Salesforce launched its cloud-based customer relationship management service in 1999, helping popularize software as a service.
The company was founded in San Francisco by Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenti, and Frank Dominguez. Its central idea was that businesses could access applications through the internet instead of installing and maintaining software on their own servers.
Salesforce initially focused on sales-force automation, including customer records, leads, and opportunity tracking. Its subscription model became a major example of SaaS, a term now used for many web-delivered business applications.
Salesforce is sometimes confused with Siebel Systems, an earlier enterprise CRM company that sold traditional installed software. Salesforce's significance was its cloud-first delivery model and its “no software” marketing message, rather than being the first company ever to offer online software.