(ie Rally has an integrated app…if I use the v1.0 that is listed on the appx today, and then Rallyv2.0 is released on the appx…how do I migrate to it? is v2.0 smart enough to realize that i already have a custom object X in v1.0, and so i don’t need v2.0’s custom object X? maybe i’m missing something obvious here…like maybe i can change the label of custom object X in v2.0 to X_2?? hmmm)

Yes, that is very helpful. Thankyou for your quick responses. I’ll be sure to alert you if I actually get something out of the alpha stage.

Peder

If you have a standalone app that you are trying to sell, Salesforce does not currently have a way to charge the customers for you. You need to sell to them directly. Check out Invisible CRM. That is a good example of a company that has built some stand-alone applications that integrate with Salesforce. They market themselves in a number of ways, but they also have listings on AppExchange. Their Sales Alerts product is a similar idea to what you are doing.

For your case, think of AppExchange as more of a marketing tool. On your listing, you might have a Download button. This button would take a user to a landing page on your own website.

I hope this helps.

I’m a bit confused. If I build a application in C++ that is designed to sit in the Windows tray and alert users of events by communicating with the Salesforce backend using SOAP, then what do you mean by.. “That is the location you would want your applications to reside so they are available to others”.

I did check out AppExchange for building apps but it’s not really applicable to the stuff I’ve built because they are not web applications, but standalone apps that use the Salesforce enterprise and partner WSDLs.

Damn, it’s tough being a Salesforce newbie. So much information, so little time!

Thanks, Peder

At this time, you have to charge the customers yourself. Salesforce will not do that for you. This means you should have a means to control “activation” of your product. If you simply created an app using standard Salesforce objects, then anyone downloading it will have your configuration and you cannot chase them down. If your config is having Salesforce communicate with your own servers, then you can manage this.

OEM edition is just a way for you to sell your app to those not on the platform already. I assume you would like existing Salesforce users to use your app?

Perhaps the OEM version will address my needs…?

The OEM edition does include 5 standard tabs. I think they are Home, Leads, Accounts, Contacts, and Reports, but Opportunities may be there instead of Leads.

There are four companies with OEM products. I tried to visit each of these booths during the AppExchange Day, but the companies seemed to be spending time with press and other analysts and were not on the floor.

If you want to check out what the four are doing, try these links -

http://www.myloanbiz.com - loan officer

http://www.remend.com - real estate REO agent

http://www.dreamfactory.com (they have lots of products, I am not sure which one is the OEM one)

http://www.rallydev.com - agile software development management

The answers to all of these questions would be a lot more obvious with your suggested Platform Edition. The OEM Edition seems a little like stuffing all of Windows into your word processor, and into your spreadsheet, and into your email program. I’m not sure I get it.

Then again, maybe we should just OEM the OEM Edition, repackage it, charge $30/month for it, and call it Platform Edition.