1. the state
of
salesforce
2012-2013
annual review
2. fo r ov e r a d e c a d e
Bluewolf has been delivering on the promise of
cloud technology, bringing agility and innovation
to companies around the world. Our work spans
a wide variety of industries, company sizes,
and geographies. As a salesforce.com Platinum
Consulting Partner we have completed thousands
of projects globally and innovate on hundreds of
live Salesforce instances every day.
data& M e th o do logy
Data Sources Respondents Methodology
Bluewolf sourced data Our first survey Using Bluewolf’s
from two locations. included the insight proprietary knowledge
The first was a survey from 300 global database we focused
directed at Salesforce Salesforce customers. on distilling insights
users and the second A wide variety of from project
was data from roles, titles, and managers, as well as
Bluewolf’s proprietary companies from SME data from projects
knowledge database. to enterprise were completed in 2011
represented. and 2012.
Salesforce, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, AppExchange, Force.com, Chatter,
Site.com and Radian6 are all registered trademarks of salesforce.com Inc.
3. Ta b le of
C o nte nt s
O2 10
The Rise of Social The Case for
Cloud Governance
Salesforce.com’s Growth
and Budget Trends 8 Key Elements of
Cloud Governance
O4
Current Priorities 12
5 Post-Launch Mistakes
Bluewolf’s Perspective
How to Measure Adoption
O6
Current and Planned 14
Integrations Staffing for Salesforce
Innovation
Salesforce Customers
React to the Social The Elastic Workforce
Enterprise
16
O8 Bluewolf Solutions
The True Cost of Cloud
How Much Value Are You
Getting from Salesforce?
4. th e r ise of
Soc i a l
L o u F o x • CTO • B l u e w o l f
b l u e w o l f. c o m / p e o p l e / l o u - f o x
Since Dreamforce 2009, salesforce.com has been focused on driving
a new market: social. What does social mean? A social organization
embraces change and supports collaboration, understanding that its
most valuable assets are people and human interaction. Becoming social
involves leveraging technology to unlock the collective brainpower of
people in order to drive productivity.
Before becoming social an organization must first become agile. An agile
enterprise establishes processes that promote continuous innovation,
leaves room for a little chaos, trains on an ongoing basis, leverages elastic
resources, and embraces flexible technology.
Many of the companies with which Bluewolf interacts aspire to become
more social. Beyond this aspiration, we also see clients challenged
with: keeping Salesforce aligned with their changing business needs,
understanding how to budget and staff resources dedicated to innovating
Salesforce, and how to best serve diverse constituents. The rate of change
that Salesforce enables requires a new and continuously evolving strategy.
Bluewolf has built a fast growing global consulting organization and we
believe in the promise of social. But creating a new market is different than
measuring success within the current market. This report aims to separate
the two, and bring grounding to the current state of Salesforce.
2 The State of Salesforce
5. sa lesforce.com’s
g row th
on fire steady
app- force.com sales service
exchange cloud cloud
Despite a strong launch, Chatter adoption has yet to explode. Given
the potential business value that cross-enterprise collaboration offers,
and recent growing interest from Salesforce users, we predict Chatter
use to rapidly accelerate as companies iterate on their employee
engagement strategies.
Expected budget trends
Budget for Salesforce in 2013
31% 29% 29% 11%
no change increase not sure decrease
Companies are struggling with who owns the budget for ongoing Salesforce
innovation: the business or IT? They also are increasing experimentation
with resources that can be turned on as needed rather than hiring or
training full time staff.
The True Cost of the Cloud
Are you resourcing for innovation or stagnation? Page 8.
2012-2013 Annual Review 3
6. Cu r r ent
Pr io r iti e s
on fire steady cooling off
Current future
Efficiency
Customer Service
Adapting to
Growth
Internal
Collaboration
Cost reduction
T r a n s pa r e n c y
Social media
mobile
Where are resources being dedicated?
15% 25% 40% 5% 5% 5% 5%
Ongoing force.com business data cleaning, adoption,
Configuration development process third-party integrations,
customer portals/site.com
Dedicating only a small amount of resources to data cleaning and
adoption often results in diminishing Salesforce ROI. To maximize
Salesforce’s value, employers need to provide incentives to drive adoption
and executives must trust that their dashboards reflect accurate data.
4 The State of Salesforce
7. b lu e wolf’s
pe r s pe c ti v e
current
customer social
Efficiency
service media
Companies are gaining on their efficiency challenges due to the
dedication of ongoing resources. The next big opportunity includes the
transformation of customer service desks to the cloud, which should
include a social media strategy.
future
internal social
collaboration
mobile media
Social media and mobile are coming together to help deliver on the
productivity promise of cloud technology. Companies have realized that
their workforces are not at their desks, and tools to support field sales and
service are planned.
bluewolf customer story
ERM, a leading global provider of sustainability consulting
with over 4,500 employees, leveraged Salesforce to provide
insight into key global accounts. Collaboration and centralized
account information helps ERM deliver seamless solutions
across geographies to their clients.
2012-2013 Annual Review 5
8. Cu r r ent&Pl a n n ed
I nte g r atio n s
Many companies are moving toward becoming social by integrating their
customer service applications with Salesforce.
on fire steady cooling off
Current future
data cleaning tools 36%
information & business
intelligence tools 36%
Customer satisfaction
survey/monitoring 31%
call center system 30%
collaboration tools 20%
expense management 15%
compensation 13%
management
Master data management strategies are still maturing and need to
find a home within a large number of enterprises, however, data
management and cleaning tools (such as those available on
the salesforce.com AppExchange) will continue to rise in popularity
and have become essential to successful integrations.
6 The State of Salesforce
9. S a lesfo rce.com custom er s
r e ac t to Soc i a l
24% 31% 18% 13% 10% 4%
We think
We aren’t We aren’t social
there yet, familiar is a fad
but we with social
believe that
We believe
We are it represents We believe
that social is
currently an important social is
important,
working on shift important
but aren’t
becoming for some
sure how to
social businesses,
proceed
but not for us
76% of Salesforce customers need help
bringing social to life in their organizations.
What does social mean?
Social means leveraging Twitter to some and using profits for social good
to others. No single definition has risen above the rest.
Salesforce.com’s social message is largely geared to a C-level audience.
More work needs to be done at a department level to get executives to
understand that, at its core, social really is about helping their teams sell
more, engage customers, and drive demand. Technology is an enabler,
but more importantly companies must shift their business culture to
encourage opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing.
2012-2013 Annual Review 7
10. th e
tr u e
C ost o f
C lou d LICENSING FEES
IMPLEMENTATION,
Salesforce.com has done its CUSTOMIZATION & TRAINING
customers a huge favor: removing
the burden of paying up to ten
times the amount of self-hosted CRM
license fees in hardware and staffing TRUE
costs. The innovation conversation is
no longer focused on IT resources, but
instead on executive vision and how an
COST
ONGOING
INNOVATION
enterprise CRM program enables growth.
Still, it is a big mistake to think that there are no
costs beyond the purchase of licenses and consulting
services to an enterprise achieving success with Salesforce.
TWO DYNAMIC FACTORS IMPACT
THE TRUE COST OF SUCCESS:
#1 SALESFORCE RELEASES
#2 THE PACE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
As long as executive time is reserved to align program vision to prioritizing
new feature adoption, Salesforce will propel the company toward
becoming social.
An important strategy for success includes budgeting for ongoing costs
around innovation, resourcing, and training. There are different models
to choose from, and companies need to individually evaluate the right
approach for themselves.
The Elastic Workforce
Find the right strategy for ongoing innovation. Page 14.
8 The State of Salesforce
11. H ow m u ch va lu e
a r e you g e tti n g
f rom sa le s fo rc e?
Over the past decade we have seen clients fall into three typical Salesforce
profiles—REACTIVE, STEADY, OR AGILE. The three key elements of each are:
Vision: Executive leadership has defined the role of Salesforce.
Process: What is the level of business process maturity?
Ability: Is there a resourcing strategy for executing ongoing innovation?
vision & process
method to execute & sustain
Focused on core
Building cross-
CRM program is
CRM department CRM a core business
Huge backlogs
Has a backlog
strategy
Limited or no
management Agile backlog
resources process management
Adoption is a
Access to diverse
process
challenge resources Innovation through
Not integrating
Internal
cloud governance
new features collaboration Engaging the
Not using Force.com
a focus elastic workforce
2012-2013 Annual Review 9
12. Th e C a se for
c lou d
Gov e r n a n c e
“Our cloud governance strategy enables us to deliver change as
fast as users can absorb it, faster than we ever have before, without
sacrificing controls and quality.”
–James Hindes • Director, Enterprise CRM • The Standard
Put simply, cloud governance is the policies, processes, and framework
for continuing to innovate Salesforce. The objective is to establish system
stability and ensure changes with clear business benefits are rapidly made.
Without cloud governance, the organization will strain to keep pace with
user requests, adoption, market shifts, and new releases—all of which remove
focus and resources from the original goals of Salesforce.
Up to 80% of Salesforce customers are not achieving maximum ROI
and 15% of those customers are experiencing diminishing ROI by failing
to keep their application in step with business changes. The crux of
Salesforce’s flexibility is the need for real-time evaluation of the infinite
changes possible in terms of business value. In order to fully utilize
Salesforce’s benefits, prioritization is absolutely necessary.
Without the means to measure the value of change on an organization, and
a method to execute change in a planned manner, there is the potential
for the system to either stagnate (too little innovation) or break down (too
much innovation). Cloud governance is critical—enabling a strategy for
ongoing innovation is essential to delivering on the promises of Salesforce.
bluewolf customer story
The Standard, a leading provider of financial products and
services to 7.5 million customers, worked with Bluewolf
on a cloud governance strategy prior to implementing
Salesforce. Having it in place during the initial rollout made
the transition to ongoing agile innovation much easier.
10 The State of Salesforce
13. 8 k e y e le m e nt s o f
c lo u d gov e r n a n c e
#1 #5
D e s i g n i n g a C lo u d t e s ti n g
G ov e r n a n c e b oa r d Maintain strict quality
The board is comprised of both executive and standards when updating
departmental stakeholders. Executive stakeholders work and configuring Salesforce.
on high level innovation and strategy, while departmental For clients, Bluewolf uses
stakeholders ensure enhancements add value. a system called BUTR
(build, upload, test, and
report), a cyclical iteration
process that ensures quality
#2 standards are met.
tic keting systems
The ticketing system collects inputs from #6
across the organization. This process
determines how user requests are c hange m anagement
brought in, organized, and prioritized. It is
The cloud governance board should hold
essential that this system be scalable to fit
roundtables with power users and top
the changing needs of the organization.
team players to decide how changes will
be communicated, including management
tactics such as classroom training, videos,
newsletters, and monthly meetings.
#3
m a s te r data #7
m a n ag e m e nt ta l e n t
Choosing what data to collect, who owns it, and the
The cloud governance
process for adding fields requires consistent rules. Each
board dictates what
business unit should have its own requirements but they
mixed resourcing
must be consolidated into an enterprise wide plan.
strategy the
organization would
benefit from. Most
#4 #8
importantly what
key skills will come
from managed
d e v e lo p m e n t r u l e s release service providers,
Continuously innovating on the process consulting firms, staff
Salesforce platform is key to augmentation, and
Owned by the permanent hires.
ensuring that the business is getting
cloud governance
the maximum ROI. A business
board and an
development strategy should take
individual release
into consideration business unit
manager, this is the process in which releases
needs, resource allocation, and
are introduced to both the business and
growth projections.
Salesforce.
2012-2013 Annual Review 11
14. 5 p ost- l au n c h
m i sta k e s
It’s not enough to simply address users’
Not requests; users must be convinced of
Gamifying the value the Salesforce application
Ongoing brings to the organization. Take the
Adoption time to explain new features and use
game mechanics to influence behavior.
Not giving
Embrace user driven innovation. Make
users a way
sure users have an easy way to share
to provide
what they like and want next.
feedback
Composed of leaders across business
units, the board must meet regularly to
Not discuss the overall strategic direction of
creating a Salesforce. Members of the board may
governance bring specific feature requests from their
board teams, but should work closely with IT
staff to prioritize enhancements.
As Salesforce’s appearance and
functionality change, it is important
Training that training continues so that
that ends individual users understand how
the changes benefit them.
Salesforce is a sophisticated enterprise
application requiring ongoing resources
Thinking to stay aligned with your business
Salesforce goals. Treating it like another software
is Simple application will result in accelerating
negative returns that correlate to the
speed of an organization’s growth.
12 The State of Salesforce
15. how to m e a su r e
a do p tio n
director of
kate hagemann • change strategy
b l u e w o l f. c o m / p e o p l e / k a t e - h a g e m a n n
What is the objective when implementing or innovating on Salesforce?
Hint: the answer is never get more employees to login daily. All too often,
tracking logins is the default metric, when in reality the number of logins is
merely a superficial benchmark. What businesses really need to track, and
what drives organizational change, is employee engagement.
Successful adoption is achieved by providing meaningful objectives to
individual employees that tie back to the enterprise’s Salesforce goals.
3 q u e s ti o n s to a s k w h e n
i m p le m e nti n g i n n ovati o n s
Know what’s expected. Do employees know
know what’s expected of them?
Can complete. Do employees have the skills
can
or knowledge to meet expectations?
Will complete. Are there positive benefits to the
will individual, which incentivize them to use Salesforce?
bluewolf customer story
As part of a global adoption initiative at TE
Connectivity, an organization with over
100,000 employees in 50 countries, Bluewolf
interviewed end users to understand how
Salesforce was supporting them in their daily work. The results
were then used to prioritize Salesforce innovations and define
smart objectives to end users.
2012-2013 Annual Review 13
16. sta ffi n g fo r
sa le s fo rc e
i n n ovatio n
How do you innovate your Salesforce instance at the speed of
business? It starts with having the right team. Whether you are
five days or five years post-implementation, you need access
to a variety of skill sets that can be scaled to meet demand.
key: level of impact on your organization
Outsourcing and the elastic workforce
Welcome to the new outsourcing. CIOs, directors, and managers are
shifting away from traditional staffing methodologies and looking towards
the elastic workforce—the broader community of independent experts,
external services providers, and salesforce.com partners—to access not
only more talent, but also a specialized pool of workers at the top of their
game that can offer an outsider’s perspective.
Multi-Sourcing is The Strategy
When sourcing talent for Salesforce projects and initiatives, leadership
must not only think about what activities to outsource, but also HOW to
outsource. Consider the overall cost to the organization, the measurable
impact the resource strategy can bring, and the ability to control/customize
resources quickly to the tasks at hand.
14 The State of Salesforce
17. th e e l a stic
wo r k fo rc e
Managed Service Consulting Firms
Providers Need to transform, how do
Free up internal resources or you get started?
outsource ongoing innovation— Sometimes the best solution for
all at a predictable monthly cost. companies is to outsource entire
In this outsourcing model projects to consulting firms with
companies engage with partners on proven methodologies. In this set-
a clearly defined set of IT services. up the consulting firm becomes a
Most managed service providers partner to the company and has
bill an upfront set-up fee and an all the necessary competencies
ongoing flat or near-fixed monthly to complete the project. Not all
fee, which benefits their clients by consulting firms are created equal:
providing them with predictable IT make sure the firm has domain
costs and a fair amount of control. experience and deep business
process and technology expertise.
Partial outSourcing
Turn over a specific IT operation, Offshore Providers
rather than the entire IT function. Access a highly skilled low-cost
Instead of outsourcing an entire IT global workforce.
function, organizations that prefer Decades ago, companies began
to retain a certain level of expertise relocating IT infrastructures from
in-house can identify skill gaps that the US to India, China and Eastern
can be easily separated into smaller Europe. The business model
processes. These “parts of projects” seemed simple. Take advantage
are outsourced, and the chosen of the best and the brightest in
partner has direct responsibilities developing nations for a fraction
and obligations to the company. of the cost. As the offshore
outsourcing market matured, mixed
results have CIOs re-evaluating
Staff Augmentation
the IT services and functions they
Gain access to a full range of highly
choose to outsource this way.
skilled local experts on demand.
Using this sourcing model,
Outsourcing shares by IT function
companies can add contractors to 2012-2013
application services it infrastructure services
26%
increase their output at pace with Application
Maintenance IT Security
15%
23%
Data Center
Operations
demand. This is the least expensive 46%
12%
Help Desk
and most flexible approach to
Application 17%
28% Development
Disaster
Application
Hosting 39% 17% Recovery
Web Database
16%
outsourcing that allows you to add
Development Administration
Share of Application
Development Network
12 The State of IT Outsourcing Operations
Sources: 1. 2012-2013 Bluewolf
IT Outsourcing Benchmark Survey,
May 2012 2. 2011-2012 Bluewolf Technology
Outlook 3. 2012 Bluewolf IT Salary Guide
expertise to your team without
increasing overall headcount. With For Bluewolf’s complete guide
this set-up, organizations maintain to the elastic workforce visit
control of all resources. bluewolf.com/StateOfOutsourcing
2012-2013 Annual Review 15
18. b lu e wolf
so lutio n s
bl u e w ol f.co m • 866.455.WOLF
Managed Services
Bluewolf Beyond is focused on post-implementation consulting, matching
ongoing technology innovation to the pace of your business. With access
to Beyond’s in-house team of cloud application, marketing automation,
adoption, and database management experts, you stay ahead of change
and extract the maximum value from your technology.
Consulting
Bluewolf is your guide to Agile Business Transformation. We partner
with clients to sync business and IT to achieve new levels of business
performance with cloud computing technologies. Our agile consulting
solutions include: business process & strategy, cloud implementation,
customer lifecycle consulting (marketing, sales, service), change
management, and technology adoption.
CHANGE STRATEGY & TRAINING
In today’s competitive business environment, it is essential that a company
remain agile and iterative. Bluewolf has built the strongest training and
change management organization in the industry. User adoption is a
key success metric for technology implementations, and Bluewolf can
help prepare your employees by providing them with a foundation for
professional development.
Technology Staffing
Bluewolf provides staff augmentation to companies with immediate needs
for deep expertise in specific technologies and software development
processes. We cut placement times in half, delivering the resumes of the
top three candidates within 24 hours. We can staff any project, for any
technology position—contract, contract-to-hire, or permanent placement.
New York ∞ San Francisco ∞ Atlanta ∞ Boston ∞ Chicago ∞ Dallas ∞ Denver
Long Island ∞ Philadelphia ∞ Washington, D.C. ∞ London ∞ Sydney ∞ Melbourne
16 The State of Salesforce
19. Bluewolf.com/HealthCheck
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