Why Managed Services Could Be The Difference Between Your Success and Failure On Salesforce
Salesforce Managed Services has become increasingly popular among businesses of all sizes, especially as companies consider new ways to think about their operating models in an effort to reduce operational costs. While Salesforce has revolutionized how companies manage sales, marketing, customer service, and more, Salesforce customers can become more reliant on the platform over time, and find themselves needing ongoing support and expertise to get the most out of their investment.
At V2, we have seen increased year-over-year demand for Salesforce-managed services from clients recently, partly due to heavier merger and acquisition-type activities, which have become increasingly common, but also from outside impacts such as Covid, where in-house Salesforce teams were stressed in new and unique ways–ways that couldn’t have been budgeted for (like the fast pivot to remote work). Leveraging managed services was one way for companies to still get work done, and quickly, without taking on added headcount or having to pull teams off other important projects. This is where Salesforce Managed Services comes into play, and it’s an offering that V2 has been supporting clients with for years.
Curious why, or more importantly, when, you might need this support when your company may already have a capable Salesforce Admin? For smaller companies or those just starting out with Salesforce, having a dedicated partial or full-time admin is ideal to maintain Salesforce day-to-day. But as companies grow, they can start to experience strain with internal administrators, particularly as new requirements and projects requiring admin support pop up. Most of the Salesforce Admins that we come across are fully committed to keeping the lights on within their organization, and can’t typically afford to set that work aside for a few weeks (or months) to take on new project, like standing up new functionality to support a customer care team or merging two existing orgs following an acquisition. Additionally, most administrators have a more single-threaded point-of-view, and not enough hands-on experience across different Clouds and products to manage the complexities that come with growth, such as multi-org, cross-Cloud, or cross-team initiatives, so in these situations having a dedicated team to help you focus on getting that one thing accomplished, can be hugely beneficial. That said, many companies cannot afford to go out and invest in a full team of Salesforce experts and may start to look externally for how to best staff to support their vision.
When To Pursue Managed Services
& What Are The Benefits
As mentioned above, one of the biggest benefits of leveraging Managed Services is the ability to leverage the expertise of a team of Salesforce professionals, not just one person, and typically at a fraction of the cost. Specialization is critical to success, and rather than hiring multiple experts in architecture, design, data, integration, and industry-specific best practices, you can tap into a team of diverse expertise and capabilities to support your vision through Managed Service partners. Diverse professionals, like our team here at V2, are well-versed in the intricacies of the technology and can provide businesses with valuable, industry-specific insights and recommendations for optimizing their use of Salesforce. This can be especially beneficial for companies that lack the resources or expertise internally to fully leverage the platform, which we all know, is immense. Afterall, one of the inherent attractions of Salesforce is its limitless potential, however, the difference between success and failure can be significant too.
Accelerating Time to Value
Once your organization has identified new requirements or initiatives that need to be rolled out on Salesforce, the next step is typically to decide who is going to take ownership of this work. As mentioned above, you may already have an internal Salesforce Admin or team, but from our experience, those individuals tend to be already busy keeping up with the day-to-day needs of the organization.This is a situation where you may want to consider leveraging a trusted partner, like V2, who can work as an extension of your current team, and can truly own the rollout of strategic initiatives to streamline efforts, and accelerate the time to value. By enrolling help in the form of managed services and defining timeline upfront, you can ensure focused delivery and limit interruptions from other competing projects. In this way, leaning on such services can truly accelerate the time to value for the business.
Aligning Your Platforms to the Latest Innovations
Not only can Managed Services help businesses stay up-to-date with the latest Salesforce features and functionality, but Salesforce, as we all know, is constantly evolving. With three major releases a year and updates across all Clouds and products that Salesforce has to offer, a single administrator could not possibly stay up to date on all of the latest innovations. It’s one of the reasons partners like V2 attend and take part in Salesforce events throughout the year, to hear about the latest advancements and enhancements. Leveraging a Salesforce partner like V2 can help supercharge your team, because V2 has an extensive group of architects, consultants, analysts, and developers that stay ahead of product updates, help contribute to some of the Salesforce exams for key Clouds, and are well versed in how to use tools specific to myriad industries. Managed Services can help your company stay current with these advancements and ensure your team is taking advantage of all the latest features and functionality.
Reducing Risk and Downtime
One of the most significant benefits of Managed Services is the ability to reduce the risk of downtime or other technical issues. Salesforce is a critical component of many businesses’ core operations, and any downtime or technical issues can have a significant impact on productivity and revenue. Managed Services providers can help businesses mitigate these risks by providing proactive maintenance and support, ensuring that the platform is always running smoothly.
Overall, Salesforce Managed Services can provide businesses with the expertise, support, and resources they need to get the most out of their Salesforce implementation. Whether a company is just getting started with Salesforce or has been using it for years, Managed Services can help them optimize their use of the platform, streamline their processes, and improve their overall productivity and profitability.
To learn more about the services that V2 Strategic Advisors can offer your firm, please visit our Salesforce Managed Services page where we list out many of the ways that we can help.
Building Trust Starts With A Conversation.
Want to strategize about how best to scale your Salesforce administration capabilities? V2 can provide you and your team with 30 minutes of free consultation to discuss your interest and questions, and then we can help organize a plan. Click here to get started.
