Connect Fall 2016 | Page 22

BOOK REVIEW “Less than 1% of customer data has been analyzed, while 77% of customers are not engaged with companies.” —MARC BENIOFF Behind the Cloud— The Salesforce.com Story Join Marc Benioff as he outlines the strategy behind his explosively successful company, Salesforce.com, and how it became the leading organization in cloud computing in just under a decade. “When we know our data, we know our customers.” In Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company and Revolutionized an Industry, Marc Benioff guides us through this principle, along with many others by questioning the age-old software standard with powerful cloud-computing solutions. Outlining advances in marketing, technology, finance, distribution, philanthropy, and leadership throughout, the book is filled with insider insights—covering themes such as, “How to Cut Through the Noise and Pitch the Bigger Picture” or “The Corporate Philanthropy Playbook—Make Your Company About More than the Bottom Line.” The Rise of Salesforce.com It all started in San Francisco in the late 1990’s with a small rented apartment and a vision. Benioff’s company, Salesforce.com, began by developing smarter approaches to internet applications, with increased flexibility, recovery, updates, and customer relationship management (CRM)—essentially rendering traditional software programs obsolete. Moreover, by pairing a well-thought-out and strategic cloud computing system with exceptional CRM, Benioff saw his hard work materialize. Salesforce.com began to dominate the niche in the early 2000’s in spite of financial concerns rooted in that decade’s stock market crash. Weathering the storm, the company continued to flourish. Now, with software companies sprouting up daily, Benioff is something of a rarity. Resting atop a $46 billion industry, he’s proudly positioned as the leader in cloud computing software, with Salesforce.com a multi-million dollar international enterprise. A fascinating look at the rise of an innovative technology company and its leader, Behind the Cloud offers a wide-ranging smörgåsbord of wisdom, strategy, and advice—all of which will prove both insightful and challenging for all business leaders across many industries. 22 | SNB.COM // CONNECT TECHNOLOGY FALL 2016