Salesforce challenges Oracle with HR software

Salesforce.com introduced new software for human resources management, stepping up a challenge to Oracle and SAP AG in the market for applications that help businesses run their operations, Bloomberg reports.

The new product, called Rypple, will work in conjunction with Salesforce's customer relationship management software and the Chatter social network for companies, Salesforce said at its Cloudforce conference in San Francisco, last week. Managers will be able to recognise employees who do standout work using Rypple features from within those applications, the company said.

Salesforce, the largest maker of online customer-management software, specialises in programs delivered in instalments over the Internet, in contrast with the kinds of upfront purchases that have been a mainstay for Oracle and SAP, The San Francisco Chronicle writes.

Rypple, acquired in December from a company with the same name, will serve as an alternative to the applications SAP picked up through the $3.4 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors and those Oracle gained in 2005 when it bought PeopleSoft.

Salesforce Rypple starts at $5 per user, per month. Salesforce says that, already, Facebook, LivingSocial and Spotify are using Salesforce Rypple, Tech Crunch notes.