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Salesforce Essay

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SALESF0RCE.COM:
SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE GOES MAINSTREAM
Salesforce.com has been considered one of the most disruptive technology companies of the past few years and is credited with single-handedly shaking up the software industry with its innovative business model and resounding success. This company provides CRM solutions in the form of 'software-as-a-service' leased over the Internet, as opposed to software bought and installed on machines locally. It was founded in 1999 by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff, and has since grown to 2,600 employees and earned $748 million in revenue in 2007.
Salesforce.com has over 43,000 corporate customers and well over 1 million subscribers.
Salesforce.com attributes its …show more content…

However, it's still too soon to tell whether this prediction will turn out to be true. Salesforce faces significant challenges as it continues to grow and refine its business.

The first challenge comes from increased competition, both from traditional industry leaders and new challengers hoping to replicate Salesforce's success. Microsoft, SAP, and Oracle have rolled out subscription-based versions of their CRM products in response to Salesforce. Smaller competitors like NetSuite also have made some inroads against Salesforce's market share.
Analysts predict that Microsoft has a chance to compete with Salesforce by developing merely an acceptable on-demand CRM product, because of the average customer's already-established familiarity with Microsoft applications. Also, Microsoft plans to offer their product at half the price of Salesforce.com, using a tactic they have employed with great effect in other marketplaces to pressure their competitors. Salesforce.com still has plenty of catching up to do to reach the size and market share of their larger competitors. As of 2007, SAP's CRM market share was 25.7 percent, compared to only 7 percent for Salesforce.com. IBM's customer base includes 9,000 software companies that run their applications on their software and that are likelier to choose a solution offered by IBM over Salesforce.com.
Another challenge for Salesforce.com is to expand its business model into other

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