DEV Community: Naveen Charles

Top Salesforce Partners in 2022 for Successful CRM Implementation

Naveen Charles — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 14:30:01 +0000

The key to successful Salesforce implementation is meticulous planning, commitment, and in-depth expertise about how business process affects customer experience. According to CIO, about one third of all CRM projects fail due to the absence of a robust project management framework.

Salesforce has a comprehensive partner program that enables partners to build and grow successful businesses while delivering customer success. Hence, businesses must work with reliable Salesforce partners to derive value from their CRM implementations and maximize the return on their investment.

With over 150,000 registered Salesforce partners in the ecosystem, choosing the right vendor can be a daunting task. In this article, we have outlined some steps to follow while selecting the right Salesforce consulting partner along with a top salesforce partners list, their capabilities and unique selling propositions.

Who is a Salesforce Partner?

Salesforce is a multinational software company offering easy to use, cloud-based CRM and business applications on a subscription basis. A Salesforce consulting partner is an enterprise authorized by Salesforce to develop and implement tailor-made solutions for their applications. Salesforce consulting partners are thoroughly trained to lead innovation, expand capabilities, and connect with their customers in new ways to meet their current and future needs.

Salesforce categories its partners into three types:

Consulting partners or system integrators (SI): They use their experience and expertise to enable business growth and increase process efficiency.

AppExchange partners (ISV): They are Independent Software Vendors (ISV) who research and develop innovative applications in AppExchange.

Resellers: They sell Salesforce licenses but are not necessarily involved in the implementation process.

The Salesforce consulting and AppExchange partners can be Base, Ridge, Crest, or Summit based on their trailblazer score across customer success, innovation, and engagement.

List of the top Salesforce consulting partners in 2022

1. Prodapt
Prodapt is a leading global technology consulting and managed services provider to the connectedness vertical. To meet the fast-growing demands of today’s telco customers, Communication Service Providers (CSPs) need to unify and simplify their processes. Prodapt enables next-gen technologies that help CSPs in their digital acceleration journey.

Prodapt is a trusted Salesforce Crest Partner with 450+ certified professionals spread across 10 countries. As a strategic Salesforce partner, Prodapt helps global telcos to transform their customer engagement process. Prodapt’s team of 100% certified Salesforce consultants bring years of experience in successfully implementing digital transformations and co-creating innovation at scale.

They offer end-to-end Salesforce consulting services for the cloud that involves developing applications, collaborating cloud applications, and supporting cloud solutions for the end-users. Prodapt’s expertise includes telco-specific Salesforce solutions, Salesforce Industries, Salesforce Integration (mulesoft) and Prodapt Solution Accelerators.

2. 10Pearls LLC

10Pearls is a global digital development company, helping businesses with product design, development, and technology acceleration. They design and develop mobile and web applications for SME's and serve customers worldwide. Founded in 2004, 10Pearls is today a 1000+ workforce organization with offices in DC, New York, San Jose, Toronto, Dubai, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Medellin.

10Pearls is a leading Salesforce service provider helping businesses of all sizes build, customize, integrate with Salesforce applications. They offer Salesforce consulting, design, support, integration, and implementation services for businesses. Their team of technologists, developers, and consultants provide the resources to meet the specific needs of an enterprise and deliver Salesforce solutions that are right for a business.

3. Deloitte

With consultants in over 35 countries, Deloitte offers deep industry insight, proven customer experience solutions and Salesforce know-how. Deloitte’s industry-specific solutions and accelerators, powered by Salesforce, help businesses to be future ready.

Deloitte offers custom Salesforce solutions through simplified market strategies, sales processes, and operating models that deliver optimal results. Deloitte’s deep industry knowledge and technical experience helps them to create assets that can quickly solve challenges and generate business value. They operate across sectors and industries, from human capital to life sciences, industrial products to consumer business, and financial services to media and telecommunications. They also offer government-specific Salesforce solutions through their Digital Government practice.

4. Zensar

With over 10 years of experience, Zensar is a Salesforce Silver Consulting Partner with 250+ Salesforce certified consultants. They cater to clients in retail, financial services, insurance, manufacturing and hi-tech, transforming their CRM outcomes and driving business growth.

Zensar’s expertise in CRM has helped them to design a comprehensive range of technology solutions to modernize legacy applications. Their extensive development experience on the Salesforce platform ensures pre-defined data models for solutions, reusable assets & accelerators, and rapid implementation for the clients.

5. Accenture

Accenture is a multinational services company specializing in IT services and consulting with capabilities in digital, cloud and security. They have a strong workforce of more than 500,000 people worldwide across 50 countries. They operate more than 100 “innovation hubs,” for developing digital and cloud-based solutions for a broad range of industries.

Accenture was among the early movers to form a strategic alliance with Salesforce and continues to strengthen its position as a leading Salesforce partner. The team of 10000+ Salesforce professionals, provide the full gamut of services from ideation to implementation to ongoing support. They are particularly suitable for large and more complex projects where business transformation is the primary goal.

Tips to choose the right Salesforce consulting partner

i) Select a Salesforce partner with relevant industry experience

The Salesforce ecosystem is huge with several Salesforce consultants. Therefore, finding a partner that is the right fit for your business is a crucial step. The consulting partner with industry knowledge and experience of working on a similar project will be time as well as cost-effective. Proof of Concept (PoC), case studies, demos etc can help you understand the consultant’s domain experience.

Large companies with complex IT structures must consider partnering with big consulting firms capable of handling tasks of such magnitude. Similarly, speciality partners with a good track record may be a good fit for smaller companies.

ii) Look for Salesforce partner certification

Salesforce certification is a critical aspect while selecting the salesforce implementation partner. Salesforce has an impressive certification program for Salesforce administrators, developers, consultants, and architectures. The certification is a great way to verify a partner’s credentials.

iii) Assess business value, not just the costs

Selecting the most economical partner will not necessarily save you money. Instead, consider looking for the most comprehensive partner who can provide the best value for your budget. Avoiding implementation delays is very important and, a time-efficient partner can provide a better return on investment.

iv) Look for a long-term partner and continuous support

Salesforce platform is constantly evolving and hence, it is important to have a consulting partner who can provide ongoing support even after the project period, both on-site and off-site. Similarly, seek a long-term alliance who are capable of proactively identifying potential risks and keeping up with evolving needs of the business. A continuous engagement will help save you costs and efforts.

v) Use research to make informed decisions

Do thorough research for understanding the different Salesforce services, comparing potential partners, identifying different implementation frameworks etc.

These resources are extensively available on the internet as case studies, industry reports, blogs, reviews and more. You can also explore Salesforce forums and seek peer advice. Proper research will help you to chart realistic expectations and business goals for your Salesforce implementation project.

Conclusion

In order to improve the customer journey and provide superior business performance, one needs a unified salesforce ecosystem. An experienced Salesforce consulting partner can create an ideal pathway for organizational success be it for updating an existing system or implementing a new one.

Telecom Industry Trends 2021

Naveen Charles — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 05:03:01 +0000

Top Five Telco Industry Trends for 2021 and Beyond

The telecom sector continues to be at the epicenter of growth, innovation, and disruption due to new technologies that continue to filter into the market. Yes, this vibrant industry is gearing up for some technological advancements on a massive scale. So, what is the telecommunication industry’s current revenue growth statistics?

As per a recent global telecom industry report, in 2020 there are around 7.7 billion active mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide, an enormous rise from 3.3 billion just 5 years ago. Moreover, with the rapid increase in online video consumption, global IP traffic is forecast to grow to nearly 400 exabytes per month by 2022.

What are the recent changes in the telecom industry?

Gone are the days when telecom companies used to depend solely on manual operations for various functionalities such as customer engagement, sales, marketing, etc. As disruptive digital trends continue to impose transformational changes in the global telecom market scenario, it is imperative for market participants to be equipped with new-age technologies and innovative strategies.

Recently, there are many changes in the telecommunication industry which can be easily attributed to the new technologies in telecom industry. In 2021, the adoption of the latest industry trends such as 5G, AI/ML, and IoT will increase and will shape the future of the telecom industry. A systematic blend of operational and technological changes will help drive superior customer engagement in the telecommunications industry.

So, what are the major trends that will transform telecommunications in 2021? Read on to explore the opportunities of some of the top-notch technologies and other latest trends in the telecom sector that could have a big impact in the year ahead.

Emerging technologies that will transform telecommunications in 2021

Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML)

AI/ML is one of the most significant telecom tech trends for 2021. According to Forbes, “telecommunications is one of the fastest-growing industries that uses AI/ML in many aspects of their business from enhancing the customer experience to predictive maintenance to improving network reliability.” Just as the case of any other industry, the telecom industry too generates vast amounts of data every day. Statistical data is critical for the growth of any business and therefore with the usage of the right tools can generate valuable information on customer behavior and other meaningful insights. Artificial Intelligence is one such tool that holds the potential to boost the digital customer experience.

AI-driven tools such as chatbots and virtual assistants can be used to ensure that the customer support services run seamlessly. These tools aid in providing personalized customer engagement services based on customer history. In addition to customer service, AI/ML also enables to optimize the network quality by predictive maintenance and smart impact analysis. AI-based analytics enables DSPs/telcos to predict future industry trends and continuously assess their services for bugs or pitfalls.

5G

The ever-growing demand for high-speed connectivity has accelerated the need for the next generation of networks. Being the most recent iteration of broadband connection, 5G is the latest telecom industry trend, which has a lower connectivity cost, greater speed to move more data, and low latency with enhanced user experience than the 4G network. 5G which stands for 5th generation has finally moved from its hype to reality as some of the leading telcos released their commercial 5G capabilities.

With the telecom industry advancing towards virtualization, Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) allows service providers to speed up 5G deployment through its open architecture and promises greater interoperability. Currently, the telecom companies across the world are in the development phase for 5G networks with the expectation of increased implementation of 5G in 2021. 5G will accelerate innovation and transform multiple sectors across the globe. However, it will also bring new security challenges for the telecom ecosystem, which needs to be handled in a new way.

DevOps

DevOps is not a new term in the telecom ecosystem. However, it’s becoming an important model as the telecom space is rapidly shifting towards virtualization platforms. By implementing virtual network functions (VNF), telecom operators are continually delivering new services and functionality. Now, the stability of the network should be preserved while accommodating these changes. Here is where DevOps comes into the picture and helps these disparate groups to operate efficiently in a synchronized way.

Being one of the top telecom trends, the efficient DevOps implementation can have benefits such as efficient control over the network, reduced CAPEX, elimination of manual configuration, network scalability and resilience, real-time orchestration of network resources, and reduced time to market for new apps, solutions, etc.

Intelligent Automation

The cut-throat competition and ever-increasing demand for seamless connectivity are the biggest challenges that burden the telecom players. But with this smart telecommunication technology, telecom companies can simplify the handling of operational tasks. Intelligent Automation is the technology that allows us to automate the business process by configuring software robots or bots. They not only slash the waiting period that is typical to traditional means of customer services but also ensures a dramatic cost cut and uncompromised customer experience.

Nowadays, Communication Service Providers (CSPs) are leveraging Intelligent Automation capabilities for significant cost reduction, unmatched data quality, improved customer service, and superior operational efficiency. A report by Forrester suggests that Intelligent Automation will be worth a $2.9 billion industry by 2021 making it the perfect fit for the telecommunications industry as it continues to grow and develop on the global front.

Network Virtualization

Just like any other telco tech trends mentioned earlier, there is tremendous economic potential for network virtualization. The introduction to network virtualization has transformed the telecommunication landscape by building software-centric network services. In this software-oriented approach, purpose-built hardware elements are replaced with software, which runs as a virtual machine.

As per a recent report, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 30% through 2021. By choosing new technologies such as cloud and virtualization, communication service providers have been able to dramatically cut costs and increase business agility. Even though many telecom operators are reaping the benefits of deploying NFV, it’s high time for other players to capitalize on this clear market opportunity.

Closing Thoughts

These are the recent trends in the telecom industry that could create a massive wave of transformation. Telcos need to leverage more of these emerging trends in the telecom industry that hold the potential to revolutionize the digital customer experience. They truly are game-changers that are worth investment for each IT service providers for telecom. It is highly recommended to partner with experienced consulting, technology, and network services providers that are singularly focused on the DSP ecosystem.