Salesforce.com Positioned in the Leaders Quadrant in the 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Engagement Centers

SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the world's #1 CRM platform (http://www.salesforce.com/), today announced that for the fourth consecutive year Salesforce Service Cloud is positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the "Leaders" quadrant of the April 24, 2014 CRM Customer Engagement Center report. The evaluation is based on completeness of vision and ability to execute.

According to Gartner: The CRM Customer Engagement Center (CEC) refers to a logical set of business applications and technologies that are engineered to provide customer service and support, regardless of the interaction (or engagement) channel. The goal of the CEC is not only to provide reactive service to customers as they move among communications channels — including social media — while retaining the customers' context, but also to deliver the appropriate business rule to determine the next best action, information or process with which to engage the customers. This approach can be thought of as a concierge service, or proactive service, as the enterprise establishes processes to reach out to the customers to assist when the enterprise sees that there is information or advice to deliver.

According to the report, "Until 2013, Gartner referred to CECs as 'customer service contact centers.' As the need to engage customers and prospects on new channels such as mobile devices and social media has expanded, we have evolved the term 'contact center' to 'customer engagement center,' and thus, we renamed the Magic Quadrant in 2013 to reflect this change."

Comments on the News

"We believe salesforce.com's Magic Quadrant position reinforces our industry leadership and continued innovation," said Alex Bard, EVP and GM, Service Cloud, salesforce.com. "Salesforce.com continues to set the standard for how companies can engage with customers in a whole new way, with breakthrough innovations such as Salesforce Service SOS."

Service Cloud Paves the Way for Mobile Customer Service

Last year, salesforce.com doubled down on mobile and introduced a series of Service Cloud solutions including mobile communities, mobile chat and Knowledge base, extending its technology leadership. And in April 2014, the company raised the stakes yet again and announced Salesforce1 Service Cloud SOS, a breakthrough innovation in customer service for the mobile era. Service SOS will enable companies to provide high-touch, 1:1 service for their customers with instant, anytime access to support within any mobile app, similar to the Amazon Kindle Mayday button. With new live video support and on-screen guided assistance, companies will be able to deliver instant and personalized customer service within any mobile app.

Leading Brands Deliver Amazing Customer Service with Salesforce1 Service Cloud

Service Cloud, the world's #1 customer service platform, transforms support organizations to exceed customer expectations and deliver amazing customer service experiences. Leading brands, such as Cars.com, Philips and Stanley Black & Decker, now have the customer engagement platform to connect with their customers in a whole new way. Companies that have deployed Service Cloud have seen on average a 40% increase in agent productivity, a 40% decrease in support costs, a 39% increase in customer retention, and a 40% increase in customer satisfaction, according to a recent third-party research report sponsored by salesforce.com.

Additional Information

• The Gartner Magic Quadrant report for Customer Engagement Centers is available at: https://www.salesforce.com/form/pdf/gartner-customer-service-magic-quadrant-2014.jsp
• Learn more about the Salesforce1 Service Cloud: http://www.salesforce.com/service-cloud/overview/
• Follow @Salesforce on Twitter
• Like the Salesforce1 Service Cloud on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ServiceCloud

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is the world's largest provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software. For more information about salesforce.com (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.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com 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://salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

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