Salesforce.

com Executive Summary

1. About the product Incorporated in 1999, Salesforce.com (SFDC) has become the poster child for the concept of software-as-a-Service (SaaS). SaaS business systems are delivered over the Internet to users web browsers from a centrally hosted data center. SaaS eliminates the costs associated with procuring, installing and maintaining business applications within the customers information technology infrastructure. SaaS or on-demand business systems are normally licensed for a monthly or annual subscription fee instead of the much larger up front capital expenditures required of the more traditional on-premise enterprise applications. As a result, on-demand applications require substantially less initial and ongoing investment in software, hardware, implementation services and perpetual IT labor. Salesforce.com CRM software subscription service comes in multiple editions: Group Edition, Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited. CRM software in a hosted model there is no option for an on-premise implementation. SFDC also uses a multi-tenant hosting model with regard to database sharing between customers. This means that although your data is logically separate from other SFDC clients it is also part of a shared multi-tenant data store 2. Editions SFDC packages their CRM solution into a series of editions. Each edition is priced separately but all editions follow SFDCs per user per month subscription pricing model. Evolution through different editions typically provides a broader set of functionality, greater customization opportunities and wider access to the broader SFDC sForce and third party solution offerings. It is more important with SFDC to ensure to understand the totality of the requirements (both current and future) before making a decision on which software edition is appropriate. Hosted Solution Yes Group Edition (5 Professional Edition (45 Enterprise Edition (85, Unlimited Edition (170, $199) Source: Salesforce.com 2008 On Premise License No $9) $65)At the present time SFDC does not offer an $125)on premise version of its solution. The company has made no public statements about any intention to offer an on-premise solution in the foreseeable future.

3. Software Functionality Salesforce.com On-Demand CRM software functionality is delivered in a front-office suite across the following core areas:

Marketing Management

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Sales Force Automation (aka SFA) Customer Support

Salesforce.com CRM software feature sets are generally considered broad but not deep across the three CRM pillars of marketing, SFA and customer support. The core application provides a relatively simple and intuitive interface to do most things at a basic level. SFDCs AppExchange strategy supports the depth where required by encouraging clients to use AppExchange partners to meet gaps or deficits in the core SFDC solution. The interface is similar to an ebay or yahoo type experience with lots of movement between screens and scrolling up and down pages. This familiar user experience makes the solution appealing to many users, and in particular, users who are new to CRM software. The interface is generally responsive and in most areas intuitive. In the testing conducted to research this paper, it was only necessary to access the excellent online help system a limited number of times. 4. Marketing Management Salesforce provides also SFDCs mass email tool. This tool is fairly basic however and does not support the depth of functionality that is often required by many marketing professionals (link tracking, bounce management, read tracking, etc) and the number of email communications that can be sent daily using the solution depends on the edition: Professional Edition - 250 email limit Enterprise Edition - 500 email limit Unlimited Edition - 1000 email limit

Sales Force Automation is the strongest component in the Salesforce.com CRM software solution. The SFA system includes account, contact, activity and opportunity management. Depending on the edition, the functionality becomes increasingly sophisticated. SFA functions such as territory management and multiple recurring revenues are available, however, reserved for the higher level editions. Thus in the area of sales force automation it is critical to have a clear understanding of your requirements in order to avoid subsequent up charges through edition creep. For example, advanced functions such as revenue scheduling or revenue management, where you need to set up a specific schedule of revenue recognition for an opportunity based on defined time periods or even a user defined pattern, are reserved for Enterprise and Unlimited subscribers. Overall, the SFA module provides a solid foundation for most SMB (small and midsize business) organizations. Customer Support (aka Case Management) was added to SFDCs offering in a prior release. Not considered a strength in the overall SFDC solution, the case management module does offer support for case management, automated assignment, case queues and escalation. This part of the SFDC CRM offering was strengthened by SFDCs acquisition of InStranet in August 2008. This acquisition has provided SFDC with an improved customer support knowledgebase. It is unclear from the initial press releases to whom InStranet will be available and at what cost. 5. Industry Solutions -2-

SFDC offers templates to support vertical industries through the AppExchange directory. Examples include financial services, public sector, high tech and media and communications.

System requirements Browser Recommandations Google Chrome, most recent stable version Google Chrome applies updates automatically; salesforce.com makes every effort to test and Google Chrome, most recent stable version support the most recent version. There are no configuration recommendations for Chrome. Google Chrome Frame plug-in for Microsoft Supported plug-in for Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 6 and 7 7 only. Google Chrome Frame applies updates Google Chrome Frame plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and 7 automatically; Salesforce supports only the most recent version. Mozilla Firefox, most recent stable version Salesforce.com makes every effort to test and support the most recent version of Firefox Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 7, 8, 9, If you use Internet Explorer, it is recommended to and 10 use the latest version. Apply all Microsoft software updates. Apple Safari versions 5.x and 6.x on Mac OS There are no configuration recommendations X for Safari

6. Salesforce.com CRM Software Review Summary a. Key advantages include:

Strong CRM software market leadership positioning. SFDC is a marketing powerhouse and the poster child for software as a service. The company invested $376 million in aggressive advertising, marketing, sales and media promotions in 2007. Industry leading help and online training support. A native thin-client solution designed for hosted, on-demand Internet delivery. Simple user interface that is well received by users new to CRM or online systems. Several industry specific or vertical market solutions although somewhat light in terms of deep functional foot print. The AppExchange provides a foundation for extending the solution with deeper functionality from specialist application providers.

b. Key disadvantages include:

Simple user interface that is often quickly outgrown by experienced users. Lots of screen refreshes and scrolling up and down; the transition between multiple screens to process transactions can make for a laborious user interface.

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Marketing management functionality is extremely limited. SFDC recommends using a partner application for this purpose. This involves additional costs and vendor management. Customization toolkits can be cumbersome to use. Limitation in presentation of data in dashboards that doesnt reflect the application security for specific users without significant administration effort. No Service Level Agreement provided in standard contract. Data center reliability has been questioned and several prior interruptions in service have been recorded.

References: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. http://www.crmexposed.com/compare-salesforcecom-executive-summary.php http://www.erpsoftware360.com/salesforce6.htm#summary http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2156961 http://economics-files.pomona.edu/jlikens/seniorseminars/vector2010/pdf/crm.pdf http://www.forum.com/_assets/download/499bde47-a213-469d-a96abb6ea633af0f.pdf 6. http://www.slideshare.net/fred.zimny/rise-of-customer-economy-exec-summ 7. http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/strategicworkforce-planning/staffing-salesforce-report.aspx

Elena Nichifor Group no.2

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