IT Management Features
Salesforce.com CRM update focuses on flexibility and mobility
Now 15 years old and counting, Salesforce.com's CRM application gained maturity long ago, but as the upcoming Summer '14 release shows, the company is still adding hundreds of enhancements and tweaks to it multiple times per year.
Chris Kanaracus June 10, 2014
Increased flexibility is one theme of Summer '14, judging from details in release notes posted at Salesforce.com's website.
For example, customers can now receive emails of up to 25MB in size, compared to 10MB previously. Salesforce.com has also expanded the maximum size of attachments to system objects, such as a case or order, from 5MB to 25MB.
Summer '14 also gives Enterprise Edition customers a way to develop more custom applications without upgrading to Performance Edition, which is priced at $300 per user per month, compared to $125 per user per month for Enterprise Edition.
The Unlimited Apps Pack for Enterprise Edition allows for up to 9,999 custom applications and also significantly raises storage and API (application programming interface) call limits. Pricing wasn't immediately available.
A new feature called Files Sync is also generally available in Summer '14. Files Sync uses a desktop client that can sync files between the desktop, mobile devices and Salesforce.com's Chatter collaboration and messaging application.
Another key focus of Summer '14 is the Salesforce1 mobile application, which was first launched at the Dreamforce conference in November. Last month, Salesforce.com previewed more than 30 updates it is making to the mobile app as part of Summer '14, but the release notes provide additional details, including on how the mobile app experience differs from the full Salesforce.com site.
Summer '14 allows access from the mobile app to any custom object that has a tab in the full Salesforce.com site, according to the notes.
Additional mobile app improvements include the ability to share files from the full site; submit records for approval; and a faster way to create new contacts.
The release notes defy easy summarization, running to over 300 pages, and also include a wealth of details on improvements to Salesforce.com's underlying Force.com development platform.
Summer '14 is set to be rolled out to customers starting later this month.
Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris' email address is [email protected]
Microsoft reworks CRM Online licensing model, aims at Salesforce.com Salesforce.com glitzes up its mobile app with 30 new features