Salesforce Introduces Lightning Bolt, a New Framework that Empowers Companies to Accelerate the Creation of Communities, Next-Generation Portals and Customer-Facing Websites

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, today introduced Salesforce Lightning Bolt, a new framework in the Salesforce Platform that accelerates any company's ability to deploy personalized customer experiences, all accessible from any device. With Lightning Bolt, companies can jumpstart the creation of a new community, next-generation portal or customer-facing website that seamlessly integrates with Salesforce CRM in a fraction of the time and with far less investment than was required before. Launching today with more than 10 partners that have already built Salesforce Bolt solutions, including Accenture, Cognizant and Deloitte, Lightning Bolt enables companies to connect with their customers in entirely new ways.

Introducing Lightning Bolt, A New Way to Accelerate the Creation of Customer Experiences

Last year, Salesforce introduced Lightning Templates for Community Cloud, enabling companies to quickly create customized communities for their customers, partners and employees. Since then, companies have used these templates to create nearly 1,000 Lightning Communities to connect and collaborate in new ways.

With the new Lightning Bolt framework, Salesforce is taking the template concept to the next level. Now, any developer and partner in the Salesforce ecosystem can build industry-specific Salesforce Bolt solutions, such as B2B e-commerce, partner relationship management and patient care portals. Salesforce Bolt solutions are unique because they contain industry best practices, Lightning Components, business logic and are all integrated seamlessly with Salesforce CRM, empowering companies to deploy next-gen customer experiences faster than ever.

Leading Partners Creating Industry Solutions with Lightning Bolt

Leveraging their rich industry knowledge, more than 10 partners have created Salesforce Bolt solutions for some of the most popular use cases across multiple industries. In addition, a new Lightning Bolt category on the AppExchange will allow the thousands of partners in the Salesforce ecosystem to not only develop, but market and sell Salesforce Bolt solutions.

New Salesforce Bolt solutions being introduced today include:

• Community for Insurance Agents by Accenture: Insurance companies can now supercharge agent and advisor productivity and deepen channel engagement by equipping agents with new self-service capabilities, data-rich dashboard features like Agent360 and sales productivity tools in a modern, easy-to-use, and mobile-friendly portal.
• Store Operations by Accenture: Retail in the Age of the Customer demands that store associates be digitally connected and dynamically engaged more than ever before.  The Store Operations platform provides associates at all levels and roles the one place to go for current information about their customers, store, department, merchandise, promotions, inventory, and operational details in a mobile first solution.
• Retail Store Collaboration by Appirio: Retailers can now collaborate better with their stores, getting real-time information about consumers, improving worker engagement and accelerating the feedback process necessary to scale their business.
• Lightning B2B Commerce by CloudCraze: Sales reps, service employees and customers in the field that are leveraging CloudCraze's native commerce application can now rapidly configure and deploy multiple purchasing scenarios that provide all users a streamlined customer experience, such as ordering spare parts or collaborating on a complex set of services in just a few clicks on their mobile devices.
• Banking Collaboration Accelerator by Cognizant: Borrowers now have a dramatically shortened loan application process with Cognizant's reinvented borrowers' experience that allows them to apply for a loan on their mobile device. This community also accelerates the back-office collaboration between bank and non-bank parties involved in the transaction.
• FastLean for Manufacturing by Deloitte: Manufacturing companies can now enable sales and service efficiency and effectiveness including CPQ, field workforce management, customer and partner communities and analytics with Deloitte's FastLean for Manufacturing that supports digital transformation based on best practice marketing, sales, service and field service capabilities.
• Patient Community by Huron and Cancer Treatment Centers of America: Patients of healthcare facilities can now connect through a community platform that empowers them to seek support from, and offer support to, those who have gone through similar experiences while gaining access to educational resources, group collaboration, local support group events, and tools to document their journey.
• Retail Audience Engagement by Magnet 360: Retailers can now connect with customers, partners, and employees at scale with a rules-based chatbot, creating a more personalized and efficient experience.
• Schedule.Me Health by Silverline: Clinical organizations, whether hospitals, practices, clinics or specialty services like MYnd Analytics, are now able to offer their patients real-time scheduling, so patients can easily get in to see their doctor when they need to.
• Retail Clienteling from Traction on Demand: Retail store managers and associates are able to quickly access customer information, preferences and purchase history from all channels that the brand and customers interact through. This community will help retailers provide a seamless customer experience both online and in-store.
• Retail Store Operations by Cadalys: Store employees, field leadership and headquarters personnel can now work together more efficiently and effectively with capabilities such as communications management, task management, holds and recalls, space and fixture management, "Leader on Duty" performance, petty cash management, real estate operations and expense reporting.
• PartnerFirst by 7Summits: Technology companies are now able to connect and engage with their partners in a whole new way. With this community, channel managers and partners can engage more effectively and in real-time with deal room collaboration, personalized dashboards that surface actionable insights, streamlined on-boarding, and deal registration—all from a single consolidated solution.

Comments on the news:

• "The new Lightning Bolt framework enables the experts in our partner ecosystem to create tailored Salesforce Bolt solutions to meet the specific needs of virtually every industry," said Mike Micucci, GM and SVP, Salesforce Community Cloud. "Now, companies will be able to leverage Salesforce Bolt solutions to deploy robust, next-generation communities, portals and more with just a few clicks, making it easier than ever to connect with customers in new ways."
• "It's imperative today for insurance companies to quickly deliver digital environments that empower agents to collaborate, discover new insights, and connect with customers in meaningful new ways," said Toan Huynh, Managing Director at Cloud First at Accenture. "With the Community for Insurance Agents Bolt solution, companies no longer have to reinvent the wheel to deploy a personalized, branded portal to supercharge agent productivity and performance and deliver on their agent engagement strategy faster."
• "Empowering our Advisers with powerful tools that enable them to be more productive and client focused has never been more important," said Marc Fabris, Head of Digital at Zurich Australia. "The work with Accenture helps our Advisers collaborate and connect in new ways so they can be more effective servicing their clients."

About Community Cloud

Salesforce Community Cloud enables companies of all sizes to seamlessly integrate business data and processes with their communities, creating a seamless customer, partner and employee experience. Built on the Salesforce Customer Success Platform, Community Cloud is part of Salesforce CRM, and easily connects to third-party systems and data sources, so companies can access the tools and information they need to be successful. With Community Cloud, companies have experienced a 45% increase in customer satisfaction and a 48% increase in faster case time resolution¹.

Pricing & Availability

• The Lightning Bolt framework will be generally available in October 2016 as part of the Community Cloud license.
• Customers will be able to begin deploying Salesforce Bolt solutions starting in October 2016.
• Developers in the Salesforce ecosystem can immediately start creating Salesforce Bolt solutions, and will be able to distribute them via the AppExchange in early 2017.
• To learn more about existing Salesforce Bolt solutions from partners, please contact the respective partner.

Additional Information

• Learn more about the Salesforce Community Cloud: http://www.salesforce.com/communities/overview/
• Get started with Community Trails: https://trailhead.salesforce.com//trail/communities

Connect with Salesforce

• Like Salesforce and Salesforce Community Cloud on Facebook.
• Follow @salesforce and @communitycloud on Twitter.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com.

Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

¹ Salesforce Customer Relationship Survey, conducted March 2015 - May 2015 by an independent third-party, Confirmit Inc., on 4,600+ customers randomly selected

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SOURCE Salesforce

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