Salesforce.com: Cloud Computing is a game-changer

Anything can be done in the cloud

Organisations often cite that there are some applications - that are either competitive differentiators or hold sensitive financial data - which simply have to remain on-premise.

Not so, said Coffee.

"I reject vigorously the notion that there are some things you can't do in the cloud," he said.

The fact that so many customers are willing to host their CRM with Salesforce.com is indicative enough, he says, that organisations are willing to pump their 'competitive differentiating' data into the cloud.

Even ERP is ripe for being hosted, he said. Customers such as manufacturer and shipping company Vetrazzo have built their own ERP application in the cloud to take advantage of the infrastructure savings, while software vendor Fujitsu now offers its Glovia ERP package on a rental basis on Salesforce.com.

"ERP is often discussed as the last bastion of enterprise class software, the castle of the old software model that can't be challenged," Coffee said. "I have news for you - we are climbing over those walls."

He also rejects the notion that cloud computing benefits start-ups and small businesses rather than large enterprises. Salesforce.com's largest customer, he said, boasts 75,000 seats.

Lock-in? Integration problems? FUD?

One of the major reasons organisations are resisting cloud computing is a fear of what risks are involved with bailing out of an agreement that isn't working for them.

Many fear being locked in to a SaaS [software as a service] provider, and not having the infrastructure or resources to take the systems back in-house should the outsourced agreement fail.

But Coffee said these risks are the same in the offline world as online.

Cloud computing offers a less complex failover, he said, than the regular practice of developing business processes with a partner or supplier in the physical world.

"Everything you create on Salesforce.com exists as metadata," he said. "You can look at it, edit it, extract it, it looks just like a form of XML. Everything you put in remains your property. We can't incorporate it into the platform, we can't data mine it.

"Both contractually and technically, we pursue the notion that your IP is clearly separable from ours.  At the end of the day a customer can extract a complete representation of everything they own."

He also rejects the notion that cloud-delivered applications are difficult to integrate with in-house apps.

"You don't need to duplicate or replace what you know works," he said. "You ask a customer today what tools they use for integration, they will say I use Tibco, Informatica, Pervasive, Cast Iron. Well those same tools can be used in the cloud."

"Most companies are heterogeneous, we all need integration, the only difference is whether you do it all within your walls. Bits don't know the difference between the cloud and on-premise."

These barriers to entry, he said, are "monsters under the bed."

"When you shine a light it's just bits of dust."