Dreamforce 2012: MuleSoft Unveils Cloud Data Loader

Dreamforce 2012 news kicked off even before the annual Salesforce.com conference got started. One of the pre-conference announcements was a new “no software” cloud-based data loader for Salesforce.com customers from MuleSoft.

The integration platform vendor unveiled Dataloader.io, which it claims is the first entirely cloud-based data loader app for the Salesforce.com CRM solution. Built on the CloudHub integration PaaS (iPaaS), Dataloader.io was designed to solve a major paint point for Salesforce.com users — importing data into the SaaS applications. Dana Gardner, principal analyst at Interarbor Solutions, noted the first onboarding task when beginning to use a new SaaS application is importing data, and it frequently causes a point of friction for the user experience.

Dataloader.io is a web-based application that the company said makes it easy to import, export and delete data in Salesforce.com. The application is one of those things that is intended to make life easier for Salesforce.com customers — and, by extension, the many partners providing consultative services to those customers. It’s one of the most common tasks administrators are asked to deal with, but it’s also not one of their favorite things, so reducing or even eliminating the pain points associated with data loading can result in a spontaneous happy dance.

According to Liz Gladstone, Salesforce.com administrator at PayPal, “existing tools can be cumbersome to use.”

“With Dataloader.io and CloudHub, we are removing the biggest barriers to SaaS adoption and making our customers’ lives easier by providing this integration as a simple cloud-based app,” said Chris Purpura, general manager of CloudHub at MuleSoft, in a prepared statement.

Everything is so far, so good with the launch of Dataloader.io. The app quickly became one of the top 15 most popular apps on Salesforce AppExchange. The early access release took place a week before Dreamforce kicked off, but is now generally available to Salesforce.com customers. MuleSoft will be showcasing the new application at Dreamforce, so the attendees will have a chance to get an up close and personal look at the data loader tool.