Cloud Barbarians at the Gate
Sep 2nd
Bill Loumpouridis
Cloud computing is empowering small business innovators with business tools that can be implemented with extraordinary speed and cost effectiveness. These innovators are now crashing down the gates of their larger competitors with superior customer service, product innovation and business agility. More >
When Configurators Go Bad
Aug 16th
A while back I had an interesting experience. As one of the consultants at EDL Consulting who helps clients sells their products using a “configurator” I had the opportunity to be an end user. I had to order a new computer system for my home so I went to the website of a large computer vendor (which shall not be named). It was a typical inquiry-to-cash process for this company: pick your hardware, pick your software, add accessories, get credit card info, etc. More >
The Cloud Integration Challenge to Software Vendors
Jul 29th
Bill Loumpouridis
While our industry continues to froth over the potential of the cloud, for those of us deploying cloud applications elegantly, surmounting integration challenges continue to be the gauge of our success.
As summer kicks into gear EDL Consulting finds itself in the midst of several large-scale eCommerce initiatives, all of them with varying degrees of cloud-based components (for the purposes of this article, I am purposely using a watered-down definition of “cloud” to include managed services, hosting and platform-as-a-service). What strikes me about these projects as I listen to our clients and deployment teams is the increasing complexity of the integration landscape for deploying these solutions. More >
Google Apps Marketplace a Wake-up Call for Salesforce.com AppExchange
Jul 12th
Bill Loumpouridis
In order for this to happen, what is needed is an integrated application suite – ala NetSuite. An integrated suite of ERP, CRM and eCommerce, along with HR and Financials could change the software world order as we know it and seriously threaten Salesforce.com’s dominance of the cloud. During the first dot com era of the late 90’s, the mantra was “cannibalize yourself before your competitors do it for you”. I doubt they would anytime soon, but if one of the big 4 – Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, SAP – heed this advice things could get very interesting.
According to Google, “the Google Apps Marketplace offers products and services designed for Google users, including installable apps that integrate directly with Google Apps. Installable apps are easy-to-use because they include single sign-on, Google’s universal navigation, and some even include features that integrate with your domain’s data.” As it turns out, as long as your application recognizes Google credentials for single sign-on, you’re in. More >
The Corporate Digital Divide
Jun 29th
Bill Loumpouridis
At Dreamforce in November 2009, the announcement of “Chatter” technology was greeted with cautious optimism. Yet at the time without any demonstrable business application of the technology in the marketplace, it was difficult to conceptualize the business value Chatter would provide. A mere four months later at salesforce.com’s Cloudforce event in New York City, Marc Bennioff was provided with a forum for his continued impassioned advocacy of Cloud Computing and Chatter. Marc was in terrific form – his passion and conviction were undeniable. More importantly, he was able to demonstrate very specific scenarios at salesforce.com where Chatter was enabling real-time customer-centricity and responsiveness on an unprecedented basis. Quite simply, Marc and several customers showed how Chatter is able to break down the barriers to collaboration that are inherent in the asynchronous virtual workplace. Chatter makes email seem like the hair style you used to wear in the 70s. More >
That’s Why They Call It Disruptive Technology
Jun 14th
Bill Loumpouridis
Both Microsoft and IBM continue to carve out identities for themselves in Cloud Computing. Time will tell whether they can bridge their customers before their unwieldy platforms are abandoned. For the time being, at least, Amazon’s EC2 and salesforce.com’s force.com platform are setting standards in the same way Facebook displaced AOL’s chat rooms.The last decade has indeed seen a tremendous wave of innovation, and the coming one will determine the next wave of IT standards.
Microsoft and IBM are continuing their efforts to try to achieve parity with salesforce.com and Amazon, respectively. Who would of predicted that IBM’s biggest challenger in the new era of computing would be a bookseller? And who would have predicted that an upstart CRM vendor would challenge the world’s preeminent software company for setting the next corporate standard for custom application development?
What Makes a Cloud Architect?
May 26th
Bill Loumpouridis
Relative to traditional software suites vis-a-vis SAP, Oracle, etc., most Cloud-based solutions focus on discreet components of a business process. Early on (circa year 2000) salesforce.com chose to focus on sales automation, expanding into marketing automation and now a full-out assault on the call center with their impressive Service Cloud 2 offering. More importantly salesforce.com’s platform called Force.com allows developers to create custom applications in the cloud to address highly specialized business functions at a fraction of the cost of traditional programming environments such as .NET and SharePoint.
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Configurator Best Practices
Apr 30th
If your customers are willing to pay more to customize your products or services to their specifications then you’ve probably looked at product configurators. Configurators help bring more of those profitable orders that help you achieve your revenue goals. EDL’s experienced consultants know the problem spots related to getting product configurators up and running (and still produce a nice return on investment).
Here are some areas where EDL expertise really makes a difference in getting product configurators to work.
Force.com Sites and the hidden Profile
Apr 9th
Salesforce.com has been a leader in the SaaS and PaaS markets since those buzzwords were coined, though as a web developer my interest was piqued with the advent of Force.com Sites. For the uninitiated, Sites is a feature of the Force.com cloud computing platform that allows a developer to create a publicly available web site or application with a completely custom UI. The native look-and-feel of Salesforce.com is great for a broad category of business applications, but Sites allows you to shoot for the moon with your user experience.
Sites builds on Force.com’s native capabilities, allowing developers to use powerful technologies like workflow and fine-grain security controls without building them from scratch. Since most organizations will need to enforce some level of data security, it’s worth exploring how that intersects with making information available to the public.