As per me, it is a marketing term used to describe the applications used on the internet.
With my little research, I found three definitions which give more clarity and have largely been agreed upon - and are based on functionality. The distinction allows you to make real choices to how to save your company money.
Each represents only one part of the growing cloud environment, not the Cloud as a whole.
Software as a Service (SaaS) represents software which is available to use already. It can be configured, but it is not necessary to hire developers to create it. The solutions of Customer Relationship Management, Salesforce Automation, Marketing Automation, Customer Service and Support largely fall into this category.
Eg. google docs, Microsoft Office Web Apps
Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides environment and tools for creating new online custom applications on the base platform from which the SaaS applications have been written. Using this environment, saves considerable time and effort in development.
Eg. force.com from Salesforce, Microsoft Windows Azure, Google App Engine
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is available to companies who have already implemented their web based applications and do not wish to host them locally. This option is chosen when the cost to host your own solutions is more than the cost of the service costs. It is a smart option for smaller organizations who cannot afford the resources required for securing your own internal clouds. It allows existing applications to be run on a cloud supplier’s hardware.
Hybrid models do exist. You can have your own private cloud, and also lease remotely hosted infrastructure, platform space or full software solutions externally from your environment.
Eg. Amazon EC2, Rackspace, gogrid
So, the next time you see a cloud computing advertisement, ask yourself what service they are offering: SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS. Then ask yourself which environment they are offering the solution in: Java, .NET, or Apex.
While "infrastructure as a service" (where companies rent compute time and storage, such as with Amazon EC2) and "software as a service" (applications such as Salesforce's Sales Cloud and Concur's travel and expense management tool) are fairly mature, the general cloud platforms are still evolving.
As such, there's an enormous potential market for whoever get its right. That's why Salesforce --and its competitors--are putting so much emphasis on this. I expect we'll see a lot more evolution - and a lot more consolidation - in the year ahead.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Understanding Language, Locale, Time zone and Currency
Language- The default language that is selected for new users in the organization. This setting determines the language used for the user interface text and help.
Locale- This setting determines the format of dates, times, and names in Salesforce. individual users can set their personal locale, which overrides the organization setting.
The format used for dates, times, and names of people in Salesforce is determined by your Locale setting.
The Locale setting affects the format of date, date/time, and number fields, and the calendar. For example, dates in the English (United States) locale display as 06/30/2000 and as 30/06/2000 in the English (United Kingdom) locale. Times in the English (United States) locale display using a twelve-hour clock with AM and PM (for example, 2:00 PM), whereas in the English (United Kingdom) locale, they display using a twenty-four-hour clock (for example, 14:00).
The Locale setting also affects the first and last name order on Name fields for users, leads, and contacts. For example, Bob Johnson in the English (United States) locale displays as Bob Johnson, whereas the Chinese (China) locale displays the name as Johnson Bob.
Time Zone- Primary time zone in which the organization is located. A user's individual Time Zone setting overrides the organization's Default Time Zone setting.
Currency
International organizations can use multiple currencies in opportunities, forecasts, reports, quotes, and other currency fields.
The administrator sets the “corporate currency,” which reflects the currency of the corporate headquarters. The administrator also maintains the list of active currencies and their conversion rates relative to the corporate currency. The active currencies represent the countries in which the organization does business. Only active currencies can be used in currency amount fields.
Every user also has a personal currency, which is used as the default currency in his or her own quotas, forecasts, opportunities, quotes, and reports. Users can also create opportunities and enter amounts using other active currencies. Every lead, account, contact, opportunity, and case has a field that specifies the currency to use for all amount fields in that record. For example, you can set the Account Currency to “USD-U.S. Dollars” so that the Annual Revenue shows in dollars for one of your American accounts. All currency amounts are displayed in the default currency of the record as well as in the personal currency of the user.When you change the default currency of a record, currency amounts are not converted; they simply display with the new currency code.
Locale- This setting determines the format of dates, times, and names in Salesforce. individual users can set their personal locale, which overrides the organization setting.
The format used for dates, times, and names of people in Salesforce is determined by your Locale setting.
The Locale setting affects the format of date, date/time, and number fields, and the calendar. For example, dates in the English (United States) locale display as 06/30/2000 and as 30/06/2000 in the English (United Kingdom) locale. Times in the English (United States) locale display using a twelve-hour clock with AM and PM (for example, 2:00 PM), whereas in the English (United Kingdom) locale, they display using a twenty-four-hour clock (for example, 14:00).
The Locale setting also affects the first and last name order on Name fields for users, leads, and contacts. For example, Bob Johnson in the English (United States) locale displays as Bob Johnson, whereas the Chinese (China) locale displays the name as Johnson Bob.
Time Zone- Primary time zone in which the organization is located. A user's individual Time Zone setting overrides the organization's Default Time Zone setting.
Currency
International organizations can use multiple currencies in opportunities, forecasts, reports, quotes, and other currency fields.
The administrator sets the “corporate currency,” which reflects the currency of the corporate headquarters. The administrator also maintains the list of active currencies and their conversion rates relative to the corporate currency. The active currencies represent the countries in which the organization does business. Only active currencies can be used in currency amount fields.
Every user also has a personal currency, which is used as the default currency in his or her own quotas, forecasts, opportunities, quotes, and reports. Users can also create opportunities and enter amounts using other active currencies. Every lead, account, contact, opportunity, and case has a field that specifies the currency to use for all amount fields in that record. For example, you can set the Account Currency to “USD-U.S. Dollars” so that the Annual Revenue shows in dollars for one of your American accounts. All currency amounts are displayed in the default currency of the record as well as in the personal currency of the user.When you change the default currency of a record, currency amounts are not converted; they simply display with the new currency code.
Understanding Security
Security in Salesforce can be applied at 3 levels
Object Level-by Profiles
Field Level
Record Level
OWD-It restricts access
Roles-It is hierarchical list of users
Sharing Rules
Manual Sharing
Object Level-by Profiles
Field Level
Record Level
OWD-It restricts access
Roles-It is hierarchical list of users
Sharing Rules
Manual Sharing
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