Salesforce.com Introduces New Contact Manager Edition; Now Everyone Can Manage Business Contacts and Customers in the Cloud

For only $9 per user, per month, Contact Manager Edition provides individuals and very small businesses with all the benefits of salesforce.com (http://www.salesforce.com) and cloud computing - the flexible, pay as you go model, automatic upgrades and no hardware or software to install or maintain

SAN FRANCISCO, September 2, 2009 -- Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM ), the enterprise cloud computing company, today announced Contact Manager Edition (http://www.salesforce.com/contactmanager), a new edition from salesforce.com that provides the essential tools needed to manage business contacts and customers in the cloud. Contact Manager Edition introduces salesforce.com to an entirely new audience, very small businesses and individuals, ensuring that everyone can enjoy the benefits of cloud computing for only $9 per user, per month.

Contact Manager Edition - Manage Customer Interactions in the Cloud

Contact Manager Edition enables any company to jump-start their business by tapping into the power of the cloud and provides users with a wealth of features including:

Contacts and Accounts - With Contact Manager Edition, users can store and manage all contacts and accounts in the cloud. Now users can access this vital information regardless of location - all you need is an Internet connection.
Outlook and Email Integration - Now, anyone using Contact Manager Edition can easily track email communications from Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo or any email system, keeping a complete record of customer interactions for better sales execution and improved customer satisfaction.
Reporting - Run pre-configured and customized reports on your contacts, accounts and associated activities to gain powerful insights.
Customization - Contact Manager Edition is a solution that can be tailored to fit a user's unique needs. Users can customize Contact Manager Edition to track the data that is most important to them.
Google Apps - Companies using Contact Manager Edition benefit from an out of the box integration with Google Apps, combining essential applications for productivity (email, calendaring, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, instant messaging, video) and CRM. This combination introduces an entirely new way for users to communicate, collaborate, and work together in real time over the Web.

Salesforce.com and Cloud Computing - The Right Choice for Every User

Background and benefits of cloud computing:

Ten years ago, salesforce.com introduced cloud computing, a new technology delivery model that allows users to access applications over the Internet without having to install and manage hardware or software.
With salesforce.com and cloud computing, customers pay as they go and are up and running in less time than it takes with traditional software applications.
Three times a year, salesforce.com customers receive an automatic upgrade that delivers new features and functionality. These upgrades do not break any customizations or integrations and are completely seamless and invisible to the end user.
Time and again, customers choose the low cost, low risk, and fast results of salesforce.com and cloud computing over expensive hardware, software, and data centers that burn through precious capital and yet rarely produce the promised returns.

Background and benefits of the Force.com platform and infrastructure:

Contact Manager Edition is built on Force.com, a complete platform that provides users with everything they need to develop any application, on any device and deliver it to any user.
Force.com is a trusted platform because it is enterprise-tested and serving more than 63,200 successful customers around the world.
Additionally, customers using Contact Manager Edition gain all the benefits of the proven security, reliability and scalability of salesforce.com 's world-class global infrastructure.

Quotes

"Salesforce.com has always been committed to democratizing software and making cloud computing accessible to businesses of all sizes," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com . "Contact Manager Edition opens up a whole new world for very small businesses and individuals, empowering them to experience success with cloud computing."
"Contact Manager Edition enables entrepreneurial businesses to harness the power of cloud computing without the cost and complexity of managing hardware or software infrastructure," said Denis Pombriant, Beagle Research.
"At Trazzler we are using Contact Manager Edition to manage thousands of business contacts, each segmented by category, company size, and geographic region. Contact Manager Edition has enabled me to experience the benefits of cloud computing first hand," said Adam Rugel, CEO and founder of Trazzler.

Pricing and Availability

Contact Manager Edition http://www.salesforce.com/contactmanager) is available today in a 1 to 2 user edition for $9, per user, per month.
For more information, visithttp://www.salesforce.com/contactmanager
About salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is the enterprise cloud computing company. The company's portfolio of Salesforce CRM applications, available at http://www.salesforce.com/products/, has revolutionized the ways that companies collaborate and communicate with their customers across sales, marketing and service. The company's Force.com platform (http://www.salesforce.com/platform/) helps customers, partners and developers to quickly build powerful business applications to run every part of the enterprise in the cloud. Based on salesforce.com 's real-time, multitenant architecture, Salesforce CRM and Force.com offer the fastest path to customer success with cloud computing.

As of July 31, 2009, salesforce.com manages customer information for approximately 63,200 customers including Allianz Commercial, Dell, Dow Jones Newswires, Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE, and SunTrust Banks. Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM". For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com , or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

Copyright (c) 2009 salesforce.com , inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce and the "no software" logo are registered trademarks of salesforce.com , inc., and salesforce.com owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

1 comments »

Bob Thompson

Bob Thompson

Contact manager competition heats up

Read other commentary about this announcement and related industry developments:

Salesforce.com launches PIM for the Cloud... but Why?

Contact management war revival

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