Dreamforce 2016 coverage
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Article
Salesforce expands its strategy beyond traditional functionality
Salesforce works integrate all of the new technologies it purchases and bring new capabilities into customer relationship management. Read Now
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Article
Debunking four myths on selling
Most young companies try acquiring new customers, extending into new markets, hiring experienced sales reps and creating teams with distinct responsibilities. But these are the wrong tactics to help sales grow. Read Now
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Article
Salesforce Lightning Experience is the future for development
With the latest release, Salesforce Classic users will have to prepare to migrate to Lighting. Here are some tactics to help make it a little more painless. Read Now
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Article
IoT technologies automate manufacturing
KUKA Robotics utilizes IoT technology to help bring efficiency and customization to the assembly line. Read Now
Editor's note
As customer data becomes the cornerstone of business success, companies are struggling to keep pace with the changes required to gain real insight from their data.
While they have recognized the importance of this information to create smarter-selling, more personalized marketing and better customer service, using data to achieve better decision making has been difficult for many companies. Integrating data from numerous sources and being able to take action in real time based on a steady influx of data are just some of the hurdles companies wrestle with today.
Today, companies are trying to bring the power of data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and internal databases to better understand their customers' preferences and to improve company operations.
Salesforce has been at work to make customer data insight more meaningful. On the eve of the Dreamforce 2016 conference, it announced Salesforce Einstein, a machine learning technology designed to enhance company's internal customer account data with external data sources. As a result, companies are better positioned to secure sales, market effectively and provide strong customer service.
Salesforce has touted Einstein as democratizing artificial intelligence, providing "AI for everyone," and taken data from a variety of sources -- from internet of things (IoT) devices to social media platform data to workers' calendar information -- to combine that data with CRM data and other sources to create a more complete picture of customer behavior in context.
Salesforce is also hard at work to integrate data and processes to make omnichannel customer experience more seamless. To that end, Salesforce announced Commerce Cloud, which exploits its $2.8 billion acquisition of Demandware. The goal is to make marketing efforts more personalized and tailored, regardless of a customer's channel. So, for example, if customers browse a store online for research purposes then go to a physical store, Commerce Cloud can help tailor that customer journey and personalize interactions.
The Demandware acquisition is one of a spate of purchases Salesforce has made since last year, from SteelBrick configure price quote software to Quip for document management to Implisit, MetaMind, and PredictionIO for data intelligence and machine learning.
Some of these acquisitions may be seamless (read: SteelBrick), but some may present hurdles in terms of integration with a company that aims to reach $10 billion in revenue. As releases like Salesforce Einstein and Commerce Cloud take shape post-Dreamforce conference, industry observers will be watching closely. For more on Salesforce's acquisitions and new releases, check out all the news, features and video from our Dreamforce 2016 conference coverage below.
1Previous Dreamforce conference coverage
The Dreamforce 2015 conference was marked by Salesforce's commitment to tackling new industries with offerings including IoT and Salesforce Wave. Before Dreamforce 2016 starts, take a look back at how things developed in 2015.
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Article
Will user adoption of Salesforce Analytics Cloud grow?
Learn about the benefits and challenges of the Analytics Cloud as it gains momentum. Read Now
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Article
New Salesforce Wave Analytics for Community Cloud
The Salesforce platform brings ROI to collaboration tools with the use of embedded analytics through the Wave. Read on for the details here. Read Now
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Article
Data quality yielding results from Wave
It can be challenging to get analytics applications such as Wave tuned and ready to return insight that can change business behavior. Find out how to overcome these obstacles. Read Now
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Article
How will the Salesforce Wave Analytics upgrade fare?
Salesforce Wave gets an upgrade, but will it be enough to win over users? Read Now
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Article
Salesforce Analytics Cloud comes out to tepid response
Salesforce Analytics Cloud is having a hard time gaining traction. What's holding it back? Read Now
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Podcast
Salesforce Lightning, Wave struggle with challenges as adoptions wane
Users are still hesitant to jump head-first into adopting Lightning and Wave. Listen Now
2Dreamforce 2016 videos
Watch as companies share stories of overcoming obstacles, adapting to new challenges and streamlining business practices as they see what Dreamforce 2016 has to offer.
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Video
Behind the scenes of Salesforce Ventures' investment strategy
A glimpse at the specific criteria Salesforce Ventures uses to fuel its investment strategy to help the Salesforce platform grow. Watch Now
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Video
Adopting CRM for small businesses is easier than it seems
That first step toward adopting a full CRM strategy is the hardest part for many small and medium-sized businesses. Watch Now
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Video
Not all companies are ready to move to cloud-only CRM
Although companies know they need to modernize their infrastructure and applications and get out of the business of maintaining their own data centers, some are tentative to move to the cloud. Watch Now
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Video
OnStar expands services with Salesforce Cloud
OnStar uses a number of Salesforce clouds as the backbone of its "connected vehicle" experience. Watch Now
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Video
Salesforce IoT efficiently utilizes machine learning
Salesforce IoT uses data to help companies make intelligent decisions about their products, services and customers Watch Now
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Video
Salesforce Commerce Cloud helps integrate customer data
Salesforce Commerce Cloud is designed to help customers make purchases more easily and help companies learn more about their customers and prospects in order to elevate the customer service experience. Watch Now
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Video
Salesforce AI brings data intelligence to business processes
Salesforce Einstein helps manage all of the platform's business processes, from marketing to service, through artificial intelligence Watch Now
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Video
IoT Cloud benefits from Salesforce's AI, Einstein
Artificial intelligence adds another dimension to sensor analysis data, giving a boost to the IoT Cloud. Watch Now
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Video
What the IoT Cloud brought to 2015
At Dreamforce 2015, Salesforce expanded on what users should have expected from the IoT Cloud. Watch Now
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Video
What Salesforce Wave Analytics brings to the table
Experts discuss the way Salesforce Wave could change the way platforms utilize analytics at Dreamforce 2015. Watch Now
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Video
Business users gravitate to Salesforce Lightning
Users talk about the benefits and upgrades to Lighting at Dreamforce 2015. Watch Now
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Video
Experts discuss why IoT adoption was slow to take hold
At Dreamforce 2015, experts talked about the new offerings coming from Salesforce and what values companies could take away from them. Watch Now