Salesforce.com goes OEM with AppExchange

On-demand CRM vendor Salesforce.com has announced it is to offer its AppExchange service as a standalone OEM product - with no CRM functionality - for customers who simply want access to the platform.

Although CRM remains at the heart of the company's offering Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com told delegates at the company's AppForce event in San Francisco the excitement around AppExchange, which launched earlier this year and offers a platform for independent software vendors to distribute and share applications with new and existing Salesforce.com customers, has led to this new direction.

To date applications have all tied in to Salesforce.com, such as those offering mapping services, contact management, collaboration tools, web conferencing and other services to complement CRM, but now AppExchange OEM Edition offers more of a blank canvas.

Benioff said: "This allows ISVs to focus 100 per cent on innovation and IP," announcing four customers who are on-board for the OEM service at launch.

Salesforce.com will provide the hosting and distribution model, said Benioff, ensuring the techies just have to get on with being techies.