Salesforce.com vs. Force.com: Key Differences

1. Purpose and Functionality:

Salesforce.com:

Purpose: A cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution.

Functionality: Provides pre-built applications for managing sales, customer service, marketing, and other business processes.

Example: A company uses Salesforce.com to manage its sales pipeline, track customer interactions, and automate marketing campaigns.

Force.com:

Purpose: A platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for custom application development.

Functionality: Allows developers to build and deploy custom applications on top of Salesforce’s infrastructure.

Example: A developer creates a custom project management tool using Force.com to track internal projects, which is fully integrated with the company’s existing Salesforce.com CRM data.

2. User Base:

Salesforce.com:

Purpose: A cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution.

Functionality: Provides pre-built applications for managing sales, customer service, marketing, and other business processes.

Example: A company uses Salesforce.com to manage its sales pipeline, track customer interactions, and automate marketing campaigns.

Force.com:

Purpose: A platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for custom application development.

Functionality: Allows developers to build and deploy custom applications on top of Salesforce’s infrastructure.

Example: A developer creates a custom project management tool using Force.com to track internal projects, which is fully integrated with the company’s existing Salesforce.com CRM data.

3. Flexibility:

Salesforce.com:

Flexibility: Limited to the features and functionalities provided within the Salesforce CRM suite, with some ability to customize.

Example: A business uses the standard Salesforce.com Sales Cloud to track leads, opportunities, and accounts but customizes it to include additional stages in the sales process.

Force.com:

Flexibility: Highly flexible, allowing the creation of completely new applications or significant extensions to existing Salesforce apps.

Example: A developer creates a custom inventory management system on Force.com, tailored to the unique needs of a retail company.

Summary Example:

• Salesforce.com: A company uses Salesforce.com to manage customer interactions and track sales leads, with the sales team utilizing pre-built CRM functionalities.
• Force.com: The same company uses Force.com to build a custom app that tracks employee time off, integrating this app with Salesforce.com to ensure that HR data is linked with employee records in the CRM.