Are you thinking of enlisting the help of a Salesforce® partner like VRP Consulting? You may not yet be entirely sure which of their services is right for your particular needs. Even more confusing can be deciding which of the many Salesforce delivery strategies is the correct one to make sure your requirements are met as quickly, cost-effectively and above all successfully as possible.
That’s why we’re launching this article series: to help you understand these delivery strategies, so you can choose the best option for every scenario you may encounter. This is the first article, in which we’ll provide an introduction to VRP’s Salesforce delivery strategies.
In the next, we’ll explore how to select the right strategy, and then in the following article, examine VRP’s core service models and how they relate to delivery strategy. In the concluding article, we’ll take a look at some final important considerations, such as the differences between continuous and temporary engagement, and situations where Project, Program, and Portfolio Management (P3M) can be vital.
But that’s all ahead of us — let’s get back to the beginning. We’ll start with a very important question…
Consider this: if you bought a car, would you expect it to arrive as a bunch of parts you needed to put together? Probably not. (Though, if so, I admire your engineering abilities!) But this is exactly how the worldwide brand IKEA sells their furniture: a “flat-pack” of components to be self-assembled by the buyer. That’s their delivery strategy. Love it or hate it, IKEA’s success proves that this model can work — for furniture, at least. However, it wouldn’t work as a delivery strategy for a car.
Stepping away from the world of home furnishings for a moment, Salesforce delivery strategies are the different ways VRP Consulting can deliver the things you need. And, just like in the example I just gave, each of the different needs your partner caters for will be suited to different delivery strategies. By pairing your specific set of requirements with the right delivery strategy, your partner can do their best work for you, and you can get the most value from them. Get it wrong, and it can be like trying to build a car from scratch with only an allen key and a page of instructions — a frustrating endeavor for everyone.
Unlike IKEA, we don’t sell our services in just one way. We actually have many different ways we sell our services (and you’ll be glad to know that self-assembly isn’t one of them). Our three core services are consulting, outsourcing and managed services, and they can be delivered in a range of ways.
We’ll explore all the different delivery strategies VRP offers next.
Someone building a house wouldn’t be well prepared if they only showed up with a hammer, which is why VRP doesn’t use just one delivery strategy to help our clients. So, what “tools” does VRP have in its toolbox?
VRP offers:
Lots of acronyms, right? AST. D&D. QSI. PDO. MS… You may be feeling a little overwhelmed — don’t worry, we’ll break down what all of these things mean, very simply, and how they’re different from each other.
Our team has prepared a comprehensive (but quick-reference) table that shows what we do in each Salesforce delivery strategy, what the client’s role is, and an example of this strategy in action. Drumroll, please:
| Delivery strategy | What do we do? | What does the client do? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outsourcing / Staff Augmentation | Provide qualified staff with in-demand skills. | Directly manages the staff contracted from VRP. | You don’t have Apex developers in house, so you contract with us to bring one on for a 6-month period. |
| Managed Services | Provides a narrow set of technical services that fall within the scope of a contract. Respond to any sudden business needs/disruptions, with a range of SLA times. | Requests services through channels that are prescribed within the contract. | You don’t want to hire in-house Salesforce experts, so you contract with VRP to manage your Salesforce org for you. |
| Health Check | Perform a standard set of assessments and offer recommendations on how to improve a Salesforce org. | Provide our team with access and background knowledge, and can choose to implement the recommendations or contract with VRP to perform them. | You have a number of problems with your Salesforce org and want to perform a health check to identify any improvements needed. |
| QuickStart (greenfield implementations) | Performs an accelerated discovery and quickly performs system configuration for common Salesforce use cases. | Provides a narrow range of input that falls within scope and validates the final system configuration. | You have a brand new Salesforce implementation and want to begin using basic Sales Cloud functionality. |
| Design & Discovery | Engage directly with clients to understand their unique needs and plan a solution to meet those needs. | Provide VRP with access to knowledge, systems, resources, and stakeholders that are relevant to their scope. | You’ve been using Salesforce for a number of years, and want to build custom functionality to meet a new business case. |
| Agile Sprint Teams | Provide a cross-functional team of experts that can enhance the client’s Salesforce org according to a dynamic backlog of work. Depending on the contract, VRP may or may not help guide the direction of the client’s Salesforce org with a role called a “Product Owner”. | Provide VRP with access to knowledge, systems, resources, and stakeholders that are relevant to their scope. If a Product Owner is not included, the client is responsible for providing the contents of a dynamic backlog of work. | You have business experts that understand where you want your Salesforce org to go, but don’t want to manage the day-to-day execution of the build. |
| Scoped Project Delivery | Provides a cross-functional team of experts that can enhance the client’s Salesforce org according to an up-front project plan that cannot change without a Change Request. | Provide VRP with access to knowledge, systems, resources, and stakeholders that are relevant to their scope. Performs duties outlined according to the project plan. | You have a specific scope that you want to accomplish, and you contract with VRP to build your Salesforce org to meet those requirements. |
| Product Development Outsourcing | Performs all technical aspects of building a Managed Package for direct distribution or for distribution through Salesforce AppExchange. | Provide VRP with access to knowledge, systems, resources, and stakeholders that are relevant to their scope. | You want to create a Salesforce App for listing on the AppExchange, so you contract with VRP to build it for you. |
So, now you know what each of our Salesforce delivery strategies involves, and what roles we and you play in them. Time to take a break, catch your breath, grab a coffee and get ready for the next article in the series!
We’ll be looking at how to select the right Salesforce strategy for your needs. That includes covering some key considerations such as scenarios where a particular strategy should be used, and those in which they shouldn’t. It’s a very important topic and we’re looking forward to exploring it with you.
Stay tuned for the next article in our series. In the meantime, if you’d like to discuss how VRP Consulting can ensure you get the right service and delivery method for your needs, or discuss any aspect of how we can help your business, just get in touch with our team. And if you’re not sure which one is right for you – we are here to help.
Charles Ackerman
Head of Regional Delivery, North America, VRP Consulting
As our Head of Regional Delivery in North America, Charles is dedicated to ensuring operational excellence, from pre-sales through discovery, design, delivery, and final rollout of client solutions. He is a Certified Project Management Professional, PMI Agile Certified Practitioner, Certified ScrumMaster, Certified Scrum Product Owner, Salesforce Certified Administrator, and Salesforce Certified Sales Cloud Consultant.
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