Salesforce Managed Services

Modern-day businesses are relying on technology and cloud-based tools to perform their day-to-day job. The IT needs are constantly changing and the way businesses configure the tools has become increasingly important, one small error could cause confusion, thereby decreasing the workforce productivity.

What if these configurations are done by experts? Then the productivity issue could be avoided altogether. Here’s where managed service providers (MSP) like CloudIdeas step in.

In this article, we will cover what is Salesforce Managed Services, what activities are included under it, and its benefits.

What is Salesforce Managed Services?

It is a comprehensive list of activities from Salesforce implementation to support usually done by an outsourced team i.e., managed service providers. You need not hire a full-time employee as an admin or developer, thereby reducing costs and effectively maintaining the systems.

This set of activities are all done proactively by experts or Salesforce consultants. They will regularly review and optimize Salesforce, they also ensure that the system is used by the users at its fullest potential.

The issues that impact business operations and productivity will be identified way ahead of their time and curbed by the experts.

“The global Cloud Managed Services (CMS) market size is projected to grow from USD 62.4 billion in 2020 to USD 116.2 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.3% during the forecast period.”― MarketandMarkets

The managed service providers could manage A to Z Salesforce activities for you and you could be at peace. Especially through crisis teams, the providers could step in and handle all the volume of support requests or give a hand with the new sales processes that you might need to set up within Salesforce.

Key Activities

The main areas which is usually covered within Salesforce Managed Services are listed below,

1. Consulting - The consultants will gather the business requirements and configure them accordingly in Salesforce, also they try to match them with Salesforce’s best practices. They know exactly the way to customize the features or which features to use based on the use case at hand.

2. Administration - The Salesforce Admins from your MSP will take care of the bugs, patch fixing, etc. The system will be problem-free so that you can focus only on the job itself and avoid any IT overheads.

3. Planning & Implementation - The MSP team would conduct workshops, gather requirements, and develop a realistic timeline for implementation of Salesforce products. Not all your business needs are covered by Salesforce products, there might be a need for Salesforce Apps from AppExchange, this is also taken care of by the MSP team.

4. Support - Once you start using the system, there might be millions of queries popping on your head or there might be issues too. MSP’s support experts could resolve the cases in no time, according to a set SLA policy between the two parties.

5. Enhancements/Customization - MSPs could build custom apps or workflows to suit your company’s specific needs. It could be built on top of the existing Salesforce and will make your day-to-day activities pretty easy.

6. Integration - You might be using a system already to record certain information (Eg: Order information in Shopify) and you might want to pull it in Salesforce to ensure a smooth experience. This could be done by MSPs.

7. Data Management & Documentation - You could have a number of workflows configured and could have multiple policies around backups, data, etc. All these need to be properly documented for future reviews and management. MSPs could do this job for you. The MSPs could also configure the reports/dashboards on your behalf and send across the KPIs in a timely fashion to your CXOs.

8. Training - You could onboard and train all your teams, not only your Sales team within Salesforce. This way there is consistent record keeping and smooth operation between teams. Ultimately, the customer is going to get a better experience

9. Health Check - Constant health checks could be done by MSPs wherein they compare your org’s health with industry standards. This way you are being proactive.

It’s truly an end-to-end package that is offered by the providers to its partners/customers.

Now that we know what activities are included in the services, let’s cover the benefits or the reasons to opt for managed services in the next section.

Benefits of Salesforce Managed Services

A lot of questions might pop into your mind. If I really hire experts would they not cost me a bomb? Would they be reliable than my in-house staff? How to pick a suitable provider and so on…

First, let’s dig into why you need to opt for managed services.

A CompTIA survey reveals that over 400 businesses who use the services of managed service providers reported that:

At least 46% of companies reduced their budget by 25% or more
13% out of these 46% cut their IT expenditure by more than 50%
50% told annual costs decreased somewhere between 1% to 24%“

Enough of the data now, here’s a few concrete reasons to start off with,

1. Cost Cutting

Instead of paying multiple bills/salaries for Salesforce admin, developer, etc, you pay a flat monthly fee to your MSP. If you total up all your bills and compare them with the monthly fee, it’s going to be way lesser.

Also, you can predict the costs and allocate a budget for it. Also as MSPs take a proactive approach and have that mindset, further financial losses or costs can be avoided at roots. Overall the Salesforce ROI is improved as it is being used at its fullest potential.

2. Salesforce Optimisation

This benefit might bore you at this stage, but it's an important one. The experts know how to automate processes, introduce workflows, reports/dashboards, etc better than someone who is not working day in and out with Salesforce. ‍

3. Salesforce Admin

Salesforce has numerous features and they constantly update the system. With cloud-based tools, it’s getting easier but still, you might be lost with the magnitude of features. The experts are always on the lookout for new features, updates, releases. So you might hand over the responsibility to them and focus on other activities.

4. Safety & Health - No compromises

Salesforce experts detect vulnerabilities of the system ahead of time and prevent downtime or any issues that might occur

5. Time saver

The only thing you need to do is select your provider and after that, you are sorted. You need not waste time in recruiting full-time employees or retaining them.

6. Compliance & Risk Mitigation

You will comply with industry standards, follow the regulations and in fact stay ahead of the competition once you hire an external expert team. Their sole duty is to maintain your reputation and performance.

7. Scalability

In times of spike or crisis in business, the MSP team will be equipped to manage the situation well. It all comes out of the experience and the expertise that they have gained over years. They might have faced a similar situation in the past and would exactly know what to do.

Managed Services vs In-house

Not all companies could benefit from outsourcing their Salesforce services, there are downsides to it too. In this section, we will compare them, so that you can pick the viable option for your company.

Salesforce In-house team	Outsourcing / Managed Service Providers
The in-house team is aware of the company needs, culture, organization structure, etc in detail. They can work on Salesforce needs and configurations in a continuous and iterative fashion.	The outsourced team is not always based on your site. They might not be aware of what’s exactly going on in your Sales teams, what’s their working style, culture, etc. There might not be a sense of commitment towards your company’s goals.
For an in-house employee, there are a lot of costs involved - salary, employee costs, office space costs, training costs, etc.	Outsourcing Salesforce services could be cost-effective, especially if it’s remote working.
You have total control and transparency over the work that is done by the internal team.	If you work with the outsourced team, there might be a lack of communication and there is a chance of giving the requirements wrong. Also, the work done cant be monitored at all times.

An employee usually signs a contract before starting employment and uses company resources like laptops, Wifi, etc. There are fewer security risks.	You get to provide access to CRM with customer information to an outsourced team. There are higher chances of security breaches and data leaks, but an NDA could help.
Hiring and retaining a skilled employee and a good Salesforce team could be challenging.	Outsourced teams usually work day in and out on the Salesforce platform. You can hire them for a few days, months, etc. It’s flexible and they usually bring in innovation. They also have a direct impact on revenue.
Multiple projects and deadlines are totally dependent on the Salesforce team that is hired and the project manager.	Outsourced teams stick to timelines and the quality of the deliverables is usually good as they have the required expertise and are usually paid only after they deliver.
If an employee leaves the team, it takes some time to hire and replace them.	Outsourced teams will usually replace one consultant with another quickly, but deliver the work on time.
The Salesforce in-house team works only during business hours.	An outsourced team can provide support services round the clock (24*7).

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Final Thoughts

Confused if you should go for an in-house team or outsourced team?

Here are a few questions you could ask before deciding which one you could go for?

What is your company size and how much budget is allocated for Salesforce projects?
What is your scope of the project/requirement?
What is your current team like? Do they already have the skills?
What fits better for your company’s culture?
What will work in the long run for your business?

What works best for you might not work for others and vice versa. You are the best decision-maker, hope this article could help you with the decision-making process.

Besides providing Salesforce Managed Services, CloudIdeas also provides other services, check our Salesforce services and just book a call today and get started with our Experts.