5 Reasons to Integrate Your Business App with Salesforce

Did you know you can integrate into Salesforce and list on the AppExchange even if you’re not natively built on App Cloud? The AppExchange has a growing number of partner solutions built on a variety of platforms like AWS, Azure, Heroku, Openshift, and many more. The growth of these connectors and the importance of integrations continues to increase, which is why we have built out the connector model.

How does it work?

The Connector model uses a different approach to technology and to our partners’ business models. Think of it as crawl, walk, run: businesses have the ability to grow from a lightweight connection to an app with moderate functionality in Salesforce — all the way to a fully native-built application on App Cloud.

Furthermore, joining the AppExchange as a connector isn’t difficult: platforms like AWS have additional resources available to you, and Azure has a video to help you get started. If you need additional help, we also work with consulting vendors who can help you get started and coach you through the entire process.

Why integrate your app with Salesforce and join the AppExchange?

1. Customer stickiness. Integrating your application to third-party platforms like Salesforce increases functionality for your customers and inherently makes them more sticky. The more you connect with tools they use daily (like Salesforce), the more essential you are to their day-to-day business.
2. Salesforce is the leading PaaS provider. Salesforce is rated a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant in a number of categories, meaning whether you stay a lightweight connector or start building applications natively on App Cloud, you’re set up for success from day one. Users report that the Salesforce App Cloud development tools cut development time by 31% compared with traditional development methods, allowing partners to cut the cost of quality assurance by 34% and decrease time to market by 32% (Source: IDC’s Salesforce Economic Impact Model, 2016).
3. Market via the AppExchange. Even if you’re not built on Salesforce App Cloud, you can still benefit from the Salesforce ecosystem, where the revenue opportunity is estimated to be 3 to 4x that of Salesforce itself (Source: IDC’s Salesforce Economic Impact Model, 2016). 83% of Salesforce customers today use at least one partner application, accounting for over four million installs to date at a rate of one install per minute. We are continuing to see growth in customer adoption of AppExchange apps, and expect this to grow this to 93% of customers and 10 million installs by 2020.
4. Gain exposure for your product with Salesforce’s customer base. Salesforce’s customer base continues to grow at a rapid pace with over 150,000 customers to date, and the AppExchange is the central place these customers go to find applications to extend their CRM. As the premier business application marketplace, customers know that if your business is listed on the AppExchange, you are an approved partner and have passed security review.
5. Build relationships and grow business together. The AppExchange is a family of partners who work and interact with one another. You can network with partners who have been long-time AppExchange members to learn best practices and grow your business. Many of our partners also leverage other partner solutions built right into their own product to increase functionality and solve problems.

Ready to learn more? View the webinar with Salesforce and AppExchange partner FormAssembly.