IDC released a comprehensive report on Force.com application development earlier this fall.  Over the past few months, coverage and discussion around the Force.com platform have focused on how “platforms” like Force.com are complete with toolkits, and ramp up time just like anything else (java, .NET etc).  Typically organizations see the real cost savings and benefits by using the Force.com platform through items related to infrastructure management:  application licenses, servers, networking, storage, data center space.  Many of these issues go away when you outsource your infrastructure, freeing up your IT team from costly tasks like support and help desk to focus on business process and bottom line improvements.  And that’s a win/win for everyone.

Highlights of the report:

Study participants interviewed by IDC building enterprise custom applications on the Force.com platform experienced five key benefits compared to traditional in-house development:

• Faster: Custom applications were developed and deployed in 76% less time and required 76% – 85% fewer developer hours.
• Lower cost: Companies were able to reduce their three year TCO by 54%, saving $560,000 per application.
• Higher quality: Users of the custom applications built on the Force.com platform reduced Annual Downtime by 97% and 60% less time dealing with the service desk.
• Better performance: The combination of the first three benefits contributed to better business performance and generated an additional $3.9 million in annual revenue for each firm.
• Accelerated pace of innovation: Force.com changed the process of custom application development so much that companies tripled their output of custom applications and doubled annual upgrades from 1 to 2.

Take a look at the full report from IDC on the Force.com platform.