You might be familiar with the term ‘Managed Services or this could be new to you. No need to worry.
Lets delve into all the details about Salesforce Managed Services and discuss how to determine if it’s the choice for your organization.
To start off lets define Managed Services.
In terms it involves enlisting a team to handle the day to day operations of your Salesforce application or CRM environment. It enables an organization to access a team of Salesforce Consultants who will function as an extension of your internal team. This differs from a Salesforce Consulting Partner that you may have engaged with during the setup.
While a Consulting Partner focuses on designing and implementing a solution before handing it over to your team a Managed Services partner provides management, proactive enhancements, user assistance and continual enhancements throughout your entire Salesforce platform.
Emphasizing the term PROACTIVE in this context is crucial. A Managed Services provider consists of professionals who eliminate the need, for hiring an internal dedicated team and should not require constant supervision or guidance.
Their primary objective is to optimize the return on your investments in Salesforce today handle all issues related to your Salesforce CRM in time meet business requirements and prepare the organization for future changes.
Why do businesses require Salesforce Managed Services?
There are reasons why companies opt for a managed services approach to support an existing Salesforce setup and we’ll touch upon some of the key aspects here.
Managed Services offer cost effectiveness
Typically managed services involve a team of Salesforce professionals who are partially or fully based outside the United States. For instance the teams organized by 10Pearls for our clients often include a Project Leader located in the US while most Salesforce Administrators and Developers are situated in Latin America (Brazil, Argentina) or Eastern Europe.
This allows organizations to stay competitive when expanding their Salesforce teams on a scale not only reducing costs compared to employing full time onshore staff but also moving forward at a significantly faster pace.
10Pearls usually puts together a team within 14 days whereas traditional searches for full time employees can take up to 90 days easily.
Promotes an approach towards user management
A notable distinction between Managed Services and conventional Support Partners lies in how much a Managed Services provider functions, as an extension of your internal team.This implies that they are not just sitting around waiting for requests from your user base.
Instead they are deeply involved in the day to day operations of your business and oversee the delivery process. What does this entail, exactly? They offer user training create a roadmap to plan out projects or improvements ensure that the application strategy aligns with the business objectives and lead change management efforts. It’s more than just fixing bugs; it’s about transforming your Salesforce setup into a revenue generating asset for the organization.
They help identify features or functionalities in Salesforce to implement
As part of service delivery your Managed Services provider should serve as your go to Salesforce Support and Subject Matter Expert.
While a Consulting Partner may have assisted you in setting up Salesforce as your business evolves and requirements change your Salesforce solution needs to evolve too.
You should consider exploring Salesforce Clouds (such as Sales Cloud or Marketing Cloud) that would benefit the organization creating custom Salesforce apps, for deployment designing automation workflows to boost productivity within your organization and reevaluating business processes that may have outgrown the current functionality offered.
Cost of Managed Services
The cost of Managed Services varies depending on the type of vendor you engage.
For instance a Consulting Partner typically sets a hourly fee compared to a group of Independent Salesforce Consultants. While the hourly rates for an Independent Salesforce Consultant can vary significantly Managed Services teams generally charge between $100 and $140 per hour. This range depends on the skill sets required and the level of experience of Salesforce Administrators, Developers and Architects.
The affordability of this option stems from Independent Salesforce Implementation Consultants prioritizing work. When serving as your Managed Services Partner they usually commit to full time engagement (40 hours per week) over a period. This setup allows for flexibility in rates for smaller ad hoc projects.
Exploring Alternatives to Managed Services
If you stumbled upon us while searching ‘Salesforce Managed Services on Google (no pun intended) you might have noticed that other results, on the page feature Salesforce Consulting Partners offering Managed Services too.
These are Salesforce Development companies that assist businesses like yours in implementing a Salesforce solution and supporting you throughout the process. While this can be a service there are some drawbacks to utilizing such Salesforce services.
To begin with these organizations primarily earn revenue by aiding in implementations, which means they have an incentive to encourage you to adopt more tools rather than maximizing the potential of your current setup. (Their Partner Status with Salesforce actually improves when they facilitate the sale of products.)
On the contrary Zencloud is dedicated solely to assisting existing Salesforce clients and developing teams to drive ongoing strategies. Our aim is to empower you to become self reliant and cultivate expertise in using Salesforce reducing your dependence on external providers. We operate differently by connecting you not with a team employed by us but, with a network of Independent Salesforce Consultants who work for your benefit by providing Salesforce Consulting Services.
Choosing a Managed Services Provider
Firstly it’s important to outline the range of skills required to effectively manage all your Salesforce products.
In order to excel as a provider of Salesforce Managed Services the team must possess the expertise, in the Salesforce platform and be adept at enhancing your specific business workflows.
