Earlier this year, salesforce.com acquired Radian6, the largest social media monitoring solution available. This Wednesday at Cloudforce NYC, salesforce.com announced the Social Marketing Cloud, powered by Radian6 technologies to help companies manage their brand presence across a variety of social media platforms. The Social Marketing Cloud is comprised of 5 core services: Social Monitoring, Social Insights, Social Engagements, Social Hub, and Social Websites. These services are optional to salesforce.com customers, and pricing varies depending on how many features of the Social Marketing Cloud you want to use.

• Salesforce.com Steps Past CRM, Into Social Marketing

Force.com is launching a Code Cookbook Contest this month. Submit a Best Practice or Code Sample recipe to the Force.com Cookbook site by December 31st for the chance to win a MacBook air. Recipes will be judged by how helpful the code is, if it solves a new problem, and if it is a good example of how to implement a solution. The winner of the Code Cookbook Contest will be announced mid-January.

• Get Cooking Cookbook Contest

Another exciting announcement that came out of Cloudforce NYC: AppExchange Mobile, so you can bring the power of Salesforce to your phone or tablet. All you have to do is go to www.appexchange.com on your mobile device to access AppExchange Mobile, as it will tailor to your device and operating system.”Salesforce apps like Chatter mobile, Dashboards and Salesforce Mobile bring the power of the social enterprise to your mobile device.” There are nearly 40 applications to chose from, both free and paid, with more to surely come.

• Salesforce.com Launched AppExchange Mobile, a Marketplace for the Mobile Enterprise

Currently, 70% of businesses already use cloud computing solutions, and that number is expected to rise. What will 2012 bring? Blaisdell argues that hybrid and private cloud adoption will begin to dominate, security will continue to be a high priority, and IT departments will start researching the cloud for more solutions. Ultimately, the way we work could quite possibly be changing forever, with the increase in mobile applications, the freedom the cloud gives us to work wherever we want, and the ease in which we communicate. What are your 2012 cloud predictions?

• Business in the Clouds in 2012

Still trying to decide whether the cloud is right for your business? Bellamy lists 5 points to consider when playing with the idea of cloud computing. First and foremost, lower cost of ownership. The cloud can be significantly more cost-effective for your business, so you can put that money to other business uses, like growing. Secondly, the cloud is dependable, and if there is ever an emergency, people are there all day, every day, to help, which can give you a piece of mind. Moreover, the cloud is scalable, and can be easily adjusted to meet the needs of your growing company. Lastly, the cloud is both mobile and future-proofing. The cloud allows you to access your data from anywhere, and whether you like change or not, this is the way of the future.

• Is Cloud Computing For You? Five Points to Consider