Salesforce.com Seeks 1,000 Integrators To Tackle Government Cloud

Salesforce.com has unveiled a cloud-based marketplace for government agencies for which they plan to train 1,000 integrators and partners to deploy related applications and services.

The initiative is scheduled to be announced Wednesday by Vivek Kundra, executive vice president of Emerging Markets at Salesforce.com and former U.S. CIO at Salesforce.com's Cloudforce conference in Washington, D.C.

Under Salesforce.com's Government Partner Accelerator Program, integrators will be trained free of charge by the end of the year to gain expertise about its government-related applications and services, the company said. Dan Burton, Salesforce.com's senior vice president of Global Public Sector, said in an interview that Salesforce.com integrators will be able to work toward the long-sought goal of making the workings of government more efficient by using Salesforce.com's cloud-based solutions.

"Government is dominated by a handful of big companies that make their living on IT," he said. "Transforming government is going to take a new breed of integrators."

Interested solution providers can visit Salesforce.com's GPA page and sign up to learn about the program.

The first classes will be held starting May 17 at Salesforce.com’s offices in Herndon, Va., and offered via the Web. The company said that small businesses that are integrators and interested in building their businesses around Salesforce.com cloud solutions, are eligible.

Also announced Wednesday was Government Cloud, a multi-tenant platform that will allow federal, state and local agencies to use Salesforce.com's services. The cloud platform will include dedicated databases and supporting infrastructure to meet the regulatory and compliance needs of U.S. government customers.

In addition, Salesforce.com unveiled AppExchange for Government, which will make applications available so agencies can locate and use cloud applications for the public sector. It includes a range of features, from help desks and asset management to program and project management to constituent relations.

AppExchange for Government thus far has 60 applications in place for government and public sector agencies.

The applications include BasicGov, built on Salesforce.com's platform; Force.com, which allows cities, counties, state governments and government agencies to streamline permitting and inspections, code enforcement, planning, licensing and citizen access; and DocuSign, which includes an eSignature app to manage documents.

AppExchange for Government is an extension of Salesforce.com’s AppExchange, which currently has more than 1,400 cloud apps.

Jay Tansing, managing director of Public Sector for Salesforce.com partner Acumen Solutions, of McClean, Va., said AppExchange will help them deliver government services.

“AppExchange for Government represents a significant leap forward for public sector organizations wishing to harness the power of cloud technologies, and for software and services vendors specializing in the unique needs of government clients," Tansing said in an e-mail.