DevOps Engineer at Apptegy
Real User
Provides a preferred method of backing up data
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution provides a preferred method of backing up data."

    What is our primary use case?

    Salesforce Platform can be used with Amazon. 

    What is most valuable?

    The solution provides a preferred method of backing up data.

    I also consider the interface to be a valuable feature. 

    What needs improvement?

     We have yet to encounter any areas of the solution in need of improvement. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The licensing is on an annual basis. It is expensive. The license is the only fee we incur. 

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    What other advice do I have?

    We do not have plans to migrate. 

    I rate Salesforce Platform as a nine out of ten. 

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Senior Developer at jarvis
    Real User
    Offers good integration and has good stability
    Pros and Cons
    • "Features they are integrating to the other services."
    • "They need an easy way of getting details and then adding to it and then being able to do it in a more simplified way"

    What is our primary use case?

    We use the mobile application, the Lightning application. We use it with consulting and integrating the different products like vCloud or integration with Google. There are some that we do production also. Everything is on mobile now. So we use mobile apps and then we develop those applications. It's a Cloud browser and device support that we are doing the programming. So basically now we are developing that in the Lightning Application, where we can. That is based on the event architecture and by the company's controller, we write those according to that. We develop the programming that will go to the software, we need to have the APEX programming materials for the IBM system, or with Lightning RAWC, who with integration we need to go with other configuration tools. So there are a lot of things that need to be captured in developing the project.

    What is most valuable?

    They also have features they are integrating to the other services or managing the technical management or you can go with the integration point of view and you can able to, in the build tool, do the configuring of those things in terms of other approvals or like customization. And you can include the time bond overflows for the emails. So all these parts come from the Salesforce only. So Appian does not have it, it comes with that only and now we are able to do it.

    What needs improvement?

    If you compare it with Appian, there are business rules that you are dealing with. With less code, we are making a higher standard. So maybe, in the future, Salesforce can make it a more integral part of the application. And they are also strategic partners with multiple companies, so maybe that is the reason they are sustainable and they the four versions every year. These things likely depend upon robotics programming and they use the latest technologies for a more stable portal. So we need to be more cautious about the coding and so data file would be more stable. But as a partner, there will be some time-taking process to make it up in the implementation. When you compare with Appian, they have to improve more on configuration and more systematic care, configuring by itself and if they are making other things in the area that they update. 

    The process should be automatically approved. They should also configure the maps that we initial use. I think the alerts can be used differently, or customize the targeted content mills can also be automated. Those things can also be included in Salesforce. I was looking at this map that needs to be included. Like a world map. An easy way of getting those details and then adding to it and then being able to do it in a more simplified way, visually.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used Salesforce App Cloud for two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Stability is more than adequate. It takes a number of developers to handle that currently. Most of the people don't know that a lot of features are developed with rules. Unless you are a developer you won't be able to design it currently. So it's easy to do a mini-platform now with Salesforce. That may be the strategy, but if it is having combined information within one platform, it is stable.

    How was the initial setup?

    At first, the setup can be difficult. But once we get it deployed and get our tools implemented it is more automated. We have now set up a solution that allows us to easily deploy quickly. So once you understand the coding program, then it was easier for them to deploy. It usually takes about a month to deploy.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate the Salesforce Cloud App at an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Other
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Salesforce Platform
    March 2024
    Learn what your peers think about Salesforce Platform. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Luís Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
    Chief Technical Lead at Human Code
    Real User
    Top 10
    A reliable solution that helps us focus on business rather than technology
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable features are quick customization, solid deployment processes, and excellent reliability."
    • "The cost of data storage is an issue once the company grows."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use this solution for the support of business sales and service processes.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It has allowed the company to focus on Business and not in Technology.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable features are quick customization, solid deployment processes, and excellent reliability.

    What needs improvement?

    The cost of data storage is an issue once the company grows. The last time I checked a Gigabyte of structured data (tables) cost 3000 usd per month.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Ten years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Very stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    With decent developers (governor-limits in Salesforce can be quite a challenge for newbies) Salesforce scales easily.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    All problems solve within a reasonable timeframe. Best support comes from the community which is great.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Used Zoho CRM and also tested others. The flexibility and ecosystem for Salesforce is unmatched. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The learning curve for the initial setup can be difficult if you don't have professional help. Once the basics are learned getting things done is mostly a problem of process.

    What about the implementation team?

    In house

    What was our ROI?

    Less than a year

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Carefully study the user licencing possibilites and make adequate choices based on real needs (must have vs nice-to-have).

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?


    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Netsuite Specialist at a recreational facilities/services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
    Real User
    Marketing and Sales lead, Forecasting, Campaign management.
    Pros and Cons
    • "Marketing and Sales Lead, Forecasting, Campaign management."
    • "Areas of improvement can be around Engagement of Customers feature and approvals of transactional records."

    What is most valuable?

    Marketing and Sales Lead, Forecasting, Campaign management.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We have different sets of businesses: B2B and B2C. So depending on business users and requirement, we were dealing with their requirements of creating leads, managing forecasting and all. So Salesforce has helped us customising the system as per business user needs.

    What needs improvement?

    Areas of improvement can be around Engagement of Customers feature and approvals of transactional records.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Two years

    What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

    There was no Issues in deployment because we haven't customised Salesforce much for our users. Instead, we focused on using standard Salesforce and integrating it with Netsuite.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    No issues with stability.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We didn't encourage scalability because we were had Netsuite, which we already customized so much. So, we decided to keep Salesforce simple enough to just store customer data and help capturing forecasting.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Customer Service:

    A three out of 10.

    Technical Support:

    A two out of 10.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    No. We just decided to use Salesforce as a CRM system as its Forecasting and Marketing Lead is a good module to work with.

    How was the initial setup?

    We used standard Salesforce, so setup wasn't complex.

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented through an in-house team

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Pricing and license differ and depend on how much license you are purchasing from them.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We didn't evaluated any system at that time. But after Salesforce got implemented, we tried evaluating other systems as well

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Process Specialist - Operational Excellence at a government with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Flexible, highly scalable, and reliable
    Pros and Cons
    • "One of the main features of the solution is it is flexible."
    • "The reporting needs improvement and the dashboard could have more components added."

    What is our primary use case?

    This solution can be used for managing customer relations.

    What is most valuable?

    One of the main features of the solution is it is flexible.

    What needs improvement?

    The reporting needs improvement and the dashboard could have more components added.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using the solution for three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have found the solution to be stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is scalable and it is one of its best features.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The technical support has been fine.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend this solution to others.

    I rate Salesforce Platform a nine out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
    Consultant
    The technical support is effective and fast and the program is very stable
    Pros and Cons
    • "We haven't had any issues with stability so far."
    • "I would like to have integration with Google."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our primary use case for Salesforce App Cloud is to make assertions that I personalize, based on the information that the companies have in their systems. 

    What needs improvement?

    I would like to see an improvement in the price - it could be cheaper. Also, I would like to have more integration with Google.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Salesforce App Cloud for three to four years now.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We haven't had any issues with stability so far.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I believe Salesforce App Cloud is a scalable solution.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The technical support is very good and they respond very fast.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is really straightforward. You can deploy it yourself, or you can make use of a consultant.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend this solution to others and I will recommend that they use all the other SalesForce products. If their primary business use case is covered by Salesforce App Cloud, they should start there. If they have other business cases, they should definitely use other Salesforce products to see if that is covered.

    Additional features that I would like to see included in the next release is more integration with Google. On a scale of one to ten, I will rate this solution a nine. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user8508 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Industry Analyst at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
    Consultant
    Salesforce Takes on Mobile App Development Cloud-style
    Salesforce today announced ‘Salesforce Platform Mobile Services’, its response to the market opportunity around mobile application development. Salesforce Platform Mobile Services should smooth the development of mobile enterprise app creation and comes with support for analytics, secure access control (single-sign on based on Salesforce Identity) and other libraries of tools. As part of the ‘Mobile Services’ offering, Salesforce is rolling out a new Mobile SDK (availability announced for June) and what the company calls ‘Developer Mobile Packs’, an enriched set of Mobile APIs based on open source (ie popular JavaScript frameworks) that should enable developers to access real-time Salesforce data. -- Value & Differentiation -- PAC believes that the integration and access of real-time Salesforce data is a key benefit and strategic differentiator for the company against other emerging mobile application development environments (eg IBM, SAP, Oracle). The ecosystem and marketplace developed around the AppExchange platform gives Salesforce substantial competitive advantage. The company already has a very lively ecosystem of ISVs and developers building on its platform. So far, over threee million custom apps have been developed on the Salesforce Platform, a significant number irrespective of the level of depth of enterprise functionality put into these apps. This is particularly relevant as Salesforce’s app development environment is Cloud-native, giving it an extra advantage over other enterprise-grade mobile SDKs. -- Placement in Portfolio -- Salesforce Platform is not yet a monolithic platform, consisting of sub-branches like force.com, Heroku, database.com, AppExchange, etc. PAC learned that Salesforce Platform Mobile Services will be an extension of force.com. -- From Apex to Open Java? -- The emphasis on open source signals that Salesforce may gradually move away from Apex, its proprietary Java-based variant, towards a more open Java environment. The development activity seen on Heroku may influence the transition to open Java for force.com in the future. Out of the 3 million custom apps developed on Salesforce’s platforms, 2.7 million were developed on Heroku, and 360,000 on force.com. This may indicate that the odds may be in favor of open Java versus Apex in the long term. -- Mobile Apps vs Traditional Apps -- Of the 3 million custom apps built up to now on the Salesforce platform, it is not easy to quantify the proportion of mobile apps. Salesforce used to look at this market in a holistic manner, partly because many apps have been developed for multiple-device / universal environments. The ‘Mobile Services’ offering should help Salesforce differentiate between mobile apps development and traditional application development, as mobile and non-mobile application experiences will diverge more and more. -- Pricing -- It is still an early stage for ‘Salesforce Platform Mobile Services’ and not all of its parameters have been clearly set. Interesting questions arise as to how/if the company will monetize mobile application development (e.g. would it charge for app development as in Heroku’s PaaS environment) and what revenue opportunities could Salesforce derive from ‘Mobile Services’ (e.g., charging for development and integration, charging for hosting and secure mobile app control/ management, etc). -- Channel & Services -- In order to get traction in the Consulting & Integration arena, Salesforce plans to support adoption of ‘Mobile Services’ with a dedicated training program for the channel. The program already features some of the strongest names in the SI space like Accenture, Capgemini and Deloitte. With such partners on board, Salesforce’s credentials in mobile app development should be reinforced with large enterprise clients. In addition, as these providers have a global presence, the message should get through in all relevant geographies.
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user8367 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Senior Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    The Force.com Sweet Spot

    When Cloud Sherpas helps a customer move to the cloud, we usually see the customer move in phases. Recently, we’ve observed a growing trend among enterprise companies, who — having seen positive results from an initial cloud implementation — give us a call a few months later, eager for advice on which areas of their business landscape to address next.

    We hear questions like…

    • We’ve moved much of our Sales & Marketing functions to the cloud. Which other areas of our business should we now move to the cloud?
    • I have a long tail of apps to deliver this year. Which ones will best leverage the strengths of the force.com platform?
    • Our employees are demanding better mobile access and the ability to much more easily collaborate at work. How can we support them?

    As a Platinum Salesforce.com partner and the world’s leading Google apps cloud service provider, we work with two of the biggest heavyweights in both business and cloud computing.

    The article that follows focuses on Cloud Sherpas’ capabilities related to Salesforce.com, where many of our customers — and businesses, generally — begin their cloud journeys.

    Like many members of our industry, I think it’s safe to assume that Sales Cloud and Service Cloud — Salesforce.com’s core CRM and Customer Service offerings, respectively — combined, serve as the gateway for many businesses to an even more extensive presence in the cloud.

    Force.com, the world’s leading cloud platform for business apps, offers the infrastructure upon which both Sales Cloud and Service Cloud are built, and if you happen to be using either solution, Force.com may be the next logical destination on your company’s journey further into the cloud.

    Force.com hosts more than 200,000 business applications from both Salesforce.com partners and independent software vendors.

    For larger organizations ready to ‘make the migration,’ the smartest strategy is often to begin by first buffering inflexible legacy applications with a layer of dynamic cloud solutions that facilitate a more agile and collaborative business process than would be possible using a non-cloud-based solution. These ‘Volatile Applications,’ as they are sometimes referred to, give both users and ISVs the ability to adapt, scale and evolve quickly — a key selling point for building and hosting applications on the force.com platform.

    Listed below are the four “sweet spots” we’ve seen for businesses using the force.com platform:

    1. Sharing new or existing information with a wider audience

    Force.com’s single platform and granular access control can be used to rapidly provide access to multiple user groups. Businesses can customize the level of access granted to any number of user types, allowing customers to self-serve by provisioning access to a comprehensive knowledge base, for example, while dedicating other areas of their solution to sales and service information accessible only to key partners and vendors.

    2. Anything that needs to be mobile or collaborative

    All apps that are built on Force.com have built-in features that leverage Chatter — salesforce.com’s cross-platform compatible enterprise collaboration tool —  and are thus available on most popular mobile devices.

    3. Managing user-driven business processes

    Process-oriented apps are a popular use case for force.com apps, as they leverage the business service layer of the force platform with workflow, approvals and custom code. Typical apps have covered Recruiting, Bug Tracking, Expense Management and Procurement.

    4. Rebuilding simple ‘desktop’ apps

    Force.com’s secure, reliable and scalable infrastructure allows for a much more organic approach to product lifecycle management. Unencumbered by native, platform-specific development requirements, businesses can leverage Force.com’s flexible Web-based platform to build — and build onto — any application. For example, say you and a few team members create a simple software application that serves as little more than a project discussion board but quickly grows into a central database for resources that would logically be available to all employees. In this scenario, on Force.com, it wouldn’t take much to take what started as just a spreadsheet and turn it into a robust, enterprise-ready, collaborative application for the whole organisation.

    These are just a few highlights of the types of apps we see businesses creating with the  force.com platform.

    Where have you found a sweet spot for the force.com platform?

    Disclosure: The company I work for is partners with several vendors including Salesforce

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user4401 - PeerSpot reviewer
    it_user4401Developer at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Vendor

    As a pro, I would say that Salesforce Platform is built with a broad range of development tools, so it is easier for developers to create applications using those tools. Another pro is that the used programming language is Apex, which is very similar to Java and C# and includes traditional C-style syntax.


    As a con, I would add that some developers and vendors may not want to commit to a proprietary development environment that does not have the established reputation and maturity as Java or Microsoft.NET.

    Buyer's Guide
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    Updated: March 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Salesforce Platform Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.