Salesforce.com will kick off its annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco with plans to take its Appforce platform for third-party applications to a new level.

The hosted CRM pioneer is expected to detail its strategy for component programs that deliver specialist functionality to the Salesforce platform. The firm is also due to announce further support for developers, including facilities for startups, and new ways to integrate with the host platform.

Salesforce has built up impressive momentum on Appforce with many startups developing around it. One example is Saaspoint, a UK and Ireland firm, that has changed its name from Enterprise CRM to mimic Salesforce’s move to be a broader platform.

“It’s a reflection of what Salesforce is doing,” said Saaspoint chairman John Appleby. “As the platform matures we anticipate that CRM is going to become just a part of the business.”