Earlier this month saleforce.com announced their Analytics Edition, an add-on service that would be released in Spring ’12. Customers then became upset over this announcement, and argued over social media that the analytics capabilities included in this new release should be available at no additional cost. Well, salesforce.com listened, and responded: “We got it wrong, and we sincerely apologize to our customers.” Clearly the Social Enterprise does make a difference. Hey, maybe your company should start taking advantage of the Social Enterprise?

• Salesforce.com Yields to Pressure Over Analytics Pricing

Have you rolled out Chatter yet in your organization? Becka offers some great advice on how she rolled out Chatter at her company. First, she allowed power users to get comfortable with Chatter in a sandbox environment for two months. This way, they could test it out, gather thoughts and feedback, and discuss best practices. During the end of this period, they began implementing a Chatter teaser campaign to all the end users to get them excited and interested. This campaign included videos on Chatter and a link to register for their Chatter training session. Once they thought it was ready for full implementation, they did a weekend launch to reduce the impact on users, and it was pretty darn smooth.

• Chatter Round 2

On Tuesday, salesforce.com launched Desk.com, “a savvy customer support application that connects agents with e-mail, phone calls, and social channels;” the application allows for simple management of customer questions and feedback. Desk.com speaks to smaller and medium sized businesses by providing them with cloud-based customer support management. Initial setup is easy, and customers can quickly begin handling questions from phone calls, email, and social media. Desk.com is built on Assistly, which salesforce.com acquired in 2011.

• Salesforce Launches Desk.com, Slick Social Customer Support Software Based on Assistly

There is a long-standing discussion going on in the Salesforce.com Professional Network LinkedIn Group regarding expense management applications. James Sankpill, current Salesforce user, asked current users what applications they prefer to use for expense management. Answers have danced around apps such as Expensify, Concurforce, and our favorite budget application, Marketing Budget Management. Not to brag, but we think MBM has the best solution out there at the most reasonable price. So James (and anyone else looking for a budget application) don’t forget to check out Marketing Budget Management on the AppExchange.

• Please Recommend an Expense Management App From the AppExchange

TechWeek, a week long event in Chicago dedicated to technology innovation, released panel and presentation submissions this week! Now it’s your time to vote and give the panels a green arrow or a red arrow. And while you’re voting, make sure to pay attention to Delivered Innovation’s TechWeek panels: “Growing up on the Cloud,” and “To Like or Not to Like: Should Your Company Turn to Social?” TechWeek will be held on June 22-26, and you can purchase tickets here.

• TechWeek 2012: SessionCast

Delivered Innovation is partnering with the Illinois Technology Association to hold our next event, State of the Cloud 2012. Join our CTO, Mike Topalovich, Brad DeSent, Consultant and Founder of Apex Consulting Group, Inc., and Chris Kabat, VP of Connected Business Systems at MPS Partners, as they discuss the evolving cloud computing landscape, the shifts in cloud technology, and provide examples of how companies are deploying these new technologies. It’s free, so join us!

• State of the Cloud 2012: Free Event at the ITA!

AppExchange released the top 11 Salesforce applications in 2011, as ranked by “glowing customer reviews” in their categories. Some of the winners include Marketo Sales Insight for “Best ChatterExchange,” ProvenWorks CountryComplete Free v2 for “Best Data Cleansing App,” and Jobscience Recruiting for “Best Human Resources and Recruiting App.” Check out the 11 applications to see if any can be of use to your organization. And hey, while you’re at it, check out Marketing Budget Management as well, it’s our favorite budgeting application. Maybe we’ll see that one on the list next year?

• AppExchange Customer Choice Award Winners 2011

Wanted Analytics, a talent research firm, reported that there has been a 61% increase in cloud computing-related jobs in the past year. Even more impressive, San Francisco had a 95% increase in cloud computing jobs. Other cities with cloud computing jobs in demand include New York, DC, and Seattle. Supply and demand for cloud computing jobs is not being met; so, if you’re considering a career change, perhaps you should look towards the cloud.

• Cloud Hiring Reaches New Heights

Congratulations to the newest round of Force.com MVPs. The MVP program is set in place to highlight individuals that provide outstanding service to the community, show leadership, and stewardship. As Force.com states, “MVPs are people who widely disseminate their knowledge as well as actively interfacing with and shaping the community.” Congrats, winners!

• The Next Round of Force.com MVPs!

Salesforce is more than just a CRM system, it can be used as a platform to develop a variety of custom applications quickly. The platform (Force.com) is reliable, doesn’t require on-premise software and infrastructure, and applications can be developed quickly and efficiently. Additionally, Salesforce is linked to the AppExchange, where there are already hundreds of pre-built applications, some of which are even free. If you’re looking for custom application development, let us know if we can help.

• Salesforce as Your Strategic Cloud Platform?

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

Model Metrics identifies the top five cloud computing priorities for 2011. “The cloud has taken a new shape in 2011. It’s no longer just moving business processes to the cloud; it’s about deploying cutting edge mobile and social apps that enable businesses to change the way their employees work.” Their priorities include designing cloud apps that are more mobile, take advantage of social enterprise technologies, transition your business process to the cloud, design cloud apps that drive adoption, and deploy globally, customize locally.

• Model Metrics Identifies Top Five Enterprise Cloud Computing Priorities

The cloud has allowed companies to grow rapidly without major expenses. It is now easier than ever before to start your own business and do what used to be impossible. It is now easier for companies to be self sufficient with less vendor intervention. “The advent of cloud solutions is allowing companies to maximize their operations by having the software available as SaaS.” They can use this to modify their existing suppliers, carriers, distances, routes, etc, which was otherwise performed by a third party.

• SaaS and Cloud Computing Enables Customer Self Service

Salesforce.com is more than just CRM, it is the basis for which companies run their business on. With Force.com, companies can customize their salesforce.com to do more than just CRM. For example, companies can manage their budgets with apps such as Marketing Budget Management, can connect to colleagues over the world with Chatter, and manage their schedules with CalenderAnything. Those are just three apps available on the AppExchange, with hundreds added every month, and even more when you count private applications that companies such as ourselves design. Don’t call salesforce.com “overhyped” just because you hear about it frequently- there is a reason why salesforce.com is frequently talked about and praised.

• Why Do You Still Doubt Salesforce.com?

This article has a similar point as the previous one. Instead of calling cloud talk “hype,” this author refers to cloud computing talk as “fog.” “Fog” refers to both hype and discussion about the hype (much like what this article is providing). You cannot really know if the cloud hype is built up too much or genuine; however, if the cloud was not useful, the hype would have faded away by now.

• Don’t Dismiss Cloud Computing Hype; Creative Fog is What Makes Cloud Work

I’ll admit it, what attracted me to this article was the title. Fortunately, it has some good points in it as well. A lot of people get simple cloud computing and SaaS confused. The “cloud” is the broader term, whereas SaaS is specific to the service being offered. SaaS is a business application that runs on the cloud, usually with a price. This article names iTunes as an example of a non-cloud SaaS, but that’s really not the the best example seeing as anything that is not in the cloud is in no way SaaS. Stronger examples include Google Docs, Dropbox.com, or Spotify (the priced, cloud version). The best example though will always be salesforce.com.

• Are You on Cloud Nine, or Just Sitting on Your SaaS?

An overview of all the Salesforce and Force.com articles posted from the previous week.

Enterprise Practices at Dreamforce ’11
@forcedotcom
Learn more at Dreamforce about using Force.com in an enterprise setting.

Ruby 1.9.2 Install Errors with Mac OS X Lion and RVM
@jeffdontthemic
How to fix an installation error with Ruby Version Manager and Mac OS X Lion

Xcollections: Using UDT with Map & Set in Apex!
@abhinavguptas
XCollections: favorites, what it’s missing, limitations, code structure, rode map, etc…

Apex Rest Webinar Recording Now Available
@cloudysan
Alex Toussaint’s Apex REST webinar is now available to view, as well as an FAQ to find out additional information.

Check Out the NEW Developer Marketplace!
@Salesforce
Check out the new Force.com Developer Marketplace, where you can easily connect with other Force.com developers.

Poll Component for Salesforce
@sfunearthed
A sample code to insert a poll into salesforce.com.

AppQuest ’11: The Innovation Will be Televised
@forcedotcom
AppQuest ’11 will be televised via YouTube at Dreamforce. Make sure you check out the apps and vote for your favorite one.

This month, Delivered Innovation is officially launching our newly designed website, built entirely on the Force.com cloud computing platform. Force.com allows companies such as DI to design, build, and host their own websites on the Force.com platform from salesforce.com. Our website now leverages Force.com technology such as VisualForce, Apex code, and content management system (CMS) designed using a custom Force.com data model. All content is written in 140 character “tweets,” to keep content brief and to the point, as well as create an experience that will be familiar to Twitter and Chatter users. Feedback is welcome.

• Delivered Innovation Launches New Force.com Sites Website, Built and Hosted on the Force.com Platform

Salesforce.com, along with Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures, and others invested in HubSpot’s recent round of fundraising. Hubspot helps companies manage their website and generate leads. Their revenue is up $10 million from a year ago, hosting 4,000 customers who use HubSpot to manage their website and generate leads. “HubSpot helps businesses build blogs and engage directly with customers via social networks.” Users can use both Salesforce and HubSpot together, pulling resources from both to utilize the cloud effectively.

• HubSpot Takes $32 Million Investment From Sequoia, Google Centures and Salesforce
  

Backupify launched Cloudsight this week, a private beta feature which combines the use of backing up documents in the cloud and allowing users to search through those documents. Cloudsight works with Backupify to make cloud-based backup more innovative and appealing for users. “In short, it’s not enough to have search in the cloud; you have to be able to manage and manipulate the data across services whenever you want.” Cloudsight is only available to Backupify users and can be activated once they back-up their data.

• Backupify Adds Search to Cloud Backup Service

In a recent study for “Leaders in the Cloud,” 43% of executives estimated that cloud-based services and products will dominate their revenue by 81-100% in the next five years. Additionally, “61% of respondents from companies with revenues less than $250 million are driving towards cloud-dominated business in five years.” Companies that want to stay ahead are already adapting to the cloud, but for the most part cloud services and PaaS are still in its infancy.

• Cloud Leaders Face a Changing Tide

Many businesses are using private cloud services rather than public, assuming these are safer than third-party public alternatives. However, private cloud services are just as exposed to security threats as public services. When it comes down to it, it is the architecture of the infrastructure that really matters; “Public cloud providers that offer sophisticated controls can outperform many enterprise data centers,” and can often provide more value than private cloud providers.

• Making the Public Cloud Your Own

March Madness has managed to weasel its way into Salesforce, as if it were only a matter of time. Users can install the “Brackets” application through the Salesforce AppExchange to make predictions, connect with other basketball-loving coworkers, and see how your predictions rank compared to other’s. With applications such as this, Salesforce really is the single source of data that all users will ever truly need, basketball lover or not.

• Brackets Brings March Madness Tourny Time to Force.com