Rypple, the Toronto-based cloud human resources management software acquired by Salesforce.com in December 2011, has been relaunched today as Work.com.
Announced from Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce conference underway in San Francisco, Rypple’s technology is being presented as a social approach to managing employees. The Web-based software offers a “gamification” approach to motivating employees, rewarding them with points as they work towards company goals and are recognized by bosses and colleagues. Those points can be put towards a gift card with Amazon.com, thanks to a partnership with the online retailer.
Work.com allows managers to define goals for their team.
The announcement fits into Salesforce’s focus on positioning its line of business software as social-first. Dan Debow, one of the co-founders of Rypple and now the vice-president of Work.com for Salesforce says the effort is a complete overhaul of Rypple’s technology.
“We rebuilt a ton of the back end and redid a ton of the users experience,” he says. “It’s taking the technology and the functionality and building a different sort of product.”
On Work.com, employees keep social profiles that are connected with Salesforce.com’s Chatter service. The profiles are emblazoned with badges to reflect employee achievements.
The financial details of Rypple’s acquisition were not disclosed, but Salesforce.com quickly rebranded the product as Salesforce Rypple within six weeks of the deal. Orignally, the enterprise software firm said it would relaunch Rypple’s offering as Successforce in a new human capital management division. But the Work.com announcement made today comes along with a partnership with Workday, another cloud-based suite of human resources software with a focus on mobile products.
Some recognizable names are among the early customers of Work.com, including 1-800-Flowers, Facebook, Virgin America, LinkedIn, and Spotify.
Many of the features in Work.com were available in Rypple, says Ben Dickie, research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group. But the points-based incentives that lead to Amazon.com gifts cards is new.
“This is the way the talent management market is heading,” he says. “I think the Rypple acquisition was wise on the part of Salesforce.”
The full Work.com release is coming in the last quarter of this year, Stein says. Meanwhile Salesforce Rypple remains available. Pricing for the new platform starts at $5 per user per month, and a $9 per user per month plan includes performance reviews, analytics and reporting, and feedback features.
Salesforce also announced its new Marketing Cloud product at Dreamforce, powered by Canadian acquisition Radian6.
Brian Jackson is the Editor at ITBusiness.ca. E-mail him at [email protected], follow him on Twitter, connect on Google+, read his blog, and check out the IT Business Facebook Page. 
