Brandon Collopy

MIS 220 2:30p

February 23, 2010

Case Study 2: Salesforce.com

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the software-as-a-service model?

The software-as-a-service model enables businesses to purchase the use of

software that is accessible via any standard Web browser. Therefore, software is

not installed on every computer that is owned by a business. Subsequently, no

new hardware needs to be purchased, installed, and maintained. This saves

businesses the money that would have been allocated to the aforementioned

services if they used other popular CRM products that are produced by companies

such as Microsoft, SAP, and Oracle. A downside to using software that is hosted

by a website is the chance of service outages due to system maintenance of the

website or large updates to its services. While these actions are occurring, the

software will not be accessible and important business functions may not be

available for operation.

2. What are some of the challenges facing Salesforce as it continues its growth? How

well will it be able to meet those challenges?

Salesforce.com faces the challenge of increased competition from traditional

software methods and new services from current companies that try to replicate

Salesforce.com’s business model. It also faces the challenge of expanding its

services into other areas that allow business users to complete more necessary

tasks. It is uncertain whether Salesforce.com will be able to meet the challenges.

By implementing new, beneficial services that other CRM products do not offer,

Salesforce.com can overcome the competition from leading service providers.

 Brandon Collopy
MIS 220 2:30p
February 23, 2010

Because Salesforce.com is partnered with Google, the implementation of new

services, such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Talk, and Google Calendar will be

easy and cost-effective.

3. What kinds of businesses could benefit from switching to Salesforce and why?

Agricultural, construction, manufacturing, retail, information, and real estate

businesses could all benefit from switching to Salesforce. Each of these business

types requires a method for keeping records of sales and handling sales

information. All of the sales information could be stored in one place,

Salesforce.com, and be managed by any authorized business employee.

4. What factors would you take into account in deciding whether to use Salesforce.com

for your business?

I would mainly consider the fact that “renting” the use of software, rather than

purchasing a tangible copy, would save my business a significant amount of

funds. The installation of software and the installation/configuration of hardware

would be unnecessary, which would also decrease the amount of time to

implement the software into the business. With Salesforce.com, the

implementation time can be as little as a few days, unlike purchasing a copy of the

product, which can take months. I would also consider the possibility of service

outages and whether they would drastically affect the performance of my

business.

1. What are the most popular applications on App Exchange? What kinds of processes

do they support?
 Brandon Collopy
MIS 220 2:30p
February 23, 2010

The three most popular paid applications are: Conga Composer, DreamTeam

Project Management, and VerticalResponse for App Exchange. Conga Composer

allows one to quickly generate custom quotes, service contracts, and/or account

plans. It automatically gathers data and organizes it in a visually pleasing way so

that manual compilation of data is not required. DreamTeam Project Management

is a team collaboration application that utilizes collaborative calendaring, project

management, document management, and project time and expense. Individual

contributors can create tasks, mark them as complete and log expenses. A user

can also create and manage projects, tasks, and resources that others can view and

reform. VerticalResponse for App Exchange allows users to create targeted e-mail

and direct mail campaigns by quickly creating mailing lists, easily creating e-mail

campaigns with themed templates, and viewing statistics on responses of e-mails.

2. Could a company run its entire business using Salesforce.com and App Exchange?

Explain your answer.

A company could run its entire business using the combination of Salesforce.com

and App Exchange. Salesforce.com supports applications or add-ons that are

capable of the following functions: Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, Finance and

Administration, Human Resources. The latter functions are the necessities to run a

business. App Exchange also allows functions like IT Management and Partner

Relationship Management. These functions add to the list of services that are

necessary or beneficial to running a business.

3. What kinds of companies are most likely to use App Exchange? What does this tell

you about how Salesforce.com is being used?

 Brandon Collopy
MIS 220 2:30p
February 23, 2010

Companies that do more than resell or distribute products or information would

use App Exchange. App Exchange provides services that are not available on the

standard interface of Salesforce.com. Salesforce.com provides the necessary

services for tracking sales information and completing related tasks; however,

App Exchange is necessary to do anything more than sales tasks. App Exchange

provides services for companies ranging from Education to Health Care to Real

Estate. Salesforce.com, since the release of App Exchange in 2005, is being used

for more than its primary purpose of sales functions. Every business process is

now being conducted on Salesforce.com.