Integration

Force.com Connect: Five Paths to Integration Success

Application integration topped the list of important IT goals in a recent IDC study of C-level executives. After 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. While Gartner estimates that integration currently consumes almost 35 percent of the total cost of design, development, and maintenance in a typical enterprise project, new technologies are making integration easier than ever.

Introducing Force.com Connect—A Revolution in Integration

Force.com Connect is a comprehensive family of technologies built on top of the Force.com Web Services API that dramatically reduces the effort associated with integration. Force.com Connect provides five paths to integration success by leveraging new technologies—including Web services, multitenant architectures, and publicly available APIs—and an extensive integration partner ecosystem.

For customers, Force.com Connect means proven integration with any enterprise application or system, including SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, and other third-party solutions. Force.com Connect means no more broken integrations, intricate technology dependencies, or vendor lock in, while providing the flexibility to take advantage of emerging Web services. For partners, Force.com Connect means they can deploy a single, pre-integrated version of their applications for all salesforce.com customers. To see how Force.com Connect can benefit your company, see The Benefits of On-Demand Integration. 


Choose Your Integration Path

From pre-integrated apps to custom integration solutions, Force.com Connect offers five mix-and-match approaches to meet the organizational, technical, and user needs of each customer.


Mash-Ups from the AppExchange

For the easiest and fastest way to add pre-integrated functionality, check the AppExchange directory. With over 400 components and applications, you can integrate with the click of a mouse.

 

Native ERP Connectors

For pre-built integration to Oracle and SAP systems, you can use native connectors built by salesforce.com.

 

Native Desktop Connectors

For rapid integration to Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Word, salesforce.com provides native desktop connectors.

 

Integration Middleware Connectors

For additional integration solutions, check out the Force.com Connect category in the AppExchange directory. Here you'll find pre-built connectors and the services of more than 25 integration technology partners.

 

Developer Toolkits

For building custom integrations and maximum flexibility and choice, the Force.com platform supports all major development environments and tools.