Editor’s note: This guest post is written by Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. In it, he responds to critics of his last guest post arguing that enterprise software should be more like Facebook.
Two weeks ago on TechCrunch I posted “The Facebook Imperative,” which posed a simple question, “Why isn’t all enterprise software like Facebook?” It was the next iteration of the question I asked in 1999 that spawned salesforce.com, “Why isn’t all enterprise software like Amazon.com.” If you have read my book, Behind The Cloud, you are well aware how that one question launched a company, and a movement. Its been an exciting decade. But the real excitement is just starting.
Frankly, I’ve been amazed by the huge amount of responses, tweets, and comments (aka “the ruckus across the blogoshere,” as Joe McKendrick calls it). It only strengthens my conviction that we are about to see the greatest revolution in enterprise software, ever. Well, really, the most exciting revolution in computing, ever. It will create more value for users, customers, and vendors by an order of magnitude over what we saw in the last wave. And, it’s really starting to happen right now. It is realtime. It is social. It is mobile. And, it is about time. Literally, it is about productivity.
I’m energized by the excitement I see for a new generation of collaboration software in the enterprise to replace antiquated Microsoft Sharepoint servers and IBM’s Lotus Notes. I’ve enjoyed seeing my observation—that Lotus Notes was conceived before Mark Zuckerberg—reverberate around the web. But, the reality is the Facebook Imperative contained more than a funny line. It hit a nerve. We are all responding—debating—a question that is an imperative because we all need to take software to a new level, and now is the time. Microsoft and IBM have maintained the status quo on enterprise collaboration software too long, and it’s time for a change.
There are an overwhelming number of you who agree that its time to transform the business conversation the same way Facebook has changed the consumer conversation. We are betting salesforce.com’s future on it. Approximately 40% of companies are already deploying or planning to deploy a social computing platform, a number that’s expected to rise, says Irwin Lazar of Nemeretes Research. Not everyone agrees, mostly the vendors that are milking their cash cows. But, make no mistake about it, this generation of social platforms is very different than the last.
Charles Zedlewski emerged from a long blogging hiatus to argue that Facebook is designed for entertainment—not productivity. Well, that’s not surprising given that he works for SAP, one of the companies I have previously referred to as “innovationless”—in my view they remain the Anti-Cloud. Their actions speak for themselves. Still, I’m astounded that more enterprises haven’t figured out how to tap into the real collaborative power of Facebook and Twitter, and the new social models that they have pioneered.
I consider Facebook and Twitter—and the ability to tap into my network of friends and followers—one the most productive ways I can start my day. Using these new Internet phenoms, I’ve tested new ad campaigns and elicited great customer responses, promoted my book to a large audience of people who cared, and with the help of my network, even named new products—all before I sat down for breakfast. I’m not alone; ask Vinnie Mirchandani for a sneak preview of his new book and read how Starbucks, Avon, and Pepsi are using these new social services to increase productivity in their enterprises. Or, look at how Causes, one of Facebook’s most popular apps, is having a fascinating impact on the future of philanthropy.
While my admiration for Facebook is no secret, the fact is that the Facebook Imperative—much like The Amazon Imperative of 1999—is just a metaphor. Like all metaphors, they are terrific catalysts to introduce an idea and orient people. They are rooted in inspiration, but they do not funnel down to the granular details. And, there are details that make this movement entirely new in practice. The power of this new model is to create the next level of productivity, collaboration, and learning in the enterprise. And, I see it happening now in our own company.
For years we’ve been reading about the potential for institutional memory to transform a corporation into a learning organization. But, have we seen it happen beyond very few unique organizations? A true paradigm shift occurs when the barriers of entry are removed for everyone. That is changing fast. With these new social models, there is a way to immediately leverage the knowledge of an organization. People with expertise and relevance are instantly looped in, can participate in the conversation, collaborate, and make contributions more simply than ever before. That will be the catalyst of this new productivity revolution—delivered through these new social enterprise platforms.
We have deployed Salesforce Chatter internally through our own beta program, and we are now using the social models proven by Facebook and Twitter to run our company. Our new social enterprise is built atop our existing business information and applications. It’s not partitioned off from other enterprise applications, but is an integrated part of it—offering a new view of the data that is more productive and easier to use. Through enterprise sharing models, filtering and discovery tools, users have full flexibility over which people and data they follow—allowing them to fully maximize the value of their own feeds and eliminating the risk of “pollutants” some critics fear.
I have learned more about my own company in the last three weeks using Salesforce Chatter than I have in the last three years. It reminds me of the time we went live with http://ideas.salesforce.com. The awareness I have today of what is happening with our employees, our customers, our products, our customer service escalations, and even the deals we are closing is spectacular. Social computing for the enterprise is about seeing what matters to your company, what is happening with your products, and among your people. It’s about the information you need to make decisions finding you. I’m amazed at the potential of this technology. There is just no way I can explain it to you in writing, so here is an actual screen shot that I took off my desktop to give you an idea of the flow (click to enlarge):
It is time to let go of the past and start to create a compelling future for the software industry. I’m energized by the skeptics. It’s familiar. They all eventually convert to what’s important to customers, or become increasingly irrelevant. You don’t have to look any farther than last week when Steve Ballmer spoke to the University of Washington telling them Microsoft was finally “All-In” the cloud. Well, that only took a decade or two. No more software plus services, now they are 100% cloud too. Sure.
I’m living in the post-PC revolution. I’m in a desktopless world that is about feeds and profiles running in all my browsers and mobile devices, and interacting in exciting new ways. It doesn’t matter if I am in the office, at home, or at Starbucks—I am productive wherever I am. The enterprise is not just going to the cloud, it’s now going social, and it’s going mobile. Facebook and Twitter have shown us the way. Like Microsoft, and IBM, not everyone has to get it yet, but eventually they all will. As they say: Shift happens.
Aside of an interesting analysis, I think Marc Benioff proves he is one of the most interesting leaders of today, and one to follow.
His vision and stance will help push this “shift” to greater heights.
Thank you.
Vivek was licking MA’s ass n this guy is licking his own ass. Nice going TC.
Hey Marc. Try pulling your weiner out of Zuckerberg’s rear end and then you might actually get your brain to start functioning again.
Where would Microsoft be in the enterprise space if Sharepoint hadn’t been the trojan horse platform it’s been? Great guest post.
With a company as big like FB, it would be so nice for them to eradicate all the glitches that their humongous site is facing, not to mention that privacy ‘cliched’ issues, we always hear.
what glitches? i have a word of advice to internet privacy freaks:
get. a. fucking. password.
don’t use your name as your password. don’t your birthdate as your password. by god’s sake don’t use your phone number or address as a password. don’t use things you like as your password (your children, favorite authors, shows). throw numbers and signs in between. mix different randomization patterns. retort to foreign languages.
if you don’t, you might as well use “1234″
if you use your password at least once every day or two, you will eventually learn to not forget your password. if you do *not* use any services for weeks that require a password.. why are you using facebook in the first place? are you really using it as a social service?
i clicked your link hoping to find some real “glitches” like the ones i found myself before. what a waste of time.
You are right in why arent things like facebook. I work for a 150 billion dollar a year company and lately when it comes to software even directors are starting to ask a ‘can we have xx look like facebook ? ‘ etc
Before long all software will start to look like facebook.
@Mikeal my understanding of your point is software is becoming SaaS and social. one example is here: http://bit.ly/cYAyUw
The goal for this software is to create a facebook like environment in corporate.
I couldn’t agree more with Benioff as the company I work for is taking that step.
Also agree with last commentator, when people talk about online collaboration FB as well as Twitter come to the forefront.
People are changing how they will use business software. This is evident especially in the younger workforce who is use to facebook and twitter feed concept of sharing. Social productivity I also believe the way businesses are install, deploying business software is changing. Check out the new Google Apps Marketplace http://socialwok.com/marketplace
Ming
cloud computing is great, but stallman’s critiques of cloud computing are also legit. when you ask yourself why google is on the verge of owning everything, part of the reason is because the SaaS + cloud computing combo, which lends itself to natural monopolies, as well as proprietary standards rather than open ones. the article from the drupal guy that was posted on rww last week elaborates on this.
cloud computing works best when it can be combined with open source. otherwise, it leads to too few people having too much power. benioff may not object to this, as he is one of the folks who will be in power, but the rest of us may not appreciate it so much.
Stallman = FAIL
You’re right, there’s a big danger of proprietary monopolies, leading to too few people having too much power. But just noticing the danger is not going to help us avoid it. Between the powerful people who will push it, and the mindless consumers who will go along with it because it’s convenient (see the earlier reply to your post), it’s an uphill struggle for those of us who value freedom and privacy. It’s not enough for us to choose open standards. We have to help others to see why they are important.
Another ad in the can. Well done. Keep taking it for free as long as they will give it to you. I am sure SocialText – their PAYING advertiser loves this piece.
I know I know, you are just advancing the industry…. ahem… HA HA HA…
Totally. Even the shared discussion pic is about the app.
Well people are different we all build different sites,it’s human nature or the web would be boring.
The Padrino
http://www.thepadrino.com
Spam.
spam
+1
Interesting article. First point: Although essential as a human communication tool, it is really foolish to believe that CRM is “all” enterprise software.
Second point: it is also foolish to believe that desktops are finished -or will be soon. This is a fantasy supported largely by twenty-somethings in the Bay area and those addicted to laptops and iPhones. This is only a small part of the “real” world.
I am all for innovation and “Hope and Change” -but, if we don’t tread carefully, the result would be a hellish mess similar to the one we have in Washington right now…
Marc,
Many years ago the software industry began conversing, as you well remember, over networks via newsgroup technology. Leaping forward to today non-technical users are now able to benefit from the ability to communicate digitally. Well known territory yeah!? Already people talk about not having enough “bandwidth”, such a 21st century expression.
So just how should everyone use these tools? How do you allow the corporation to be social and follow business goals simultaneously without affecting productivity? Who should get more time to tweet and why? What I think is challenging and needs to be better understood before the software industry pushes things like Tibbr, Chatter or a.n.other vendor solution similar to Twitter or StatusNet into common work practices is to be able to show how the impact on productivity through participation is offset by the benefits you rightly express in the article – cutting through the noise and intelligent rule-sets will be, no doubt, a massive opportunity for the software industry however I fear the pressure placed on employees to participate in the corporate “twitter” could lead to some nasty results longer term, lets not forget today’s 30 year-olds will still be working 20 years from now – I’m not a skeptic, I’m being pragmatic and I think “Dunbars 150″ (check wikipedia) needs urgent review and fresh academic thinking placed on what Dunbar would believe is possible with today’s technology.
Why isn’t all enterprise software like SEOshop?
http://www.getseoshop.com/beta/en/
Salesforce and amazon aren’t fancy, SEOshop uses a lot of AJAX features that make your life easier.
Apparently Mr. Benioff hasn’t seen Fail Book
http://fail-book.tumblr.com
I kinda felt like the article said a whole lot of nothing.
… it is advertising for salesforce.com
we are all Facebookers now?
You can see why this guy is so controversial.
I actually quote him in the first chapter of my new book:
http://www.philsimonsystems.com/blog/technology/enterprise-2-0/nwot-ch1/
I also quote “the establishment’s” response to comments like these.
Yeah, this might be self-promotional, but it’s also on-point.
What is Facebook?
It’s when you fall asleep in the library….
I’m trying this in a niche serving financial firms. The two impediments are security and control. I know many financial firms who refuse to use salesforce.com for these reasons. The technology is easy nowadays, but convincing customers to hand over vital data will always be tough. IMHO, that’s why enterprise software hasn’t completely moved to the cloud.
I’ve had nothing but success with SalesForce.com and has forever changed my thinking behind SaaS and apps “in the cloud”.
I will read Marc’s book…because I am really impressed in this individual. Agreed w/ comments that he is a leader
Marc says “in the enterprise to replace antiquated Microsoft Sharepoint servers”….he’s dead on.
Sharepoint is by far, the biggest example of Microsoft “missing the boat” entirely on online collaboration, document sharing & community.
Sharepoint is the clunkiest piece of garbage to administer for tech admins, for “power users” to engage and take responsibility on a “chunk” of sharepoint, and for end-users to engage.
All about the cloud baby…in the browser!!!
Very cool. Having spent the past 2 years working for a company that couldn’t afford a bloated ERP system, we’ve had to “make due” by developing the bits and pieces we needed with a good number of those focusing on Facebook style communication fields.
The shift is inevitable.
Today, most of the people in decision making positions in Enterprises are not whom I would call the facebook generation.
Heck! There are people who still get nostalgic about the their mainframe days.
However, in the next 5-10 years, most of the workforce will be people who have been using services like facebook for years. They will demand similar enterprise software.
Already I have heard of a few companies using wikis and forums for communication amongst employees to solve problems or come up with innovative ideas.
The possibilities with a facebook for enterprises are endless. I agree with Marc when he says that enterprise is not just going social its going mobile.
I have always thought that the business and the people should be put on one and the same platform. The only question is who will do it the most effective way
Agreed. There’s quite a shift occurring.
I think the iPhone app store and the newly launched Google App store has and will play a big role as well.
“I consider Facebook and Twitter—and the ability to tap into my network of friends and followers—one the most productive ways I can start my day.”
I think depends on your metric for productivity. If it’s getting the word out or getting quick feedback from customers or updates from contacts, agreed.
But many employers have now banned Facebook access from the workplace. It’s not because its a productivity tool. There’s still plenty of keeping your nose to the grindstone work that doesn’t involve tweeting or facebooking.
There are some startups delivering closed “facebooks” for companies. These are very powerful in breaking down company silos and creating better collaboration and communication within a company.
What, is Salesforce funded by Sequoia too? What garbage.
Your platform sucks, Marc. You harp on the “major players” yet create a proprietary language (Apex) to have people “develop” for your “platform”.
It’s easy to hate on Microsoft and IBM, but I ask you this: Have you used Sharepoint 2010? Azure? Because they beat the hell out of Force/Chatter and the rest of the piecemeal you think you’ve revolutionized.
Of course a CEO’s remarks are going to tie back to his or her company. But, rather than claim the article is nothing more than a sales pitch, it’s much more important to embrace the passion and knowledge shared therein.
Every single organization and entity can benefit from embracing online social tools pioneered by the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Whether that be in the form of microblogging, social profiles, online forums, mobile location sharing, etc. depends upon the unique personality and needs of your company. The degree to which these tools make sense in your organization is a function of internal and external variables that only your constituency can evaluate.
This isn’t a one size fits all game. It’s a movement. It’s about embracing platforms that fuel greater business efficiency.
Shashi brings up a good point about the age of most of the decision makers.
Nowadays people are growing up with completely different levels of technology at their hands.
I am not that old but I remember the first computer I got was a 486. Look at where we are today.
The same holds true for the way things will progress and be the norm in the future.
Cloud based computing and SAAS are the future!
Marc, interesting that in your screenshot, twice in your chatter stream, your staff are inviting colleagues to download Powerpoint slide decks to view. 2 ironies here:
1. You’re using Microsoft products
2. Downloading slide decks to a PC is very anti-cloud. It means that multiple versions of the deck could be floating around. Shouldn’t you be using a web-based sharing and collaboration tool, so that there’s only 1 version of the deck on the web server? Then people who want to share the deck can do so via cloud sharing by sending the URL. Cloud computing is more that deploying a Twitter clone in your office. It’s a new way of working, and apparently Salesforce hasn’t yet got it internally.
Actually if you look a little closer you’ll notice the view link. This renders the document within the browser. The documents are all stored in the cloud on Salesforce Content.
1) Techcrunch, please ban outside links in your comments. They are beginning to be overrun by people who want to promote their books, blog posts, companies, etc.
2) Marc Benioff doesn’t even use Twitter. Or at least he is well hidden.
Funny. In the screenshot, kraig swensrud says he want his customers to know ‘it(s) safe for all customers to put their toes in the chatter water’. Um, kraig…your private conversation was just exposed to the entire tech community on TC. #irony. Good thing nobody can fire benioff.
I’ll be more impressed with Benioff’s analysis when SalesForce.com walks the talk. I’ve been wrestling with an implementation for the last few weeks and SF is most definitely not like Facebook
Not that SalesForce.com is worthless, but I’m disappointed TechCrunch anoints him as a thought leader when there are other SAAS CRM providers who offer a much better experience. Think BatchBlue, Highrise etc.
Ummm, just googled BatchBlue and Highrise…both sites have “Small Business CRM” in their description…..we are talking ENTERPRISE software…not mom and pop small business apps. Salesforce is scalable for the enterprise
Nice try though :)
I am so tired of hearing about Facebook. It’s just an interface and interface = fad. Its importance can be crushed in a few months as MySpace was.
I was using Facebook everyday but then I realized it was such a bore…snore…Salesforce.com is a great company and shouldn’t be spending so much energy talking about a fad.
your comment adds nothing to the discussion. boring.
Aesthetically, all apps can benefit from being more “social” like Facebook. But that UI veneer will eventually fade away without a strong data foundation (aka social graph).
I would encourage Developers to attend this Tech Preview webinar next Monday to see why Chatter is the next Trojan Horse. They really did get the data model and API right. This will be a game changer.
http://www.developerforce.com/events/chatter_techtalk/registration.php?d=70130000000F0SD
pick any application, mix some facebook
facebook+visual Studio
facebook+any project management software
facebook+monster.com
facebook+amazon.com
facebook+photoshop
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@ taher
very fun.