salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): This Company Is Going Mobile, Just in Time

Though a small portion of overall revenues, Microsoft’s relatively new entry to the CRM partyshould not be overlooked. In two short years, Dynamic CRM revenues have climbed to an estimated $500 million a year, equal to a 25% to 30% growth rate. Like Salesforce and SAP, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) offers customers a cloud–based solution and plenty of app development experience.

Going forward
The revenue improvement salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) enjoyed in fiscal 2012 was great, but getting a handle on its nearly 50% jump in operating expenses last year – primarily resulting from a 47% rise in sales and marketing costs to expand its client base — has to top CEO Marc Benioff’s to-do list in 2013. With that said, Salesforce plans to increase hiring for its direct-sales force in 2013, continue growing data center capacity, and “expand our domestic and international selling and marketing activities.”

Walking the line between balancing continued growth with rising costs will be a challenge for Salesforce, in 2013 and beyond. But with its new mobile app development platform, and the potential jump in SaaS revenues it brings, the timing looks right for salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM).

The article Salesforce.com’s Going Mobile, Just in Time originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Tim Brugger.

Fool contributor Tim Brugger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends salesforce.com and owns shares of Microsoft.

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