Dreamforce: Taking SaaS and the cloud in new (and old) directions

Since its inception, salesforce.com has been pushing the limits of what companies can do with the Internet. Initially, the Web seemed like a good place for businesses to be able to store, track and share customer information. Later, it became a platform for specialty applications written by developers who could bring customization to something called Software-as-a-Service.

Today, while businesses continue to expand the definitions of SaaS and Cloud Computing, salesforce.com is taking a step back of sorts, placing a renewed emphasis on the actual Web page itself through a service called Sites. The company will offer details of the service this morning when it kicks off its Dreamforce conference at San Francisco's Moscone Center. On the surface, though, it looks like salesforce is getting into the business of hosting web pages. And, in actuality, it is. It comes with all the tools you need to build a page and you can even host it on force.com.

But what's more appealing about Sites is the ability to go into the salesforce cloud, grab some key apps and data and build a dynamic web page of realtime information, maybe something like realtime inventory figures for mobile sales reps connected to a VPN or live public transit alerts available on any device that can connect to the web. Just because that page is housed in the salesforce cloud, there's no reason it can't be under the company's domain and simply powered by salesforce.

Google will also be at the show, drumming up interest in its Visualization API, which converts things like sales data or business trends into original graphs and graphics, including the specialty motion graphics by Gapminder, a company it acquired in March of last year. Until now, the data sources had been limited - publicly, it was just Google Spreadsheets. At the show today, Google is announcing that the Visualization API will be open to all data sources - yes, including salesforce data.

Data analysis in the cloud takes the idea of "real time" to a new level, opening the doors to up-to the minute, hourly or daily updates on important pieces of data. It's no surprise to see Google take this to the next step. The company has long been an advocate of cloud computing, notably through Google Apps.

Admittedly, some people are data people - those who love to pour over numbers and dig deep into trends and movements and changes. But there are also those who mostly just want to know what the trends, movements and changes are, not how they came to be. And everything from line charts and pie charts to heat maps and motion graphs can tell that story in a way that's much better than a financial statement.

There will be a lot of interest around SaaS and Cloud Computing and what's coming out of Moscone Center over the next few days. In addition to Sites, salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff is expected to make a couple of other announcements during his opening keynote speech this morning. Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell will deliver a keynote speech on Tuesday. And we'll also be bringing you some blog coverage and video footage from the show floor. Be sure to be on the look out over the next couple of days.