Gartner Research

Choosing a Platform for Building and Extending Salesforce Sales Cloud Applications

Published: 05 September 2017

ID: G00327175

Analyst(s): Richard Watson

Summary

This research guides technical professionals responsible for CRM applications who face a platform decision when building or extending Salesforce Sales Cloud applications. They can choose Force.com, Heroku or both, or they can orchestrate Salesforce integration with third-party PaaS.

Table Of Contents

Decision Point Question

Decision Overview

Decision Tool

Principles, Requirements and Constraints

  • Sponsors Impact Requirements and Constraints Priorities
  • Decision-Making Principles
    • Criterion 1: Satisfies Lock-In, Portability Concerns and Open-Source Policy
  • Requirements and Constraints
    • Criterion 2: Time to Market
    • Criterion 3: Richness of Customer Experience (CX) Demanded
    • Criterion 4: Richness of Customer Analytics
    • Criterion 5: External Data Currency in Sales Cloud Required
    • Criterion 6: Performance and Scalability
    • Criterion 7: Development Process Flexibility
    • Criterion 8: Use Line-of-Business Skills
    • Criterion 9: Scalable Cost Model
    • Criterion 10: Integration With Other (Cloud and On-Premises) Investments

Alternatives

  • Alternative 1: Use Force.com
    • How to Use Force.com
    • Force.com Alternative Evaluation
    • When to Use Force.com
  • Alternative 2: Use Heroku
    • How to Use Heroku
    • Heroku Alternative Evaluation
    • When to Use Heroku
  • Alternative 3: Use Force.com and Heroku Together
    • How to Combine Force.com and Heroku
    • Combined Force.com and Heroku Alternative Evaluation
    • When to Use a Combination of Force.com and Heroku With Heroku Connect
  • Alternative 4: Use Non-Salesforce Platform and Integrate With Sales Cloud
    • How to Create a Solution Outside Salesforce Platform and Integrate
    • Non-Salesforce Cloud Platform Alternative Evaluation
    • When to Use a Non-Salesforce Cloud Platform and Integrate

Future Developments

  • Changing Business Requirements
  • Integration Across Salesforce Portfolio, Cloud Investments and Partnerships
  • Innovations in Application Architecture

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