Reside recently had the opportunity to present at the semi-finalist round of the Force.com 40 Innovation Showcase.  Salesforce.com is using the opportunity recognize the apps and businesses that are being built on their platform, and the top 40 will be showcased at Dreamforce ‘09 (we’ll be there).

Eric Scheel, from Reside, presented our work around FICO’s Decision Management Community.  The innovation wasn’t the community, but the way the Force.com platform enabled us to integrate 5 SaaS apps while building a consistent community feel that enables FICO to interact with their global customers in a 24/7 enviornment.  As Seth Godin reminds us in his book, Tribes, and Forrestor helps educate businesses about the Groundswell, the need for companies to continue to engage their customers becomes more apparent and mainstream.

The judges panel was filled with Force.com arhictects and marketers (big thanks to Mark Trang for organizing the event) as well as high-tech VC firms.  In round three, 20 companies were competing for the final spots.  Each presenter was given 7 minutes to do a live demo of the app, describe its roadmap and how it will be disruptive in the market.  The innovation was outstanding.  Companies were being launched around the apps they developed on the Force.com platform in weeks or months.  The judges grilled the presenters on their apps market opportunity, their pricing models and how they were going to moneitize their products.  The day went fast.

The winner of the Audience vote was an education SaaS app done by Skoodat.  Their goal for the app - transform the entire education system and they just might!

We find out if we’ll be in the top 40 next Monday.  Wish us luck.