In my previous blog post I touched on the different
cloud offerings from Salesforce.com. They do so via Platform as a service
(PAAS), which is the driving force behind their cloud applications. Aptly named
Force.com, this is the perfect solution/platform for building robust cloud
applications on salesforce.com that can be used internally to support the
business flow of your organization or can be published in the AppExchange as
a package for other users to benefit from.
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Force.com: Everything in Salesforce.com, right from Sales cloud, Service
cloud, Data.com etc. can be leveraged off the PAAS offering called
FORCE.COM. It offers very high customization that no other CRM/ Platform
on the cloud offers, with umpteen number of tools and features available out of
the box, which are easily customizable by an end user with no
programming background. If you opt for a force.com solution, be aware that the CRM
functionality does not come built in (but can be created from scratch to mimic
the original offering) unless you go all out for the unlimited edition.
Customization of force.com is usually done by
two roles: The Administrator and the Developer.
Administrators are responsible for creating security settings and
enabling/disabling features in your Salesforce ORG (instance), they also setup Workflows,
Business automation approval processes, Sharing rules, Team allocation, Adding
users etc and will be responsible for the ORG in general. Needless to
say, it is critical to have an experienced Administrator for this role.
Developers on the other hand, are responsible for leveraging the true
potential of the platform by writing Apex classes and Triggers.
Apex is the proprietary language that force.com platform provides for
interaction with its Objects and Metadata. The declarative construction of the
application in Salesforce is very stable and reliable but has its limits and
constraints. That is where Apex kicks in and bends the platform to yield to the
complex business scenarios.
E.g. CRM can handle leads/ contacts, but when
your business is in Recruiting or real estate, we’ll need a lot of
customization like sending an interview request or an online written test to
the candidate or show a layout and customize it, which is not possible through
the normal point and click actions of an Administrator. This is when Force.com
Apex Classes, Visual force pages, Controllers etc. are written by developers to
achieve the functionality.
Force.com Platform also allows you integrate
existing applications in your organization and merge it either by reusing
existing apps or by writing Custom Web services to interact with your web
application. Web services can also be used to pull data relevant to your business
like stock quotes of a particular account from yahoo, or the map location of your candidate from Google maps
API etc…
The possibilities are endless. Hope this helps
shed some light on the Force.com Platform from Salesforce.com.
