Etherios Launches The Social Machine on Salesforce AppExchange

The proverbial "they" always say we're social animals, but Etherios is taking things to the next step. The Social Machine just launched on Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) AppExchange as a platform for tapping into social and mobile cloud technologies to better connect with customers, partners and employees.

Etherios, a division of Digi International, is touting The Social Machine as a cloud-based platform "for connecting widely deployed products into core business processes via the Salesforce platform." According to Etherios, there is still a barrier to mass adoption of connected products—turning product data into actionable business information easily. And that's where it hopes The Social Machine will act as a solution for businesses.

"The Social Machine fundamentally changes the game," said Joe Dunsmore, CEO of Digi International, in a prepared statement. "It enables organizations of all sizes to re-imagine customer service, invigorate customer relationships and differentiate their product portfolio."

Too frequently the "game-changer" marketing shpiel is about anything but; however, giving the company the benefit of the doubt, an easy way to engage in the growing number of social and cloud applications and services has still not been developed. Should Etherios have the answer to its simple management, then it's a potentially huge market for businesses of all sizes.

The way Etherios explains it, The Social Machine "provides products with a voice." Products themselves will be able to automatically inform support organizations when they are breaking down. Data analytics provide customer service reps with the ability to more proactive in solving problems and preventing failures before they even occur.

Additionally, that product data can be shared across an organization to drive improvements.