90 Minds Community

I would sure hate betting my future on becoming a Salesforce app when things like this can happen and cut your legs out from under you. Seriously ... who would not see this as a huge risk? http://www.computerworld.com/article/3020621/software-as-a-service/salesforce-causes-partner-pain-with-steelbrick-acquisition.html

When you're smashing down the walls between front and back office it can be tempting to overlook these little details.

Gosh ... I forgot all about Sage doing this. I was just making a general comment about all the other app builders on the Salesforce platform. I wonder if Stephen Kelly is worried about this type of thing?

My son sold for Big Machines, starting 6 months before Oracle acquired it. Big Machine was a major CPQ player in the sf market. A very good company for salespeople, growing fast. Oracle bought it, and proceeded to completely bugger up Big Machines marketing, and hence penetration into sf customers. My son finally gave up after 6 months of Oracle BS and completely screwed commissions. He now works for Financial Force. FF is great if a company doesn't have much supply chain needs; it still has development needed to fill out. CPQ is a significant extension of CRM functionality. I think sf wanted to ensure that another strong CPQ offering didn't get acquired. I don't think that thinking is as relevant to accounting-related apps, especially if sf wants to fill-out its vision of an app platform. Sage has way more to worry about than sf buying FF. Many other sf-enhancements should worry, though; It's a very similar situation to that of MS vs all the utility enhancements of the 80's-90's -- some will get absorbed into the main product.