Steve Mandelbaum, VP of information systems at The Advisory Board Company (ABC), a research and consulting firm that helps hospital and university executives better serve patients and students, was also on the panel and described how he had rolled out Salesforce to more than 1,300 active users, where ABC is developing a number of custom applications.

However, he warned other companies that if they choose to buy in applications, rather than develop bespoke ones, they should not assume protection from vendor support.

"You make the assumption that if you buy in applications, a vendor will support it. That's true if the vendor is good at support, but if they are shitty (can we say this?) at support then you are really in trouble because you don't know how it works," said Mandelbaum

"We have purchased systems in the past where the vendor wasn't good at support, or wasn't very responsive, and my hands have been tied. I wasn't actually able to do anything."

"This meant that I was in a worse situation than if I had actually built it myself. I don't necessarily believe in the analysis that if you buy it, it will be supported."