Sales Force is now increasing its presence with its customer relationship management tool for the life science sector. Its 'AppExchange' platform which is the first web marketplace for on-demand application has found installations in life science majors including Ocimum, Apollo Hospitals, CRC Health, AMICAS, Care Rehab, Chorus and MDS Pharma Services.

"India is an important market for us. The demand for Software as a Service (SAS) is on the rise globally as customers are comprehending the advantages such computing expertise over traditional software. The value of SAS in the pharma and healthcare care space has also become indispensable," stated Doug Farber vice president Operations, Asia Pacific, Sales Force.

"Cost savings are critical to become competitive. That's why we designed Salesforce applications to help optimize resources, magnify visibility into the sales pipeline and streamline operations," he added.

The key features of the application are that it delivers the benefits of dependability, reliability and ease of use. The planning process has improved for companies to installing Salesforce applications. In addition, there has also been a rise in productivity by 10 to 15 per cent

As real time, accurate information is available which can be accessed anytime. The answers to critical business questions are available quickly without sifting through reams of data for life sciences companies.
In the case of Ocimum, the company needed real time information for flawless operations and used Salesforce tools with AppExchange marketplace to get real time information.

Apps is installed into pharma and biotech companies environment to deliver added functionality and interfaces easily with the existing systems. "We wanted a one-click mechanism to have true insights about our leading customers. The details on the orders and shipment details are critical for the functioning. This is where Salesforce could offer us a solution to be able to sift through tons of data coming from disparate applications and make business sense of it, stated Anuradha Acharya, CEO, Ocimum Biosolutions.

The investment for the applications are minimal and the cost of migrating existing data into Salesforce is negligible. Working towards the objective of 360-degree customer management, a company's entire sales, marketing and support processes are implemented in Salesforce. All sales processes starting from the lead generation to customer support and services are administered by Salesforce.