Salesforce.com Receives Top Honors from Everything Channel’s CRN Magazine

Salesforce.com named one of the Top 20 Cloud Platform Vendors and Cloud Software & Apps Vendors of 2011; Cloud 2 partner program designated a 5-Star Program

SAN FRANCISCO, May 6, 2011 – Salesforce.com [NYSE: CRM], the enterprise cloud computing (http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/) company, today announced it has received three honors from Everything Channel’s CRN magazine: CRN’s Top 20 Cloud Platform Vendors of 2011, Top 20 Cloud Software & Apps Vendors of 2011, and five-stars in CRN’s 2011 Partner Programs Guide.

Salesforce.com brings Cloud 2 to the channel
With the arrival of Cloud 2, the salesforce.com partner program offers an ecosystem which provides partners the means to deliver social, mobile and open cloud computing solutions. The company continues to build its partner community by enhancing its industry-leading cloud platform-as-service Force.com, on which partners can easily develop and deliver innovative Cloud 2 business applications. The honors follow the recent announcement that Ron Huddleston, vice president of global ISV alliances at salesforce.com, was named a 2011 Channel Chief by CRN.

Top 20 Cloud Platform Vendors of 2011
• According to CRN, “Force.com, salesforce.com’s platform-as-a-service arm, has set the standard for developing multi-tenant cloud applications. Through Force.com, salesforce.com opened up its infrastructure so everyone can use it for custom app development and build business apps that run on salesforce.com’s servers.”

Top 20 Cloud Software & Apps Vendors of 2011
• According to CRN, “Saleforce.com is the granddaddy of cloud computing with its cloud CRM offerings. And salesforce.com has spread its wings to include social networking with Chatter, sales force automation with the Sales Cloud and a marketplace for cloud apps with AppExchange, among others.”

Salesforce.com’s partner program gets five-stars
• The 5-Star Partner Program rating recognizes the elite subset of Partner Program Guide vendors who give solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.
• CRN’s Partner Programs Guide rating serves as the definitive list of vendors who have robust partner programs or products that service solution providers offer directly to the IT channel. The annual list recognizes the vendors who offer solution providers the best possible partnering elements for channel success.

Comments on the announcement
• “Cloud 2 presents our partners with a tremendous opportunity to build and deliver social, mobile and open cloud computing applications,” said Ron Huddleston, vice president, global ISV alliances, salesforce.com. “Our partner program was built from the ground up for the cloud, so it’s an honor to receive five stars from CRN for its robustness and to be named one of the top cloud platform and apps vendors.”
• “The companies listed on the 2011 Partner Programs Guide represent the best channel programs in the market today. Each of these organizations understands that technology alone does not make for a successful channel program. By focusing on delivering a comprehensive partner program, vendors and solution providers can work together to drive business opportunities and revenue,” said Kelley Damore, VP and Editorial Director for Everything Channel’s CRN.
• “This year’s Top Cloud Computing Vendors award is based on a cloud vendor’s approach to creating an innovative product, or an innovative approach to supporting solution providers in the IT channel,” said Kelley Damore, VP and Editorial Director for Everything Channel’s CRN. “Specifically, these cloud vendors help resellers transform themselves into true service providers and help organizations and enterprises take advantage of the ease, flexibility, scalability, elasticity and cost savings that leveraging cloud computing has to offer.”

Additional resources
• The awards, including the methodology used, are featured on CRN.com and in the March 28th issue of CRN.
• Click here for information on how to join the AppExchange.
• Click here for a video on how to use the AppExchange to extend cloud apps to all of your employees.
• Follow @salesforce on Twitter

About Everything Channel
Everything Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, Everything Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. Everything Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about Everything Channel, visit us at http://www.everythingchannel.com.

About United Business Media Limited
UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetisation of B2B communities and markets. UBM’s businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities — from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists — with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.ubm.com.