This is another entry to our ongoing series of SaaS company profiles. To view more profiles click on The Players.

When you hear SaaS most people will think of Salesforce.com. Salesforce.com is widely recognized as the pioneer of the hosted software model. In fact, in the early days they adopted to slogan, ‘No Software’. The company was launched in 1999 by ex-Oracle executive, Marc Benioff. Although they started in a small apartment in San Francisco; within a year, the company acquired 1,500 customers and 30,000 subscribers.

Salesforce.com is the industry leader in hosted CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. Their product includes a module for sales force automation, customer support, marketing and analytics. Sales Force Automation (SFA) helps sales reps manage and track the sales funnel. Now the Service and Support module, allows support reps to efficiently solve customer issues. And the marketing module enables better execution of marketing campaigns and lead generation. All of these modules can be monitored with the built in analytic tools. Dashboards and reports provide real time information for business decision makers.

The different editions of their popular CRM software include: Group, Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited Edition. Salesforce.com’s AppExchange is an online market place where organization can buy and install add-ons to their CRM application. The AppExchange has always been referred to as the ‘iTunes for business applications’. Earlier this year, Salesforce.com introduced Force.com, their Platform-as-a-Service offering. Force.com gives organizations and developers a clean slate to create any type of hosted application on Salesforce.com’s severs. To do so, users can build custom business logic with Apex Code. Developers can also create a custom UI with Visualforce.

CEO Marc Benioff shoots from the hip and is known to be very outspoken. Here is a quote about Siebel in one of his famous memos:

“Last month, our number one competitor surrendered, and decided to take its place beside several former competitors at software’s Shady Pines Rest Home, also known as Oracle. It was a merciful outcome for shareholders, but a time of con”fusion” for customers. ”

Today Salesforce.com has more than 38,000 customers and 1 million subscribers worldwide. This year their revenues are expected to surpass $1 Billion. They are ranked 2nd on the Forbes Top 25 Fastest Growing Companies.