Salesforce Managed Services: What is it & Why Businesses Need it?
Salesforce is the most preferred tool for organizations to transform their business processes and provide an enhanced customer experience. It regularly optimizes and releases updates to offer the best services to its clients. At the same time, managing the CRM and harnessing the maximum potential out of Salesforce deployments can become overwhelming, especially for companies with skill and resource scarcity. Hence, businesses hire Salesforce-managed services as a flexible and economical solution to this problem.
Detailed Insight into Salesforce Managed Services
Salesforce-managed services refer to outsourcing the management, maintenance, and support activities of an organization’s Salesforce deployments to a specialized vendor. This involves delegating the day-to-day administration and operation of the Salesforce org to a team of experts, allowing the company’s internal IT team to focus better on core business activities.
The specific services offered as part of managed services for Salesforce can vary depending on the provider and the organization’s needs. It is like an umbrella term that includes a range of services as listed here:
- Administration and Configuration
The Salesforce managed service providers handle routine administrative tasks including permission settings, user management, data management, profiles and roles, and system configuration. They make sure that the Salesforce instances are set up properly and optimized to meet business-specific requirements.
- Customization and Development
Salesforce can be customized to meet the evolving needs of the business. Hence, managed service providers also take care of the customization and development of the Salesforce platform. They can help create customized workflows, objects, fields, reports, and dashboards to curate the Salesforce instance according to the company’s specific processes and requirements.
- Integration and Data Management
This cloud-based CRM platform can be easily integrated with other systems and applications within your organization’s technology ecosystem. Managed service providers help establish data connections, synchronize data between systems, and ensure data integrity and consistency across different platforms to ensure that there’s minimal business disruption and work remains unaffected.
- Continuous Improvement and Optimization
As part of their core competencies, Salesforce-managed service providers stay up-to-date with its latest features and enhancements. They can advise on leveraging new functionalities, provide recommendations for optimizing the Salesforce org, and help drive continuous improvement in its performance and efficiency.
- System Monitoring and Maintenance
To ensure optimal license usage, it is vital to monitor the health and performance of the Salesforce org. Salesforce MSPs proactively identify and address potential issues such as performance bottlenecks, system errors, or data inconsistencies. They also perform regular maintenance tasks including system updates, data backups, and platform optimizations.
- Training and User Adoption
Even experienced professionals tend to loosen their grip on the platform due to its expansive range of features and capabilities. Or if you are a first-time user, Salesforce tools can be overwhelming for you. To help, managed services also provide training programs and resources to ensure proper user adoption and utilization of the CRM. The experts conduct training sessions for new users, provide documentation, and knowledge base materials as well as offer ongoing guidance to help users make the most of the Salesforce platform.
- Support and Issue Resolution
Salesforce managed support services offer round-the-clock support and issue resolution. They provide a help desk or ticketing system to address user inquiries, troubleshoot issues, and resolve problems promptly. Usually, their service-level agreements (SLAs) also ensure timely response and resolution times.
- Security and Compliance
To ensure data security and compliance within the Salesforce org, managed service providers implement best practices and follow strict safety protocols. They help set up user access controls, manage security configurations, and monitor compliance with relevant regulations and standards.
Salesforce Managed Services as an Admin’s Best Friend
Just like you need a reliable friend for advice and guidance, businesses, too, need a Salesforce-managed services partner to upkeep their instances. They help organizations to ensure optimal usage of their license in the best possible way, all without having to spend any extra penny on hiring additional resources. Here’s a list of benefits why you need them:
- On-Demand Access to Skilled Resources
Managed services offer access to a team of experienced and certified Salesforce administrators, consultants, implementation experts, tech architects, etc. These experts have in-depth knowledge of the Salesforce platform and can offer guidance, advice, and troubleshooting assistance. Your internal team can rely on their expertise to navigate complex issues and optimize Salesforce implementation.
- Time Savings
By offloading routine tasks and issue resolution to experts, you can save a significant amount of time. Thus, your internal resources can be used strategically—focus on strategic initiatives, such as developing customizations, implementing new features, and driving user adoption. In addition, businesses can also delegate repetitive tasks like user management, data cleansing, and system configuration, to free up admins to work on higher-value activities.
- Scalability and Flexibility
As an organization grows, its Salesforce implementation requires scaling to accommodate changing needs. Salesforce-managed service providers are equipped to handle such scalability requirements, whether it involves adding new users, integrating new systems, or expanding the functionality of the org. You can rely on the expertise and resources of the Salesforce MSP to seamlessly adapt the Salesforce instance as the business evolves.
- Enhanced Security and Compliance
Salesforce managed services help you with better security management and compliance monitoring. The service provider can implement best practices for data security, user access controls, and regulatory compliance. This helps admins ensure that their Salesforce instance adheres to industry standards and protects sensitive data, reducing the risk of security breaches and compliance violations.
Conclusion
In summary, Salesforce-managed services provide proactive monitoring, expert support, time savings, scalability, enhanced security, and continuous improvement. These benefits allow admins to maximize the value of Salesforce, streamline their responsibilities, and focus on strategic initiatives, making managed services an admin’s best friend.
