January 15, 2021

January 15, 2021 | John Lange | Senior Manager, Product Marketing 

As we discussed in Part 1 of the blog series, Salesforce continues to rapidly expand their product offerings through new releases and acquisitions. However, despite the promise of improved processes from added functionality, the continuous expansion of Salesforce may have unintended consequences. Salesforce is becoming extremely complex and requires technical expertise that is in short supply.

To gauge how companies that use Salesforce are reacting to this burgeoning ecosystem, especially during COVID-19, we sponsored research through Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), a third-party enterprise software advisor and research firm. This new report reveals that most companies feel challenged by the enormity of Salesforce.

In Part 1, we reviewed Key Takeaways 1, 2, and 3 that indicated how companies often struggle with the basics, are marginal at adding new features, and lack the personnel and time needed to properly manage Salesforce.

In Part 2, we’ll review Key Takeaways 4 and 5 that highlight what companies want to achieve with their instance of Salesforce in the upcoming year. The research also summarizes respondent sentiment with external firms, such as managed service providers, that help them achieve their Salesforce priorities.

Key Takeaway 4: Integration and Optimization of Existing Systems Top Salesforce Goals for 2021 

Companies surveyed for this research project resoundingly declared their desire to continue their investment in Salesforce. Integrating with non-SFDC systems, implementing new cloud services, and optimizing existing Salesforce systems were the top responses. Hiring more internal personnel came in fourth.

Key Takeaway 5: The Right Managed Services Partner (MSP) Can Make a Difference to Achieve Salesforce Success 

Approximately half of the companies surveyed indicated that they utilize an external service (e.g. implementation firms, MSPs, and consultants) to help maintain and improve their Salesforce environments. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “very satisfied,” survey responses averaged a 3.2 satisfaction rating for those service providers.

These findings show a strong potential of Salesforce MSPs to bridge the skills gap and help companies achieve the most from their systems, while also emphasizing the importance of picking a solid provider.

What Does This Tell Us? 

A remarkable benefit of the Salesforce universe is the vastness of its partner network for both implementation projects and ongoing managed services. Salesforce clearly realizes the need (beyond its own support offerings) for additional support options so that its customers can update and grow their environments.

What we find interesting from this research is the obvious disconnect between Salesforce customer reality and their ambitions. Most companies have major Salesforce plans for 2021, but only 16% of respondents indicated they intend to hire more personnel to achieve their aggressive platform goals. The research also indicates that only about half of the respondents use an external service to move vital Salesforce projects forward.

Underestimating the staffing, skills, and resources needed to complete Salesforce projects could result in major disappointments for Salesforce users anticipating workflow automation. This will impact the ability to close more deals and delay the installation of the advanced technology needed to better manage the customer experience in the digital era.

At Spinnaker Support, we resolve this issue by offering various managed services packages that help companies overcome personnel and resource gaps so that they can keep up with the pace of Salesforce.

This research provides you with impartial data that you can use to rate your company’s status against others. It also lists five important ways to improve your Salesforce systems.  

Download the complete research