7 years in the world of Salesforce
The 29 May is a poignant day for me. It marks the birth of my Salesforce recruitment career, and today’s anniversary is 7 years!
7 years on, and it got me thinking, how much has changed in the world of Salesforce in that time? Here is a quick and non-exhaustive log of notable points on the Salesforce timeline, from the beginning of my career to date:
2012 – Salesforce had a revenue of $2.8 billion. Sales and Service cloud were the main, if not the only market products, and the AppExchange had an impressive 1600 apps listed
2013 – Salesforce Marketing Cloud was born, following the acquisition of ExactTarget
2013 – Salesforce1 was born, which later went on to be the UX for ‘Salesforce Lightning’
2014 – Heron Tower becomes Salesforce Tower, London
2015 – The previously mentioned ‘Salesforce Lightning’ was announced at Dreamforce 15
2015 – Salesforce also used Dreamforce to announce Trailhead
2016 – An expensive year where the Salesforce acquisition wallet was concerned; they went on to acquire 13 companies, most notably Steelbrick, in-turn releasing Salesforce CPQ
2017 – Salesforce topped the $8 billon valuation mark
2018 – Salesforce largest acquisition to date, MuleSoft for a cool $6.5 billion
2019 – Today Salesforce has a revenue of over $13 billion, they have a product stack across 8 key areas and over 3500 apps are listed on the AppExchange. A 75% increase in Apps listed on the AppExchange. A 130% rise in operating revenue
As you can see, Salesforce has turned into a global beast dominating the CRM market. Their product stack covers nearly all department needs, perhaps with the exception of HR. That being said, given the size of Salesforce’s chequebook, and their appetite to keep growing and retaining their place as number 1, there is certainly a chance that a HR product could be unveiled one day.
The one thing that doesn’t seem to be diminishing, and perhaps is becoming more of a challenge, is the ever increasing demand for Salesforce talent versus the numbers actually entering the eco-system.
In the last 7 years the demand for Salesforce talent has exploded. Once upon a time it was typically the Salesforce Developers and Technical Architects that were the fiercely demanded skillset by consultancies and end-customers alike. However, now you can include Salesforce Administrators, Consultants, Project Managers, and Solution Architects into that category too.
Now don’t mistake my point here, I am not bemoaning. Ultimately this marketplace has gifted a fantastic career. But the question has to be asked; How can we get more people into the industry, to keep pace with the demand?
There are some great initiatives around, such as the Salesforce partnerships with School 21 and Ada, Vetforce, Salesforce Supermum’s, and forward-thinking companies who support apprenticeship schemes. There must be other solutions in the pipeline? I welcome your thoughts.
In the meantime, here at Steadman Brown we raise a glass to another 7 years………at the very least!
Lewis Steadman – 29th May 2019