Make Prudent Decisions When Increasing Your Salesforce Footprint
Salesforce’s previous purchasing transparency has diminished, making it critical to understand licensing methods, and foreshadows compliance audits.
- Too often, organizations fail to achieve economy of scale. They neglect to negotiate price holds, do not negotiate deeper discounts as volume increases, or do not realize there are already existing contracts within the organization.
- Understand what to negotiate. Organizations do not know what can and cannot be negotiated, which means value gets left on the table.
- Integrations with other applications must be addressed from the outset. Many users buy the platform only to realize later on that the functionality they wanted does not exist and may be an extra expense with customization.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Buying power dissipates when you sign the contract. Get the right product for the right number of users for the right term and get it right the first time.
- Getting the best price does not assure a great total cost of ownership or ROI. There are many components as part of the purchasing process that if unaccounted for can lead to dramatic and unbudgeted spend.
- Avoid buyer’s remorse through due diligence before signing the deal. If you need to customize the software or extend it with a third-party add-in, identify your costs and timelines upfront. Plan for successful adoption.
Impact and Result
- Centralize purchasing instead of enabling small deals to maximize discount levels by creating a process to derive a cost-effective methodology when subscribing to Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Force.com.
- Educate your organization on Salesforce’s licensing methods and contract types, enabling informed purchasing decisions. Critical components of every agreement that need to be negotiated are a renewal escalation cap, term protection, and license metrics to document what comes with each. Re-bundling protection is also critical in case a product is no longer desired.
- Proactively addressing integrations and business requirements will enable project success and enable the regular upgrades the come with a multi-tenant cloud services SaaS solution.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
8.0/10
Overall Impact
2
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Medcan
Guided Implementation
8/10
N/A
2
Scott provide some solid advice and recommendations in regards to licensing considerations that I will carry forward in my preparation for renewal ... Read More
St. Mary's University
Guided Implementation
8/10
$8,000
6
The Regional Municipality of Peel
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
the knowledge of the contract and what is available and perimeters on how much to negotiate
NASA: Office Of The CIO Applications Division
Guided Implementation
10/10
$37,199
5
Very knowledgeable and helpful.
Shentel Management Company
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
Apogee Enterprises, Inc
Guided Implementation
9/10
$30,999
N/A
Workshop: Make Prudent Decisions When Increasing Your Salesforce Footprint
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Establish Software Requirements
The Purpose
- Assess current state and align goals; review business feedback.
- Interview key stakeholders to define business objectives and drivers.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Have a baseline for whether Salesforce is the right solution.
- Understand Salesforce as a solution.
- Examine all CRM options.
Activities
Outputs
Perform requirements gathering to review Salesforce as a potential solution.
Gather your documentation before buying or renewing.
- Copy of your Salesforce Master Subscription Agreement
Confirm or create your Salesforce licensing team.
- RASCI Chart
Meet with stakeholders to discuss the licensing options and budget allocation.
- Salesforce Licensing Purchase Reference Guide
Module 2: Evaluate Licensing Options
The Purpose
- Review product editions and licensing options.
- Review add-ons and licensing rules.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Understand how licensing works.
- Discuss licensing rules and their application to your current environment.
- Determine the product and license mix that is best for your requirements.
Activities
Outputs
Determine the editions, licenses, and add-ons for your Salesforce CRM solution.
- Salesforce CRM Solution
Calculate total cost of ownership.
- Salesforce TCO Calculator
Use the Salesforce Discount Calculator to ensure you are getting the discount you deserve.
- Salesforce Discount Calculator
Meet with stakeholders to discuss the licensing options and budget allocation.
- Salesforce Licensing Purchase Reference Guide
Module 3: Evaluate Agreement Options
The Purpose
- Review terms and conditions of Salesforce contracts.
- Review vendors.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Determine if MSA or term agreement is best.
- Learn what specific terms to negotiate.
Activities
Outputs
Perform a T&Cs review and identify key “deal breakers.”
- Salesforce T&Cs Evaluation Tool
Decide on an agreement that nets the maximum benefit.
- Salesforce Licensing Purchase Reference Guide
Module 4: Purchase and Manage Licenses
The Purpose
- Finalize the contract.
- Discuss negotiation points.
- Discuss license management and future roadmap.
- Discuss Salesforce partner and implementation strategy.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Discuss negotiation strategies.
- Learn about licensing management best practices.
- Review Salesforce partner options.
- Create an implementation plan.
Activities
Outputs
Know the what, when, and who to negotiate.
- Salesforce Negotiation Strategy
Control the flow of communication.
- Vendor Communication Management Plan
Assign the right people to manage the environment.
- RASCI Chart
Discuss Salesforce partner options.
- Info-Tech’s Core CRM Project Plan
Discuss implementation strategy.
Meet with stakeholders to discuss licensing options and budget allocation.
- Salesforce Licensing Purchase Reference Guide
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst
Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 6 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
Guided Implementation 1: Establish software requirements
- Call 1: Engage in a scoping call.
- Call 2: Assess the current state and understand Salesforce.
Guided Implementation 2: Evaluate licensing options
- Call 1: Review product editions and licensing options.
Guided Implementation 3: Evaluate agreement options
- Call 1: Review terms and conditions and overall contract strategy.
Guided Implementation 4: Purchase and manage licenses
- Call 1: Finalize the contract and discuss license management.
- Call 2: Determine Salesforce partner and how to implement Salesforce.
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