Last year, Salesforce.com introduced the Force.com Facebook Tool Kit. It allowed a Salesforce.com user to pull in data from Facebook and start using the Facebook Graph API. It had the capability to read the Facebook Graph API but writing to it was not possible.

One year later and Salesforce.com has rewritten the tool kit to provide a way for customers to read and write to the Facebook social graph by better syncing the two platforms.

At its launch last year, Salesforce.com had its limits in how much data could be pulled back from Facebook. Data was being parsed in Apex code running on the Salesforce.com platform. There were also functional limitations. It had limits on how Salesforce.com users could pull out the social data from Facebook. Salesforce.com users started using the tool and asked for more access to Facebook data and the ability to authenticate users to their own sites on the Salesforce.com platform.

Today, Facebook is moving the service out of beta. The new tool kit has a dual functionality. Using OAuth 2.0, it can be used to authenticate a customer for a Salesforce.com site and it can be used to authenticate for apps that run on Facebook.com.

The syncing capability provides ways to create a far deeper overlap. L’Oreal is using it in a Facebook app that allows customers to give direct feedback. Disney built a Ruby-on-Rails app on Salesforce.com that allows people to upload photos to Facebook and from it create photo albums.

Services Angle

The Facebook Social Graph shows how new services engage people far more deeply than traditional Web sites have done. Companies are moving from the Web to the Facebook environment for services, support and marketing.

Do we see this sort of integration from the large service providers? I see IBM using social data for analytics but not with this seamless form of interaction. Salesforce.com is stepping in and taking a more consultative role for customers that want to take better advantage of social media. Smaller service providers like Appirio are also stepping up.

The issue is the large service providers dependence on integration suites. The goal is always to add more products to existing suites. Watch for the larger players to get more involved in this space, and for smaller players to be acquisition targets.

What this means? The CIO needs to wake up and begin setting their own destinies. Using services that provide fluid, open federated networks are the answer. Be it Salesforce.com or anyone else, the time is now to think beyond deeply integrated service environments.