This summer, salesforce.com has begun offering the Force.com Free Edition, a “light” version of their Force.com platform enabling customers to build applications and run websites using salesforce.com’s cloud-based resources.  With this offering, clients are given a set of tools to build and deploy their first cloud computing application to up to 100 users.  Clients will also have some free access to Force.com Sites, salesforce.com’s recent addition to their cloud platform, which allows companies to build and run public-facing websites using their platform.  Clients using the free edition will get up to 250,000 pages views per month, as well as 10 custom objects/custom database tables per user, a sandbox development environment, online training, and a library of free application templates.

MK Partners loves this idea! This is the perfect solution for a small startup, medium-sized nonprofit, or just a low-budget initiative in any sized company.

For more information on salesforce.com’s Force.com Free Edition, check out this article.

A few weeks ago, salesforce.com and Google announced another significant step forward in their longstanding partnership with the new release of Force.com for Google App Engine.  This new offering is another win for cloud computing, providing developers with the ability to create and build applications entirely in the cloud using both salesforce.com and Google’s cloud computing platforms.  The new Force.com for Google App Engine has a whole host of new features, including Java language support and the ability for App Engine developers to easily access many Force.com services and capabilities.  In addition, it also includes other features such as an open source SOAP Web Service client and the ability for Google’s apps to read and write to Force.com using the Force.com SOAP API. 

Salesforce.com and Google have been partnering together since 2003, when they first worked together on google.org.  Since then, they’ve embarked upon a number of joint ventures together, including the integration of Google Apps and Google AdWords with salesforce.com’s CRM application.  The two organizations are a good fit, with their cloud computing technology models, their subscription-based business models, and their commitment to philanthropy.  For more information on their latest partnership in the new release of Force.com for Google App Engine, check out this article.

In our current economic climate, it’s critical to assess your internal business processes from time to time, and evaluate how to reduce costs while still increasing productivity and efficiency.  In addition to deploying CRM solutions like salesforce.com to accomplish this feat, many companies big and small have begun using Google Apps for their productivity and messaging needs.  Google Apps enables employees to stay connected through messaging apps like Google Calendar and Gmail, which includes voice, video, and IM capabilities.  It also increases productivity and facilitates the sharing of company information through collaboration apps like Google Docs, Google Video, and Google Sites.  Check out the Google Apps site for more information on the rich set of features included with Google Apps.

At $50 per user for a year, Google’s Premier Edition for businesses offers an affordable solution to organizations of all sizes.  Furthermore, its web-based platform eliminates the need for businesses to spend exorbitantly on hardware, software, and ongoing maintenance.  As part of their longtime partnership, Google and salesforce.com have developed Salesforce for Google Apps, integrating the two applications and allowing you to access Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Docs all from within Salesforce.  For all of these reasons, many larger corporations have begun adopting Google Apps internally.  At MK Partners, we use it in conjunction with salesforce.com quite extensively, enabling us to stay connected all the time and share key information with each other easily.

For more information on implementing Google Apps within your organization and syncing it with salesforce.com, contact us at sales@mkpartners.com.

In these tough economic times, many businesses are looking internally for ways to cut costs and streamline their business processes to remain competitive in the marketplace.  It’s more important now than ever to make sound investments in the right technology to ensure the ongoing success of your business, which is why so many companies are turning to the cloud for their business needs.  Cloud computing offers companies scalability and economies of scale without having to contend with the high costs of hardware, software, and an ongoing support staff to maintain them.

Salesforce.com’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud computing platform is not only enabling companies to scale back on costly technical solutions while increasing efficiency, but it’s helping them increase revenue, profit margins, and customer satisfaction.  Check out this article to see how companies are growing their businesses with salesforce.com’s CRM solution.

How are you changing your business processes to adapt to the current economic climate?