TMCnews Featured Article
August 22, 2011
Customer Service Software Provider Salesforce.com Enjoying Market Success
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Customer service software – the phrase seems almost an unnecessary combination of words. Do you actually need software to help you to deliver the level of customer service today’s customers expect? In reality, you not only need this software, you also need clear cut strategies for optimizing the power of the software within a dynamic marketplace.
One key provider in the customer service software market is Salesforce.com (News 
- Alert). The company helped lead the charge for delivering powerful solutions through Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery models. Now, according to this recent report in The Street, the company is enjoying even more success.
Salesforce.com experienced an increase in the market as its shares climbed 4 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday. These results raised the customer service software provider's full-year 2012 outlook and second-quarter earnings reporting in line with estimates provided by market analysts.
The company has now increased its full year revenue guidance to a range of $2.22 billion to $2.23 billion, an increase from $2.15 billion to $2.17 billion. Adjusted earnings posted by the customer service software provider reflect 30 percent per share, which was in line with analyst estimates. Total revenue increased 38 percent to $546 million, higher than the $528.8 million projection provided by analysts.
Customer growth was also experienced as Salesforce.com added 6,300 new customers in the quarter. The company’s total customer count now sits at 104,000.
Looking ahead, the customer service software provider is anticipating its annual Dreamforce conference to be another success. Salesforce.com has projected more than 40,000 people will register, according to CEO Marc Benioff (News - Alert).
Customer service software and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions are a key specialty for Salesforce.com. Its cloud computing services run software applications on remote servers for clients.
This method of delivery is positioned as offering faster deployment time and eliminating the need for expensive hardware investments. Salesforce.com also offers the Chatter application, an enterprise social media and collaboration vendor. Chatter offers a Facebook (News - Alert)-like experience for business customers.
In other Salesforce.com news, TMCnet recently reported that Fujitsu, an information and communication technology-based business solutions provider, has migrated the National Skills Academy (NSA) for Sport and Active Leisure to Salesforce customer service software. This move changes NSA’s environment from a disjointed platform of customer systems to a single cloud-based solution.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Juliana Kenny
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