{"id":984,"date":"2015-10-23T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/projects\/horsesforsources\/salesforce-services-blueprint_102315\/"},"modified":"2015-10-23T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T17:00:00","slug":"salesforce-services-blueprint_102315","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/salesforce-services-blueprint_102315\/","title":{"rendered":"Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini and Bluewolf lead the industry’s first Salesforce Services Blueprint"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salesforce dot com. \u00a0Remember that upstart little CRM online platform that created affordable, intelligent customer management capabilities that defied the evil on-premise model?<\/p>\n

Well, it’s now a multi-billion dollar service market that commands ERP-level rates, demands expertise that are in very scarce supply… and has driven a whole ecosystem of services upstarts and established providers all seeking to master the art of delivering salesforce-as-a-service. \u00a0So without further ado, let’s hear from Blueprint report authors Khalda de Souza<\/a> and Charles Sutherland<\/a> on this escalating As-a-Service market:<\/p>\n

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Click to enlarge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Khalda.. why have we undertaken an HfS Blueprint on the Salesforce Services market at this juncture?
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, we saw the Salesforce services market as being analogous to a \u201cpetri dish\u201d where many of the innovations of the \u201cAs-a-Service Economy\u201d are visible. As a result, we wanted to use our Blueprint methodology to assess how service providers were responding to all of these innovations up close and in a structured manner. Every enterprise and service provider is making the commitment to Write Off Legacy in some way by moving to Salesforce to begin with and with that they are looking for Plug and Play Digital Business Services that deliver Actionable & Predictive Data on their operations. Responding to these Ideals alone is leading service providers to innovate and invest in better execution of as-a-service capabilities yet these service providers are also experimenting wit how to bring Design Thinking into solution delivery, creating a regime of Collaborative Engagement and working together with clients to become Brokers of Capability. It\u2019s a fascinating market today that is helping to shape the new way of delivering IT and business processes especially given the enthusiasm of all parties in this market that is on display not just at Dreamforce each year but in the way that all parties talk about what they are doing with Salesforce on an on-going basis. As a result, there was no way HfS wasn\u2019t going to be covering this market with a Blueprint in 2015 and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does HfS define the Salesforce Services market?<\/span><\/p>\n

We believe that there are 5 components to the Salesforce Services Value Chain today as delivered by service providers to create value for enterprises: Plan, Implement, Manage, Operate and Optimize. Plan includes consulting services such as: Salesforce business case development, compliance, security and governance services, as well as CRM strategy and Salesforce specific process and design services. Implement covers all the services and skills required for effective deployment, including but not limited to: project management, testing, training and data migration services. Manage includes: all ongoing integration and support services. Operate includes: business processing outsourcing (BPO) services where they are delivered by the service provider around the enterprise\u2019s Salesforce environment from sales and service to marketing and more. Finally, Optimize services are intended to improve the impact of Salesforce solutions and may include: the assessment of new Salesforce platforms, on-going CRM strategy alignment, best practice content curation.<\/p>\n

So, which service providers seem to be thriving best in the \u201cpetri dish\u201d of Salesforce Services today?<\/span><\/p>\n

Using our HfS Blueprint methodology with its crowd-sourced metrics for Execution and Innovation assessment criteria we found 4 Service Providers who belong in our Winner\u2019s Circle for Salesforce Services today. The Winner\u2019s Circle providers were: Accenture, Bluewolf, Capgemini and Deloitte. Some of the reasons these service providers came out on top included the way that account management teams guided clients into the \u201cAs-a-Service\u201d world, the breadth of reach in capabilities in Planning, Implementation, Management and Optimization, the vision each provided around maximizing Salesforce effectiveness, the management of solution partners and the investments in tools, accelerators and industry solutions.<\/p>\n

We further identified 5 additional service provides that are HfS High Performers including: NTT DATA, Cloud Sherpas, PwC, Cognizant and Wipro.<\/p>\n

What are the major trends we see which will impact these service providers over the next several years?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Khalda<\/a><\/p>\n

Khalda de Souza, Principal Analyst and report co-author (click for bio)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The biggest trend we see impacting service providers going forward is the ever-increasing reach across processes of the Salesforce offering. Enterprise clients are expecting service providers to be able to support across Sales, Service, Marketing, Analytics and now the world of IoT as well through Salesforce solutions. This means that service providers need to be investing in the recruiting (and retention) of Salesforce certified staff and then their on-going training across the offering set. The leading service providers will continue to invest in differentiating skills and solutions to meet the growing client demand for business focused Salesforce deployment and support services.<\/p>\n

The next major trend we see is the increasing opportunities to offer value added services across the Salesforce service value chain, with the most obvious being in the Implement phase. Here service providers have opportunities to create differentiators by developing proprietary tools and technologies that facilitate faster and more effective implementations. Notably these would include automation technologies, and the leading offerings would have industry specific focus to deliver relevant business benefits to clients. The ultimate aim should be to achieve the coveted Salesforce Fullforce industry solution certification, a stamp that is clearly presented on the service provider\u2019s profile on the Salesforce Appexchange web site for potential clients to see.<\/p>\n

The third major trend of note is the continued push towards the realization of the 8 Ideals of the As-a-Service Economy in this Salesforce environment. In particular, HfS expects to see service providers invest in Design Thinking skills to maximize the benefits of new Salesforce environments and for investments by Salesforce themselves, third parties and the service providers in capabilities to drive through greater levels of Intelligent Automation in Salesforce solutions as well.<\/p>\n

What recommendations do you have for enterprise buyers who want to get the best out of their Salesforce service providers today?<\/span><\/p>\n

HfS believes that enterprises that want to make the most out of investments in Salesforce services going forward should:<\/p>\n