Salesforce.com

 The Software-as-a-Service Model

If you are looking for a customer relationship management (CRM) solution that will integrate with your web site and other applications, Salesforce.com is a solution to consider.

Salesforce.com’s slogan is “No Software,” because the Salesforce CRM is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution: the application is hosted on Salesforce’s servers and accessed by users via the Internet. In other words, there is “no software” for you to install on your servers and workstations. For small to medium businesses, and increasingly for larger enterprises, this SaaS model allows for quick setup and lower overall investment.

Web App Integration

The standard Salesforce CRM has the built-in ability to integrate with your web site for information management such as pulling sales lead information, providing online problem ticketing for customer service, or maintaining a public knowledge base.

‘Salesforce CRM has the built-in ability to integrate with your web site’

For further integration with your web site (or other in-house applications), Salesforce provides a development platform called AppExchange. Using this platform, your developers can use Salesforce as a live data source for your current web apps. The AppExchange system even makes it possible to design and develop brand new custom applications that are integrated with the Salesforce CRM and hosted on the Salesforce servers. The Salesforce/AppExchange system also allows your developers and administrators to control individual and group access to all applications and data.

Is It For You?

Some advantages to the Salesforce CRM (and SaaS solutions in general) are fast initial availability, lower and more predictable expenses, and the ability for your users to be highly mobile. In addition, none of the maintenance for Salesforce software and servers falls on you. There can be disadvantages over a proprietary, in-house solution, such as the ongoing cost of the SaaS subscription and limits on customizing the basic application.

Digital Solutions can help you decide whether Salesforce is the right solution for your needs, and offers the expertise to efficiently and effectively integrate your web apps with your Salesforce or other CRM implementation.