7 Advantages of Using a Salesforce Native PSA System
New times require new solutions. And in the professional services industry, this has never been more clear. According to new research from Kantata and Salesforce, conducted by Forrester Consulting, 83% of services leaders say professional services organizations have unique needs that are different from other organizations within other industries.
Business leaders need to prepare for the new reality, where services businesses adopt tech stacks centered around highly specialized SaaS solutions tailored explicitly to meet the unique needs of the professional services industry.
“As many as 84% of services leaders firmly believe that vertical SaaS for Professional Services is the path forward, and an overwhelming 85% of them plan to boost their budget allocation for vertical SaaS solutions in the future.”
Source: Vertical SaaS For Professional Services Is Driving Material Benefits, September 2022. A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting.
Professional Services Cloud Technology: A New Approach To Professional Services Software
Professional services automation (PSA) systems and customer relationship management (CRM) systems have long been essential tools when building and scaling professional services organizations. Kantata is taking professional services automation to a new level, leading a new category of vertically-focused Professional Services Clouds designed around the unique forecasting and planning needs of professional services organizations. These solutions unlock the benefits that come from a true 360-degree view of customers and their project needs, which can only be achieved through a seamless connection between CRM and PSA.
What do professional services organizations stand to gain? One example seen in a Total Economic ImpactTM study of Kantata commissioned by Salesforce and Kantata and conducted by Forrester Consulting is a 10% improvement in the utilization of billable resources, an improvement that translates into millions of dollars for businesses that adopt purpose-built Professional Services Cloud technology that connects intuitively with leading CRM’s like Salesforce.
Kantata provides solutions across multiple platforms that carry different advantages for different kinds of businesses. In this article, we will specifically look at the benefits of using a solution embedded in the Salesforce Platform.
7 Advantages of Using a Salesforce-Native Solution
The Salesforce Platform Cloud is widely recognized as a best-in-class platform for building and running business applications. When built natively on Salesforce, applications inherit the capabilities of that platform including security, privacy, scalability, availability and performance as certified against the highest global standards for cloud computing.
Let’s take a look at 7 important benefits of using a Salesforce-native PSA solution.
1. Eliminate the cost and risk of running your own servers
Cloud adoption removes the costs associated with buying and maintaining your own servers, operating systems and database software.
The day-to-day burden of system updates, patch management, and security threat mitigation is removed, empowering IT teams to focus on supporting the business goals of their organization.
2. Compliance certifications
Salesforce maintains a comprehensive set of compliance certifications and attestations which ensure that data is protected in accordance with global, regional, and industry-specific legislation and best practices.
In addition, Salesforce perform their own rigorous architecture, code, and security review of native applications before they can be published on the Salesforce AppExchange marketplace.
3. Data security best practices
Applications built natively on Salesforce ensure data is protected within data centers certified to the highest industry standards for data security, privacy controls, and operational reliability. Native Salesforce apps are controlled via a common security model giving powerful, centralized control of access and visibility to data at object, field, and row levels.
Single sign-on enables a corporate user ID to be used to access all platform applications reducing the risk of security breaches stemming from multiple usernames and passwords. Role-based security simplifies security profile management and enables centralized, single point of maintenance user administration for all users of the platform.
4. Performance and availability
The Salesforce Platform Cloud provides clear transparency to service availability and performance via a real-time view of system status.
Such visibility demonstrates the clear track record of a trusted and scalable service supporting millions of concurrent users performing billions of transactions each day.
5. Automated upgrades ensure you’re not left behind on old versions
Salesforce provide management tools to handle the automated roll-out of new product versions at scale.
Access to the latest application features empowers customers to take advantage of new capabilities as soon as they are released while avoiding the pain, often seen in legacy applications, of being stuck on old versions.
Users can safely test new features with their own data prior to deployment in their live system.
6. Extend your apps with point-and-click simplicity
The Salesforce Platform Cloud gives users the power to solve business problems, using drag-and-drop tools, without writing a line of code.
Whether it’s automating a business process using Lightning Process Builder, centralized administration of company approval policies, or creating customized desktop and mobile page layouts with Lightning App Builder, platform administrators have the tools to support the unique requirements of their business.
A vibrant administrator and developer community ensures access to skilled resources and comprehensive, free online training provides an engaging way to keep up to date on the latest platform capabilities.
The Salesforce AppExchange gives access to a huge library of packaged apps and extensions so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel solving business problems that others in the community have already tackled.
7. Integration on and off the platform
Native platform applications share a common technical architecture which eliminates the complexity of connecting apps that run on different technical architectures and have their own databases, application servers, and security models.
Native apps running on the same platform achieve a higher level of integration, due to sharing common data such as users, customer accounts, and contacts, removing data duplication and enabling real-time reporting across multiple applications.
When integration is required to other systems, such as a client’s ERP or customer-facing e-commerce site, the Salesforce Platform Cloud provides a centralized hub to connect any system whether it runs in a public cloud or on-premise.
5 Advantages of Using a PSA Embedded With Salesforce CRM
Of course, Salesforce is not just a technical platform to build and run business apps. The Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application is consistently rated as an industry leader.
Efficient CRM integration plays a crucial role in building a business with a forward-looking approach. Applications built on Salesforce offer a high level of integration, providing a solid foundation to establish a services business geared towards the future.
1. Shared platform for sales, scoping and delivery
The biggest challenge for a services organization is to match supply of resources with demand. That demand is a combination of current in-flight projects and the forecast requirements of future deals not yet signed. PSA and CRM running on a single platform creates a single view of current and future customer engagements, shared by sales and delivery teams, enabling the earliest visibility to resource requirements by timescale, role, location, and skill. This ability to see upcoming demand earlier is essential for optimal resource planning and provides the best possible lead time for organizations to react to changing market conditions.
2. Faster proposal generation while retaining control
The tight integration with CRM that a Salesforce native solution offers enables the configure, price and quote (CPQ) process to be connected directly with proposal management within PSA. As a result, client quotes can be created faster, company pricing and bidding rules can be enforced automatically, and approvals can be managed and tracked when required. Tight integration between CPQ and PSA ensures the accuracy and completeness of client proposals, ensuring essential elements are not missed while suggesting relevant add-on service bundles.
3. Create a trusted, 360° view of your customer
When PSA and CRM share a common account object, the cost and complexity of data synchronization is removed and a trusted single view of customer activity is created. All customer activity – including proposals, engagements, transactions, documents, and conversations – is held in one secure location with desktop and mobile access for everyone involved in servicing the customer. This 360° view accelerates the resolution of customer issues, promotes understanding of customer requirements throughout the organization, and simplifies regulatory compliance regarding the privacy of customer information. It also helps businesses understand the true profitability of each of their customers – how much revenue they generate, but also much it actually costs to support their needs across sales, professional services, support, and customer success.
4. Change orders make or break service profitability
Effective understanding and management of client project changes is key to the success of any services organization. Projects initially scoped to meet margin targets can quickly turn unprofitable when change management is handled poorly. Alternatively, other business models may offer a loss-leading initial client engagement that only becomes profitable once add-on services are purchased after the initial sale. Running PSA and CRM on the same platform gives sales and delivery teams a full understanding of the financial impact of change orders and promotes ongoing involvement of the sales team throughout the life of a customer engagement.
5. Shrink the learning curve and accelerate adoption
A common user interface shared by PSA and CRM promotes rapid user adoption and efficient onboarding of new staff. Users have familiarity with common application features such as the login process, screen navigation, reporting, inquiry tools, approval processes and global search. As a result, users quickly understand how to access information, perform accurate data entry, and get work done without the steep learning curve often associated with the adoption of a new business system. Chatter, the Salesforce business collaboration tool, provides a real-time, social news feed where users can ask questions, find answers, share information with other teams and resolve customer issues quickly.
Final Thoughts
The services industry is undergoing a transformative shift, necessitating innovative solutions to address these sector-specific demands. Research highlights the distinct needs of professional services organizations, needs that set them apart from other industries.
In this article, we focused on the advantages of a PSA solution built natively on the Salesforce Platform Cloud. As we’ve seen, research shows that embracing purpose-built and integrated solutions will be crucial for services businesses aiming to thrive in this rapidly evolving industry.
By adopting these specialized tools, organizations can position themselves to remain competitive, efficient, and better equipped to address the challenges that are unique to the professional services landscape, both today and tomorrow.
The Kantata Professional Services Cloud is purpose-built to cater precisely to the evolving needs of professional services organizations. Kantata takes PSA to the next level, delivering a Salesforce native solution that connects intuitively with the world’s leading CRM.