoto over at ideasonideas has a great article on the death of the RFP . The article is written from the perspective from a creative design agency, but it’s equally relevant to IT application projects (where design is critically important, but often overlooked).
As Eric notes, RFPs simply don’t work when it comes to purchasing design services. He goes on to say, “The challenge with creative work, however, is that the solution is often informed by the process, and as such is difficult to postulate prior to beginning. Consider a client who requests a website, but in fact would be better served by a low-cost brochure. Boilerplate RFPs don’t generally allow flexibility for such opportunities.”
At Myriad Minds, we develop a proactive, creative and honest relationship with our clients – something that isn’t typically established through an RFP process.
So, what do you think? As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Everything mobile is HOT. Mobile advertising, mobile video and mobile CRM are just three mobile trends that will continue to flourish over the next several years.
As mobile adoption increases, mobile CRM will move from being seen as a competitive advantage to “the way we work”. It’s not a question whether should you go mobile, but when.
Companies who use Salesforce find the mobile app to be a great tool. Why? Well, it enables reps to stay connected even when they’re on the move. With instant access from a mobile device, reps can log calls, respond to leads, update opportunities, access key account information and view dashboards, whether they’re in a customer’s lobby or the back of a cab.
And yet, like any successful technology implementation, a well defined process and strategy will go a long way.
Bill Kalma of Model Metrics suggests asking 5 key questions before implementing SF mobile to help “separate fact from fiction and apply a mobile strategy that fits your organization and your users so you can realize success.”
What are they?
1. Who are your users?
2. How mature are your processes?
3. What do users need to do to get their job done?
4. What device suits your needs?
5. How will security be maintained?
SF Mobile is available for Black Berry, iPhone and Windows Mobile device users. It’s free on Unlimited edition while Enterprise and Professional edition users can either pay extra for the full feature solution or use Mobile Lite, a free scaled down version.
Increase Salesforce adoption. Increase sales rep productivity. Go mobile today.
Until recently, formal certification of information security technology was a long and costly necessity of doing business.
No longer. Salesforce can handle these costs at a larger scale, which lower costs relative to on-premise technology.
Below is a summary of the rigorous audits performed and formal certifications that Salesforce has been awarded.
Third-Party Audits
Scrutiny by trusted third-party auditors yields formal assurance in the form of third-party certifications:
SAS 70 type II – is an independent 3rd party audit of internal controls and data security controls.
SYSTrust Certificate – is an independent evaluation measuring a service provider against four essential principles: availability, security, integrity, and maintainability.
ISO 270001 – international standard of information security best practice providing comprehensive best-practice advice and on how to design, implement and maintain a compliant information security management system.
Customer Audits
Salesforce.com operations receive routine scrutiny from customers. Once example is the demanding security audit that ING Bank completed before selecting Salesforce. ING Bank is now one of Salesforce’s largest financial services clients.
Still not convinced?
An overview of Force.com security can be found here, or watch the “Introduction to Force.com Security” webinar (originally recorded on October 9th, 2009).
We’d love to hear from you, so contact us to discuss any Salesforce/Force.com security questions you may have.
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