Developer Trend for 2009: Cloud Computing

BANGALORE, INDIA: The year 2008 has seen a lot of technology paradigm shifts and some great new technologies that could be leveraged by developers. But of all the trends to benefit developers, Cloud Computing by far surpasses in terms of long-term impact and significant value.

Cloud computing is an emerging trend and is something we see Indian companies taking a lot of interest in. It is enabling a new class of entrepreneurs since one doesn’t need to build offices, distribution centers, data centers or really infrastructure of any kind - everything is managed in the cloud. 

Leveraging the Internet, and building on Internet-based platforms like Force.com, these new entrepreneurs need relatively little capital to grow and can tap into vast IT expertise in India.  The Web also offers great marketplaces like the AppExchange that provide global distribution. We are entering a new era of democratization for developers around the world and a huge shift in power in the software industry which symbolises an explosion in choice and innovation.

The current economic uncertainty is propelling the shift to cloud computing. The low upfront costs, low risks and fast return of cloud computing will make it much more appealing to companies constrained for cash but pressured to get quick returns on technology. Traditional client server vendors have had a difficult time rationalizing their approach to this new technology and business model, while enterprises are opening up more and more critical functions to cloud computing. 

Salesforce.com has more than 1.1 million users at over 51,800 companies globally including global industry leaders like Dell, Symantech, Cisco and Starbucks. CIO’s from organizations like Citi and Harrah’s Casinos are just starting to realize the power and benefits of the model. 

Cloud computing is a general concept that includes many things. In the case of salesforce.com, we see cloud computing as encompassing both software as a service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS),  both well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.

For example, Salesforce.com provides Force.com, a platform from where developers can build and deliver any application, all without buying or maintaining any infrastructure. These applications are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on salesforce.com’s servers. The Force.com Platform-as-Service provides the necessary building blocks to make cloud computing real for the enterprise. 

For internal IT departments, the Force.com platform will completely change the role of IT departments.  The break-fix-patch-upgrade components of IT will become irrelevant, because with the cloud everyone runs on one shared infrastructure and one version.  It also creates a new role for IT departments: innovation. When you can develop, deploy, and run apps in the cloud, without having to worry about buying and maintaining hardware and software, you can focus on adding value to the business.  

One thing we always keep in mind, people always overestimate what they can do in one year, and underestimate what they can do in 10 years. We are at the beginning of a huge technology shift, and only time will tell. We think all arrows point to the end of software.

Salesforce.com is constantly innovating to enhance customer and developer success in the cloud. During Dreamforce 2008, salesforce.com’s sixth annual User and Developer conference held in November 2008 in San Francisco, salesforce.com made several significant new technology and product announcements pertaining to Cloud Computing for the Enterprise.

Force.com Sites - Bringing the Power of Force.com to Every Web Application and Web Site

Force.com Sites, a new capability of the Force.com platform will allow customers to run their Web sites in salesforce.com’s cloud. Force.com Sites will give customers the power to publish Force.com data and applications to any Web site, extending their reach to new users on intranets, external Web sites, and online communities. Like all salesforce.com services, Force.com Sites runs entirely in the cloud without the cost and complexity of traditional software. Force.com Sites is now available in developer preview at http://developer.force.com . 

Force.com for Amazon Web Services: New Tools to Better Enable Developer Success

Salesforce.com ’s new offering, Force.com for Amazon Web Services, extends the power of cloud computing to even more enterprises.  With Force.com for Amazon Web Services (AWS), enterprises, ISVs and developers can build powerful new business applications and run them entirely in the cloud, leveraging both the database, logic and user interface features of Force.com and the storage and compute capabilities of Amazon S3 and Amazon EC2 services. Through Force.com for AWS, developers can access these services from within the Force.com platform to build applications that seamlessly span both clouds.  The capabilities made possible through Force.com for AWS will accelerate the creation and adoption of new kinds of applications in the enterprise that take full advantage of cloud computing.

Salesforce CRM: More Innovation, Delivering More Success

Salesforce CRM’s powerful cloud computing approach redefined traditional approach to CRM. Currently, Salesforce CRM is helping more than 47,700 enterprises and 1.1 million subscribers better serve their customers without any of the cost, risk or complexity of traditional, on-premise software. With more than 50 new features, Salesforce CRM Winter ‘09 enables companies of all sizes to manage their customer interactions across sales, marketing, and customer service. Built on the Force.com platform, Salesforce CRM is the fastest, most flexible CRM service on the market today.

The cloud computing model has a number of benefits: it is easy to use, lowers cost, does not have the maintenance and upgrade hassles of traditional software, and does not require the large up-front investment in software and hardware and is therefore lower risk as well. Since companies generally pay on a per-user, per-month basis, licenses do not go unused and shelfware becomes a problem of the past. Connections will become faster and more pervasive, and users will become more demanding of anytime, anywhere access to information. The End of Software ghas arrived.

(The author is area vice president, Corporate Sales, Asia Pacific, Salesforce.com)