Jeff Kaplan of THINKstrategies and SnapLogic VP of Marketing Darren Cunningham discuss this year's Dreamforce including highlights, such as the announcement of Salesforce1, and some actionable insights around Salesforce application and data integration using the SnapLogic Integration Cloud.
To learn more, visit: http://www.snaplogic.com/.
20. We’re 100% focused on delivering faster
application, process and data integration in a single
cloud platform.
- Gaurav Dhillon, SnapLogic Founder and CEO
App Integration
Real-Time
Events
Guaranteed
Data Integration
Batch
Analytics
Scheduled
21. •
•
•
•
•
Traditional approaches to integration are no longer
adequate when you have literally dozens of SaaS
applications, all needing to talk to each other.
Jeff Kaplan is the Managing Director of THINKstrategies, the only strategic consulting firm focused entirely on the business implications of the transition of the technology industry from a product-centric to services-driven solution model, including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing and Managed Services. THINKstrategies helps IT/business decision-makers with their sourcing strategies; solution providers with their go-to-market strategies; and venture firms with their investment strategies. Kaplan is also the Founder of the Cloud Computing Showplace (www.cloudshowplace.com), the largest, vendor-independent, online directory and best practice resource center regarding SaaS, Platforms-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), including Managed Services. Kaplan is also the host of the Cloud Innovators Summit executive forum series, including the Cloud Channel Summit and Cloud Analytics Summit. Kaplan has over 30 years of experience in the high tech market. He can be reached at jkaplan@thinkstrategies.com or 781-431-2690.
Darren: So, Jeff let’s set the stage for what we saw @ DF. What are the key market trends you see that drove many of the announcements @ the event?Jeff: Consumerization, corporate efforts to regain control while encouraging greater innovation and customer engagement.
Darren: So, what does SFDC mean when they talk about the ‘Internet of Customers’ and how does this relate to their past campaigns re: the social enterprise and the customer-driven company?Jeff: Marc Benioff admitted @ DF that SFDC’s past campaigns failed to connect with its target audiences and rather than throw those ideas aside it is now tying them together with today’s fascination with the broader idea of the ‘Internet of Things’.
Darren: How does SFDC’s new Salesforce1 relate to the ‘Internet of Customers’ and SFDC’s previous generation of platform offerings such as Force.com, Heroku, Touch, Apex, etc.?Jeff: Once again, Benioff and Parker Harris admitted that SFDC’s customers were getting confused about all the development tools SFDC was offering and they admitted that the tools didn’t tie together very well. So, Salesforce1 is their attempt to tie them together better and make it easier for customers and partners to develop new apps that can be deployed on mobile devices.
Darren: It looks like Salesforce1 is especially attractive to ISV partners.Jeff: That’s right. This will encourage more ISVs to develop apps that align with and support SFDC’s core services.
Darren: SFDC’s new alliance w/HP was also interesting but didn’t get as much attention. What did you think of it?Jeff: I think this new partnership may have more far-reaching implications on the Cloud movement than Salesforce1 because it validates the idea of building private clouds and deploying SaaS solutions behind the firewall, two concepts Benioff continuously disputed in the past. It also validates Larry Ellison’s original Cloud POD idea, elevates HP while demoting Dell…
Darren: SFDC didn’t spend much time talking about its new Private AppExchange capabilities. What do you think about this?Jeff: This could be a key step in SFDC’s efforts to expand its reach within its customer accounts and the enterprise. It also builds on its previous announcement of a new identity management & access control capabilities. Don’t be surprised if you hear about SFDC promoting its e-commerce capabilities.
Darren: What role does integration play in all this?Jeff: Integration is essential to make it work! It is interesting to note that once again the most prominent players @ DF were the SIs/PS firms that had the biggest booths at the front of the partner expo. They are salivating at the Cloud market because they see lots of oppties to sell integration services.