Cloud Computing Platform

The Force.com cloud computing platform has radically changed the way IT departments and developers think about cloud computing applications and business application development. Force.com is an extremely powerful, scalable, and secure cloud computing platform. It lets companies instantly develop, package, and deploy applications with no need for infrastructure.

With the Force.com cloud computing platform, you never need to think about maintaining hardware again. Force.com's integrated architecture lets you concentrate on building cloud computing applications, rather than infrastructure. Assemble cloud computing applications with clicks, components, and code, and then instantaneously deploy them to the salesforce.com infrastructure.

Customization and Cloud Computing Applications

Salesforce.com makes it easy to modify or extend your cloud computing applications to work the way you do, because your company works like no other. The Force.com cloud computing platform offers tools for "no-compromise customization," making it possible to create fast and easy customizations as well as deep customizations to meet just about any need. The Force.com platform provides two paths to customization success, based on a philosophy of keeping simple things simple and making complex things both possible and accessible.

• Point-and-click configuration for cloud computing applications. To meet your unique requirements, the Force.com platform makes it easy to modify the functionality of cloud computing applications. Working with the metadata framework and a series of simple point-and-click wizards, you can design user interfaces and modify the structure of the data model and the cloud computing applications' business logic.
• Customize with code, just like you would in business application development. Although the fastest and easiest way to customize applications is using point-and-click configuration, some functionality is beyond the constraints of a metadata framework. In such cases, developers can create needed functionality in open-ended development environments using toolkits for most of the common programming languages or Apex Code, the programming language of the Force.com cloud computing platform.

With Force.com, you'll reap all the benefits of a proven cloud computing platform—including fast, easy, safe, and automatic upgrades for your cloud computing applications—regardless of the level of customization you need.

Integration with a Cloud Computing Platform

Application integration usually tops the list of important IT goals. Due to decades of acquiring diverse technologies, integration presents not only a difficult and elusive IT challenge, but an opportunity to align your business with strategic goals and gain competitive advantage.

The Force.com cloud computing platform includes a comprehensive family of technologies built on top of the Force.com Web Services API. These technologies dramatically reduce the effort associated with integrating cloud computing applications.

Force.com offers proven integration with any enterprise application or system, including SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, and other third-party solutions. No more broken integrations, intricate technology dependencies, or vendor lock in. And Force.com Connect lets partners deploy a single, preintegrated version of their cloud computing applications for all salesforce.com customers.

The Force.com cloud computing platform offers five mix-and-match approaches to meet the organizational, technical, and user needs of each customer. These approaches range from preintegrated cloud computing applications to custom integration solutions.

• Native ERP connectors. You can use native connectors built by salesforce.com for prebuilt integration between your cloud computing applications and Oracle and SAP systems.
• Integration middleware. Check out the Force.com AppExchange marketplace for additional integration solutions for cloud computing platforms. The AppExchange offers prebuilt connectors plus the services of more than 25 integration technology partners.
• Developer toolkits for cloud computing applications. The Force.com cloud computing platform supports all major business application development environments and tools for building custom integrations with maximum flexibility and choice.
• Mashups. Check the Force.com AppExchange for the easiest and fastest way to add preintegrated functionality to your cloud computing applications. With the click of a mouse, you can integrate with hundreds of components and applications.
• Native desktop connectors. Salesforce.com provides a native desktop connector for rapid integration between cloud computing applications and Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Word.

Business Application Development

Thanks to the Force.com cloud computing platform, business application development has never been easier. And because one size doesn't fit all, there are several options for creating cloud computing applications, depending on the developers' experience and preferences.

• Business application development can be as easy as "point, click, create." A point-and-click approach to creating cloud computing applications is unique to the Force.com cloud computing platform. To create a new cloud computing application, users no longer need extensive programming knowledge. Now, business users, administrators, and developers can use just a Web browser to define the metadata that results in the "blueprint" for an application, including the data model, objects, forms, workflows, and more.
• Use your favorite language for business application development. Developers can integrate with other systems or create a mashup with external services using the Force.com Web Services API and toolkits for the most popular development languages, including Java, VB.NET, C#, .NET, or open-source languages. The result: highly visual and interactive cloud computing applications. Developers can directly access all data stored in their Force.com cloud computing platform applications by using the Force.com API.
• Want to speak our language? Developers have the most granular control ever with Force.com Apex Code. They can create almost any kind of cloud computing application and do everything from customizing objects to creating new buttons or writing new applications from scratch. They can use Apex to develop new behaviors and business logic, with code that runs directly on the Force.com cloud computing platform. Freed from having to own or manage servers and infrastructure, developers can get the same power and flexibility to create cloud computing applications as salesforce.com's own R&D staff.
• The optimal user interface for cloud computing applications. The power to design virtually any user interface for cloud computing applications is available with Visualforce. Visualforce offers the flexibility to meet the requirements of applications designed for many different types of users on a variety of devices, using the powerful logic and workflow intelligence provided by Apex. With Visualforce, you can now create and deliver any user experience you can dream up for your cloud computing application.

Developing business applications on the Force.com cloud computing platform is the best of both worlds: it's fast without forcing developers to give up the flexibility they need to create enterprise-quality cloud computing applications.