Archive for July, 2009

Join salesforce.com and Navatar Group for the Force.com Tech Talk webinar, Architecting Commercial Applications on August 4th at 10AM PDT.   This webinar will help you answer several critical questions, such as:

• Benefits of a native app
• Pure platform or extending SFDC
• salesforce editions that your product will support
• Force.com features that you will be using
• How to create a rapid prototype
• Benefits of Visualforce vs. Standard Page Layouts
• When to write Apex Triggers
• Reporting/analytics requirements
• Benefits of Sites and Customer Portal
• Incorporating Security Best Practices
• Maintaining your product
• Supporting your product

Learn from top Force.com experts Sati Hillyer, Force.com Evangelist, salesforce.com and Ketan Khandkar, Principal, Navatar Group.  Also read the new article Architecting a Commercial App as well as Ten Common Mistakes Architects make when building a Force.com App.

View recorded webinar now.

Who is Rexlo Joe? He is one of the top Cloud architects today, with some of the most complex salesforce Financial Services products under his belt. (Read the Success story of Rexlo Joe).  He directs the Navatar Force.com team in New Delhi, India on all architecture issues.

How did he begin?  By simply jumping in.  Register for the Force.com Cloud Developer Challenge, happening now through July 31, 2009. By registering you will be able to submit your application for the challenge, and receive additional communications such as hints and tips.

Submit an application and you will receive a t-shirt (while supplies last) from salesforce.com. Impress us with innovation or creativity and you might be rewarded with an Apple MacBook Pro, iPod nano or touch.  Who knows, you may also be on your way to becoming one of the top Cloud architects.

Go to the Force.com Cloud Developer Challenge to learn more.

Are you ready?

Most of us living in India weren’t surprised when our population crossed a billion. Most Indians also didn’t pay attention when salesforce.com became the first Cloud Computing company to cross the $1B mark. Now some analysts suggest that the Cloud Computing market in India is expected to cross $1B soon. This is noteworthy given that companies in India are still very skeptical about the cloud model. “I don’t want to put my data on the web or some server outside my office or some unknown datacenter” is a line we often hear from prospects evaluating salesforce.com.

So, I guess, things are expected to change soon. I have been working at the grassroots level, selling to companies’ hand-in-hand with the salesforce.com Account Executives (if you weren’t aware, Navatar Group works closely with salesforce.com in India also). My own experience is that there’s still a lot of evangelizing that needs to be done to raise the level of general awareness and reduce the fears. I would imagine that the Cloud providers are already at work, getting the message out.

The next important issue that I think needs to be addressed is accessibility. Although the internet is penetrating deeper and India is only next to China on the mobile user count, infrastructure is still a major bottleneck in India. Because of that, we find that prospects here give very serious consideration to an offline version of any cloud service. I still don’t see a lot of infrastructure providers paying attention to the opportunity that the cloud may offer, particularly in the SMB sector. We got a real taste of this after we sold our Capital Markets salesforce product to R. K. Stockholdings, a leading broker-dealer in North India with over 40 branches in small and mid-sized towns.

The other big issue so far has been affordability. It is true that the Cloud model offers a less capital-intensive alternative for businesses. But Indians are always looking for better deals. Due to an abundance of technical talent in this country, businesses are not scared to assemble software on their own since they still see that as a cheaper option. Cloud providers have been offering some discounts. But, they need better pricing models based on demographics and usage patterns.

The good news is that VCs are beginning to take notice. Rajeev Kumar, VP Sales at Navatar was recently invited to present to top Indian VCs in Mumbai around the Cloud opportunity for ISVs. We just attended Salesforce.com’s first partner event in Bangalore. We are finalizing a cloud contract with a large Indian bank and have several others in the pipeline. I know it’s just the beginning but I’m very optimistic about the change.

Amit Chaudhary