Cloud Computing Platform

The Force.com cloud computing platform radically changes the way that IT departments and developers think about cloud computing applications and business application development.

Force.com provides developers with an extremely powerful, scalable, and highly secure cloud computing platform. You can develop, package, and immediately deploy applications - with no infrastructure requirements.

The Force.com cloud computing platform frees you from the constraints of hardware and infrastructure. Providing an integrated architecture, the Force.com platform allows you to concentrate your attention on building cloud computing applications, and removes the distraction of infrastructure requirements. With Force.com you can assemble cloud computing applications with clicks, components and code, and instantly deploy them to the salesforce.com infrastructure.

Customisation and Cloud Computing Applications

Because every company works in its own unique way, salesforce.com makes it easy to modify or extend your cloud computing applications to work best with you. Tools offering "no compromise customisations" of the Force.com cloud computing platform make customizations fast and easy, while also enabling deeper customizations to meet any imaginable need. The philosophy is to keep simple things simple (there's no need to re-invent the wheel) and to make complex things both achievable and accessible. The Force.com platform provides two paths to customisation success.

• Point-and-click configuration for cloud computing applications. The Force.com platform allows the easy modification of functionality, so the cloud computing applications will always meet your unique requirements. Customisation is easily achieved through a metadata framework and a series of simple point-and-click wizards. This way you will be able to design custom user interfaces and to modify the data model structure and the cloud computing applications' business logic.
• Customise with code, just as you would in business application development. While the point-and-click configuration method is undoubtedly the fastest and easiest way to customise your cloud computing applications, inevitably some functionality is too advanced for the constraints of a metadata framework. In such cases, application developers can create the functionality they need in open-ended development environments, through the use of toolkits for most of the common programming languages, as well as Apex Code, the language of the Force.com cloud computing platform.

Regardless of how much customisation you need, the benefits on offer from the cloud computing platform are ready to be leveraged, including fast, easy, secure, and automatic upgrades of your cloud computing applications—ensuring that all your customisations are kept intact.

Integration with a Cloud Computing Platform

Application integration is one of the key goals of a successful IT strategy. The last few decades have seen the development and acquisition of diverse technologies, so integration presents not only an IT challenge, but also an opportunity to align your company with strategic goals in order to gain competitive advantage.

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

Force.com boasts proven integration of the cloud computing platform with any enterprise application or system, including SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, along with other many other third-party solutions. Broken integrations, complex technology dependencies, and vendor lock in become artifacts of a bygone era. For business partners, Force.com Connect enables the deployment of a single, pre-integrated version of their cloud computing applications for all salesforce.com customers.

With a range of pre-integrated cloud computing applications and the option of utilising custom integration solutions, the Force.com cloud computing platform offers five pick-and-mix approaches to meet all the unique user diverse needs of customers.

• Native ERP connectors. Native salesforce.com connectors allow for pre-built integration between your cloud computing applications and Oracle and SAP systems.
• Integration middleware. The Force.com AppExchange marketplace offers additional integration solutions for cloud computing platforms, including pre-built connectors and access to the services of more than 25 integration technology partners.
• Developer toolkits for cloud computing applications. For developers building custom integrations, the Force.com platform supports all major business application development tools and environments.
• Mash-ups. The Force.com AppExchange offers a range of pre-integrated functionality that can easily and quickly be added to your cloud computing applications. There are 100s of components and applications available for instant deployment.
• Native desktop connectors. Salesforce.com provides native desktop connectors for rapid integration between your cloud computing applications and desktop software such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Word.
• ISVs love the Force.com Platform as a Service, too. Salesforce.com offers not only the platform as a service, but also a marketing and distribution channel (the Force.com AppExchange marketplace) that puts the products developed by ISVs on the Force.com cloud computing platform in front of a highly qualified set of businesses seeking cloud computing solutions.

Cloud Computing: Business Application Development

The Force.com cloud computing platform is making business application development easier than ever. There are several options for creating cloud computing business apps to meet developer's varying experience levels and preferences.

• Easy business application development: point, click and create.strong> The Force.com cloud computing platform has pioneered the point-and-click approach to creating cloud computing applications. Developers no longer need extensive programming knowledge to create new cloud computing applications. Working with just a Web browser, business users, systems administrators, and developers can define the metadata that maps the "blueprint" for their application, including the data model, objects, forms, workflows, and more.
• Use your favorite programming language for business application development. Whether integrating with other systems or creating mash-ups for use with external services, application developers can use the Force.com Web services API in combination with toolkits for all the most popular development languages. These include Java, VB.NET, C#, .NET and open-source languages, and enable the creation of interactive cloud computing applications with high-quality visual designs. The Force.com API also enables direct access to all the data stored in the developers Force.com cloud computing platform applications.
• Want to speak our language? Developers using the Apex Code programming language have the most granular access and control to create almost any kind of cloud computing application they wish. Apex Code users also have the option to customise objects and even to write completely original applications from scratch. Entire new behaviors and business logic can be developed with code running directly on the Force.com cloud computing platform, and developers no longer have the burden of maintaining servers and infrastructure. Apex code offers the same power and flexibility to create cloud computing applications as salesforce.com's own Research and Development department enjoy.
• The ideal user interface for cloud computing applications. Using VisualForce customers can quickly and easily design virtually any user interface they want for cloud computing applications. Employing the powerful logic and workflow strengths of Apex Code, VisualForce offers limitless flexibility to meet the requirements of business applications developed for a variety of user groups and access devices. Now you can create and deliver any business cloud computing application with ease and speed.

Business application development on the Force.com cloud computing platform offers the best of both worlds: Developers enjoy the speed of use but don't have to sacrifice the flexibility they need to create enterprise-quality cloud computing applications.