Salesforce.com Outage Forces Reality Check

However, on-demand software is still not altogether trusted in the world of major enterprises, and this outage will provide significant ammunition for the company's competitors, says First Albany analyst Mark Murphy. (First Albany does not have a banking relationship with Salesforce.) Murphy said the outage appears to have been the most severe and widespread the company experienced.

The company could also be liable for violation of agreements with customers that guarantee a certain level of service, noted Goldmacher. The analyst also suggested that this outage could force Salesforce to raise its capital expenditures on hardware and software to shore up its infrastructure.

While potentially serious, the failure is far from a fatal blow, says Goldmacher. "This is still a great company. I'd call it a reality check," he said. His company does not have an investment banking relationship with Salesforce.

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