Salesforce $1 Million Hackathon

This hackathon is part of Dreamforce (http://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF13/), Salesforce's big annual user / partner conference. Dreamforce normally costs $1199 to attend, but that was way to big of a cost barrier for a hackathon, so they created a $99 pass that doesn't include sessions or the concert, but does provide access to the developer area (all of Moscone West) and keynotes (Sheryl Sandberg is a headliner).

I'd ask yourself not if $99 is worth it for the hackathon, but if it is worth it to attend Dreamforce as a developer. I have found it to be a useful view into the world of enterprise software-as-a-service, both in what solutions are and are not available, but also in the way they are marketed to businesses. You might even get an idea for your next startup...

And if $99 is too expensive, there is also a free pass that provides access to the keynotes and expo floor only. But not the developer area where the hackathon is located.

Full disclosure: I work for Heroku, a Salesforce company

Each entrant presents an additional administrative cost. You need to be able to judge all aspects of the application, in addition to the location costs, support costs, etc.

When offering a prize of this magnitude, you need a way to filter entrants such that you don't have a trillion apps to judge, and ensure that those that are entered have a reasonably accurate view of their relative competence. $99, while offensive to you, will probably do the trick.

It sounds something like those "design contests" -- with an entry fee -- sponsored by companies who would otherwise select and hire a designer or design firm. The company is actually buying a vast pool of ideas, only one of which they have to "buy" -- usually for substantially less than what a real engagement would cost. But in this case, the $1M prize is big enough to add a lottery-like element.

You're spot on. Paying to participate is ridiculous. It also works against Salesforce by creating a barrier to entry for people who are on the fence about participating.

If you don't want to spend $99. Don't. Someone is going to, and for spending that $99. They are going to win a million. Many people spend more than $99 to win nothing. Many people spend more than that buying the latest mac book air, registering on the apple store, buying IDEs and libraries to develop their app and they end up making $500 when all is said and done. What's your point? It take's money to make money.

This is the backwards version of contract-to-hire.

The part of this hackathon that concerns me is this:

> Are granting us an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to: (i) use, review, assess, test, and otherwise analyze your Entry and all its content in connection with this Hackathon; and (ii) feature your Entry and all its content in connection with the marketing, sale, or promotion of this Hackathon and of Salesforce.com (including but not limited to internal and external presentations, tradeshows, and screen shots of the Hackathon Entry process in press releases) in all media (now known or later developed);

Maybe this isn't their intention, but win or lose there's nothing stopping Salesforce from taking your submission and running with it.

A lot of hackathons, like Node Knockout, are announced in advance. http://nodeknockout.com/

They have a handful of APIs, but the REST API (http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/api_rest/index.h...) provides the services you would most likely be using in building a new app.

The REST API allows you to retrieve metadata for a relational data model and to perform CRUD operations. The data model itself is typically created through Salesforce's web interface, although there is a Metadata API that can be used to manage the schema by uploading XML files.

There are standard objects (think database tables) for things like Users, Accounts, Contacts, Task, Events, Leads, and Opportunities (note Salesforce's history as a CRM application) which you can extend with custom fields, and you can create custom objects, and define the relationships between objects.

You can also expose custom server-side functionality as a REST endpoint by writing code in Apex, a java-like language, that runs on Salesforce's platform. This can be useful for dealing with multiple records in a single transaction, for example. The Apex code can also be managed through the Metadata API, the Tooling API, or the web interface. (Salesforce pretty much never deprecates old APIs so you can still use the version of the SOAP API you were using five years ago, for example. But this can also be confusing to new developers who find there's a lot of overlap between the old SOAP API and the newer REST API, and a little bit of overlap between the old Metadata API and the new Tooling API.)

One of the unique features of the Salesforce platform is a robust security model. Each object has row- and field-level security that can be configured through the web interface. This is particularly useful for apps used by large organizations. Different types of uses can have access to different fields. Ownership of records can role to the management within an individual's national division, for example. Your app doesn't have to enforce security. You call the API as the user, using an OAuth token, and see the data to which the user has access.

Another unique feature of the platform is that it is licensed per user. You don't scale by adding VMs or containers. It's nice to not have to think about scaling hardware, but most developers would probably rather think about scaling problems than ponder all of the convoluted licensing options Salesforce offers, much less talk to a sales rep. As a developer of an app for distribution to multiple customers, you also have to be cognizant of the various types of orgs (a company's Salesforce instance) in which your app might be installed.

If you're building a standalone app that doesn't need to be installed alongside customers' Salesforce CRM apps, and just want to take advantage of Salesforce's data modeling, security model, and API, you can use database.com, which has more developer-friendly pricing (in terms of transparency, not necessarily impact on your wallet).

I interned at salesforce. They have quite a few products so its hard to say what is they do in one sentence. But their target market is basically enterprise, they provide cloud infrastructure, they provide employee performance app (work.com - previously was startup Rypple they acquired). Their core product is the CRM (customer relation management) which is not really CRM now but more of a platform that you can add 3rd party apps to (such as work.com). Other products is a yammer-like thing called chatter (not a fan of it) but they give it out as a freebie last i checked.

Summed up, i would say they are like the iOS/appstore platform but on the cloud and only for businesses. So i can use it to track my customers then i can add an app that does appointment scheduling for me for those customers, for example.

Salesforce is an online CRM tool and development platform. From a programmer's point of view, it essentially includes the full stack from database to UI, but the API can be used to allow external programs to access its data.

That said, as a development platform, Salesforce is definitely a second-class citizen to being a CRM, and I wouldn't recommend using it unless you need a very specific type of application.

They have a number of different APIs and services that allow you to access their CRM and ERP products, as well as manipulate data with their services. Most of their products are geared toward supporting enterprise clients, but they can be extended to a number of different use cases. Integrating Chatter (chat) with CRM to help support customers over mobile all run on a dyno. (or some such).

Let's also remember that they own Heroku, and that only 25% of the prize is about using their APIs (though I have a feeling that will be weighted more heavily).

Does anyone know an open-source alternative to salesforce? It seems like it should exist.

[EDIT] - nevermind: http://www.x2engine.com

You really think they are going to "get an overhaul of the their mobile platform and, as a result, their business" from a three day hackathon? You underestimate Salesforce's size, the complexity of business in general, and about 50 other factors that make an event like this far from a silver bullet overhaul, whatever that means.

Definitively HTML5 or web-based mobile apps are absolutely fine and applicable.

I've won gift cards before by presenting at Dreamforce. They were for globalgiving.org, an awesome non-profit that allows you to donate to another non-profit of your choice.

"Second prize is a set of steak knives."

"Third prize is you're fired."

From the discussion board: Winners will receive American Express gift cards payable in US Dollars.

Congratulations! You've just won a $50,000 gift certificate for SalesForce!

karthikm I don't see it?