3 myths busted, 3 realities exposed

We’re not a huge company. We have less than 250 users. We have Salesforce Sales and Service Cloud. But we also have a large number of other systems that have core customer data: marketing, training academy, support, finance, and Elements.cloud usage. We’ve implemented Data Cloud to get a consolidated view of customer interactions so that we can target marketing and support outreach so that it is more relevant and targeted. Our initial use case was deliberately simple as it needed to establish a single view of the customer.

3 Myths

First, let’s handle the 3 myths that seem to be talked about in the ecosystem

1. Data Cloud is too expensive
2. Data Cloud is too complex
3. Data Cloud is only for big companies

Data Cloud is too expensive

It is priced based on consumption. So the cost is entirely dependent on the use case and the way you are transferring and manipulating data. There are certain use cases where there isn’t an ROI. But with a well architected data strategy it can be very cost effective.   We were very surprised by how few credits were were consuming in our initial use case.

Data Cloud is too complex

Data Cloud is sophisticated enterprise application that is connecting data from multiple data sources and then manipulating it. The principles are straightforward. It requires enterprise implementation skills for business analysis, data analysis, data modeling, architecture and security to design the solution. Implementing that design is the familiar low-code Salesforce platform paradigm. And that is where there is an opportunity for entry level people. With the right mix of skills, implementing Data Cloud is easily achievable.

Data Cloud is only for big companies

Because the pricing is based on consumption, any sized organization could benefit from using Data Cloud. The limiting factor is having the right mix of skills in-house, or being able to justify investing in an SI to support you. Ironically, the very largest companies probably already have existing platforms that are doing what Data Cloud is designed to do, so implementing Data Cloud would be duplication.

3 Realities

Here are the 3 realities of Data Cloud that are worth considering before you start an implementation:

1. Salesforce strategic future is Data Cloud and it is a huge bet
2. Data Cloud projects are cross-functional and collaborative
3. Successful projects are data-driven where planning is over 80% and only 20% is execution/configuration

Salesforce is making a huge bet

Salesforce has recognized that AI demands good quality, consistent data. Salesforce data is siloed and needs to be harmonized by aggregating it with customer data from other enterprise applications. Data Cloud means that Salesforce is a core application in the enterprise IT landscape. Combine this with a competition based pricing model, and Salesforce’s future revenue growth is directly tied to the success of Data Cloud projects. 

Scope of Data Cloud projects

A Data Cloud project now covers multiple enterprise applications and organization business unitss. This means that the sponsorship is at a CIO level where enterprise-wide project priortization decision are made. It also relies on more rigorous project management and implementation processes. It also means that you should consider implementing a Center of Excellence to support the project.

80% planning. 20% configuration

Without meticulous, up-front detailed planning, Data Cloud will not deliver any results. Any mistakes due to insufficient planning that are discovered during configuration could require that the Data Cloud configuration is restarted from scratch. Data Cloud will expose and punish those that try and “fake it til they make it.” The Data Cloud Consultant certification really focuses on building skills in the 20% configuration phase of the project. The skills for the planning phase require years of experience of enterprise IT implementations.

Repeatable Implementation Approach

We’ve documented our implementation methodology to make it repeatable. Here is a short video of our CTO explaining the approach.

Data Cloud for entry level: webinar

This is the backdrop for the recent panel discussion hosted by SalesforceBen. Below is a summary of the discussion, and also included is the recording and the full transcript created by AI.

Salesforce Job Saturation

The Salesforce job market has experienced significant saturation, especially at the entry level. Initially, Salesforce had a shortage of talent when implementing the core platform, leading to a rush of new entrants into the ecosystem, particularly during the COVID-19 boom. The perceived low-barrier which did not depend on foundational IT was true for smaller, tactical implementations. Now that Salesforce is a strategic, enterprise application there is a need for fundational enterprise implementations skills. At the same time, the market has now become crowded with those that have entry-level certifications, but this is no longer sufficient. Candidates need to differentiate themselves by building those core skills, exploring niche roles and acquiring industry knowledge. Hands-on experience and core business consulting skills are emphasized as critical for standing out in this competitive environment.

Data Cloud is a Dramatic Shift for Salesforce

Data Cloud represents a profound shift in Salesforce’s approach to data management and integration. This new product allows Salesforce to pull in data from external systems, aggregate it, and make it visible within the core Salesforce system through a user-friendly, no-code interface. This shift marks Salesforce’s move beyond its traditional CRM roots into a more collaborative and cross-functional tool, capable of handling complex enterprise data needs. The introduction of Data Cloud also brings Salesforce into the consumption-based pricing model, which aligns payment with actual usage, thereby emphasizing the need for correct and efficient implementation.

Data Cloud Implementation Skills Requirement

Implementing Data Cloud requires a different set of skills compared to traditional Salesforce projects. The success of a Data Cloud project heavily depends on rigorous planning and enterprise-level implementation strategies. The skills required include data modeling, business analysis, and strong architectural design capabilities. Unlike other Salesforce tools that may allow for some trial and error, Data Cloud demands precise planning and documentation to avoid costly mistakes. The implementation process is about 80% planning and 20% configuration, meaning that while the technical aspects may not be complex, the foundational work is critical. Furthermore, Data Cloud projects typically require team collaboration, making it essential for individuals to work well in a team environment and understand cross-departmental needs. The Data Cloud Consultant certification provides the configuration skills, but does not focus on the upfront planning. The planning requires deep enterprise implementation expertise which make take several years to accumulate.

Future Opportunities

Despite the current saturation in the Salesforce job market, Data Cloud presents significant future opportunities. As one of Salesforce’s fastest-growing products, with expectations to reach a billion dollars in annual recurring revenue, Data Cloud is set to create a substantial demand for professionals with the right skills. Those who start learning and getting involved with Data Cloud now will position themselves as leaders in this area as the demand grows. For those entering the Salesforce ecosystem, focusing on Data Cloud could be a pathway to success in the future, as companies increasingly seek to leverage this tool to manage and integrate their data resources.

Clicked program

Jeff Sample announced a 4 month Data Cloud + AI course in conjunction with IBM.  This is aimed at people wanting to build this skills and certifications ahead of the Data Cloud surge in demand that is anticipated in the next 12-18 months.  Sign up to for the program: Https://clckd.me/data-ai-crm

QUOTES

Jeff Sample: “The timing is pretty interesting because… a flood of these people with certificates were starting to enter the job market, and what Salesforce is hearing is that people aren’t quite prepared… They need some hands-on experience, they need some core business consulting skills.”

Mo Jassatt: “The concept of one single master record doesn’t really exist in enterprise… Salesforce has recognized that Data Cloud needs the ability to communicate with external systems and external data lakes.”

Ian Gotts: “Data Cloud will punish you if you do not do all the planning correctly… This really is about proper design upfront, planning upfront, architecture upfront, before you start building.”

Ben McCarthy: “Data Cloud is a big bet, and they will need that to be able to grow the

at product… We know this is coming because companies are seeing it.”

Ian Gotts: “Every major upheaval is unsettling, but it also resets the clock and opens up new opportunities. Data Cloud is one of those moments. So those that jump in early and invest to build the right skills will differentiate themselves. But don’t underestimate the learning curve. The Data Cloud Cert is just the start of the learning journey. Data Cloud will punish those that try and “fake it til they make it.” Which is why the Clicked program is so important.”

VIDEO and TRANSCRIPT

Ben McCarthy

Hello everyone, and thank you so much for joining us for another Salesforce with Klint and some special guests. And today we’re going to be talking about how you can launch your entry level Salesforce career with data planning. So, as I’m sure you’ll know by now, the Salesforce job market is not in a great state.

I mean, you know, it depends what kind of role you’re at and what kind of seniority,, but you know, there has been a big saturation of the job market over the last few years. But of course, there’s always new areas, always new niches to explore to help you get that edge over the job sequence. So that’s what we’re going to be discussing today.

So we’ve got a podcast style session with you today with some special guests,    and I’m just going to go through them one by one now. So we have Jeff Sample. CEO of Clicked. Hey, Jeff. Clicked is dedicated to giving everyone access to career experiences and opportunities on demand via their learning platform, and salesforce ecosystem of landing people entry level roles.

And then we have Ian Gotts, CEO of Elements. cloud, a Salesforce ISV that specializes in integrating business outcomes, changes, and metadata insights to unlock more value from the salesforce. And finally, last but not least, we have Mo from Cognizant, who is a senior director at Cognizant, one of the leading global salesforce consultancies.

So, welcome, guys. Thank you very much for being here. Thanks for having us, Ben. So to kick off, let’s speak a bit about the Salesforce job market. So, I mean, I think kind of everyone, everyone, but, you know, it’s kind of understood now that, you know, Salesforce was always, there was always a lack of talent and, you know, Salesforce came on the Trailhead to try and democratize learning in Salesforce, which really, really did its job.

And then COVID boom happened, there still wasn’t enough people and,    you know, suddenly a huge amount of people rushed into the Salesforce ecosystem because I think, kind of, got, words got out of it, you know, there weren’t enough people there and there were all these resources then that people could kind of learn sales and get in, but now things have changed a little bit. So Jeff, give us your take on what you’re seeing from your, kind of, you know, clinical learning sort of struggle. 

Jeff Sample

For sure, and I think that the timing is pretty interesting because when you think about when we got introduced,   and started doing the collaboration with Salesforce with our sponsor programs, it was around April 2022, when a flood of these people with certificates were starting to enter the job market and what, you know, What Salesforce is hearing is that people aren’t quite prepared, right?

They need some hands on experience. They need some core business consulting skills or even some business skills just coming in to be able to like really equip themselves and be ready for entry level careers.   so we kind of follow the path, but that saturation kind of perceived it, right? So while we closed the gap on the experience side, not only did that saturation continue to evolve, but people still hearing that message and seeing those success stories that we got to kind of like that saturated job market.

And I think for a lot of our entry level career people who are coming in on Salesforce, this follows very similar patterns in other entry level job markets, right? The entry level job market in just general workforce right now is just pretty tricky in general. And I think what you see, Ben, what we also see on the same side is, and what we talk with, you know, with partners like, like Mo, is getting into some of these niche roles and not thinking about what you’ve heard in the past, what you see is going to happen in the future, can readily start.

To help you build this persona in this niche roles and skills that can really enable you to enter the job market. And what we hear unequivocally is data cloud, industry specific certifications, AI, all those things as well as core business skills. You know, a lot of Trailhead is working solo player right then and work is the multiplayer game, right?

So how do we create some of those multiplayer skills?   some of the stuff that we’ve really been, you know, trying to help with, but where the job market is really kind of hitting those hard skills and then some of the soft skills that are really important.  Yeah, definitely nicely sums up. I mean, it’s something we’ve talked about for a few years now, you know, even Salesforce Salesforce careers might want to look at specializing within Salesforce so you know that their skills don’t get too commoditized and they can focus on the direction where the Salesforce platform is going, which is increasingly verticalized specializations, as you said, some of these trends, I think, are powered by  AI.

Thanks, Jeff, and let’s get into it. So Ian, first question to you. You’ve been in the Salesforce ecosystem for a long time. How long is that?  

Ian Gotts

2001 is when we first started. When it was a very different world. It was literally entry level. Anyone could do anything. It is now an enterprise application. So it’s a very different world now.

Ben McCarthy

Yeah, and how, how do you see Salesforce’s entrance into the  CDP market, which is data cloud? Maybe explain very briefly what data cloud is, if you wouldn’t mind. Well, again, first of all, data cloud is, it’s a new product, but I think it’s a profound shift for Salesforce.    it, it, in a couple ways. Data cloud is enabling you to pull data from external systems, then aggregate that data, rationalize it, and then make it visible inside your core Salesforce system using clicks on code.

So I think they’ve done some really clever things in terms of exposing that data, using metadata in a familiar format. So the reason it’s quite profound is, first of all, it’s the first time Salesforce is reaching outside sort of core sales data. So it’s now a cross collaborative product. and a cross collaborative project.

And as Jeff said, it’s now a team sport. It’s not an individual sport. That’s the first thing that’s different. The second thing is, it will, data packed implementations will punish you if you don’t do, have a rigorous enterprise implementation strategy. You can’t go, oh, we had a go at this, didn’t quite work, make a change, didn’t quite work.

Data Cloud doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to get it right. So the emphasis is on planning rather than just pure implementation. And the third thing which is really interesting is it’s, it’s consumption based pricing. So there’s a, if, if you don’t get it right, then Salesforce is not gonna get paid. So therefore, there’s a huge emphasis on them actually making sure that we genuinely are all successful.

But consumption pricing also works the other way, which is, it’s affordable. You, you, you spend as much as you need to spend. So I think it’s a profound shift, not just for Salesforce, but for the ecosystem in terms of the skills we need.   it’s almost as big as the feeling of going from on prem to cloud.

There’s cloud consumption pricing with a real emphasis on an enterprise implementation approach. And Salesforce has got to do this. Salesforce is an enterprise player now. It needs to be. AI needs good data. It needs to be connected. So, even though it’s a massive bet they’re making, they recognize they need to take that step.

Ben McCarthy

Uh, and we all need to make sure we’re skilled up to, to support them as they make that, that, that step into the new world. Yeah, no, I think it’s a very logical step, because, I mean, I think Salesforce kind of painted core Salesforce, you know, sales cloud, service cloud, with a system where you can just put any information into it, but, you 360, but, but actually you can’t do that.

You know, you can’t put unlimited amounts of information into your CRM, it would just get too messy. And, I’m sure they did this on purpose, but obviously they’ve recently done Einstein One, you know, they’ve relaunched their platform to Einstein One, which mainly includes CRM plus Data Cloud plus AI.

And of course, if anyone’s been kind of following along with AI, which I’m sure the vast majority of people here have,   they’ll know that AI needs a lot of relevant data to work with, and that relevant data probably, you know, some of it’s going to be found in the CRM, but there’s so much more that business has which needs to be put into some system, which is, which is where Data Cloud comes, comes in.

And, you know, Salesforce has been releasing a lot of features, or, you know, teasing a lot of features recently about Data Cloud being able to sort unstructured data.   which is where AI really did come into its element. So,   I mean, Mo, would you mind giving us a bit of insight into what you’re seeing and why Salesforce has matched up Data Cloud with,    with AI? 

Mo Jassatt

Yeah, I mean, as you say, Ben, and as Ian’s alluded to, I think, you know, Salesforce recognizes that they have to coexist with other data platforms,    in an enterprise state.  This, this,    concept of one single master record doesn’t really exist in enterprise, your records are all over the place, and it’s taught on them that, you know, datacloud needs the ability to communicate with those external systems and external datamakes, whether that be snowflake, databricks, wherever.

And the clever thing they’ve done is they’ve recognized that connectors and also, You know the zero copying feature that they’ve introduced which makes it so easy You don’t have to actually shift the data. You can just call on the data and do what you need to do So I think there’s a compelling story there that salesforce has put together   and of course, this is all historically as well because they started off with genie, you know Two years ago and priced that cdp so the whole thing’s evolved from being very much a marketing cloud centric database to We’re going to put this in every cloud and make every cloud better and on top of that We’re going to then also build in the antivirus co pilot which allows Users to be able to interrogate that data using natural language, which is the ultimate,   I guess, you know, result that enterprises want to get to.

So I think again, you know, we’re finding that clients are starting to understand data cloud better. They’re still within the very early stages of trying to figure out where the use cases are, where they’re going to get the value from. So a lot of the clients we speak to are in the embryonic stages of just doing some pilots and POCs and just helping to the organization to understand where that value will come from.

So I’ve not seen personally any major large investments in the next 12 to 18 months. One of them are in the very early stages. And as an organization, we’ve had to adapt as well because we’re no longer just having conversations around CRM data. When we’re going to, we’re going to a front of a client, we’re also bringing the capabilities that we have across our data and analytics practice because without having a good understanding of the underlying data and data structure and the data architecture around the enterprise, You’re not going to get the value out of the data cloud.

So we’re also starting to see there’s a lot more cross pollination between the practices as well. So the Salesforce practice is working very closely with the analytics practice. For example, and the customer experience factor. So how do you render this valuable data to the end user? So, again, we’re seeing a lot of blurred, blurred lines and a lot of cross pollination going on.

  so again, you know, people coming into the ecosystem, I think you have to have an appreciation that if you continue to work in a siloed way around CRM, that’s not really going to add value to the organization as an individual. You need to have broad knowledge across other technologies as well. So I’m not saying you need to be an expert on data lakes, but have some broad knowledge around what data lakes and what they do and how enterprises are using them.

So we’re, we’re starting to see our experienced consultants now branching out and getting more and more experienced patients in. Areas outside of Salesforce to actually focus knowledge. So a lot of change and and data power. I don’t, there goes passing without having a conversation several times in the day around data cloud.

So it’s, it’s, it’s there it’s happening. attorney, please curious and asking about it.    we have learnt a lot too long ago and an awful few conversations around that. The question is the scratching their head, you know, how do I implement this? Where the use cases in that’s where we’re trying about you and help applies to lock the value.

Ben McCarthy

But yeah.  Great. Thanks very much, Mo.   so Ian, I think you kind of alluded to a minute ago that you’ve,    you’ve, you have implemented it with Data Cloud recently inside of Elements.   maybe just give us an overview about that. You know, what kind of, you know,    you know, what kind of initial use cases were you thinking of when you implemented it?

Ian Gotts

Well, I think the first thing is that,    you talked about getting more data out of different systems. I think actually it’s about,    using those different systems to actually improve the data you’ve got. So we’ve got an end user who’s logged into, who goes to our website, who uses Elements, who’s been on our, who’s got training certifications on our academy, who’s attended a webinar.

So we’ve got data in four or five different systems. We want to draw that all together so we can actually give, so if someone has got a certification, been on a training course, been to a webinar, and then we can see that they’re not using that functionality in our application, then clearly there’s something not, there’s an interrupt there.

So that’s the point to send them an email and go, how can we help you? Rather than just slamming people with, have you heard about all these new features? So it’s enabling us to get a far clearer picture about an individual and what they need, which means that our marketing can be a lot more targeted. So that’s a fairly simple use case, but it still involves four or five different systems being drawn together.

  so the implementation was, I mean, people go, Data Cloud’s hard. It isn’t hard, but it requires a very different set of skills. So you need, I think someone said it’s 80 percent planning, 20 percent configuration.  So all the Data Cloud,   trailhead badges, the Data Cloud certification,    all the,      the world, the tools that people go on,    the, Those are all aimed at 20 percent, which is how you configure data clouds, okay?

The 80 percent is the stuff that Mo was talking about, which is, okay, we need to do design, we need some business analysis, we need strong data analysis and data modeling skills, we need to architect this correctly, we need to figure out security. And those are all relatively senior, classic enterprise level implementation skills.

If you’ve got those, then vendors, once you’ve designed what you want to go and build, implementing is relatively straightforward. And I say relatively straightforward, but it’s clicks and code. So if you’re giving someone a spec, but I think this is where that entry level data cloud person comes in, where they’ve then been given a specification by the architect and the design team, that can then get implemented.

And that’s really where we saw the implementation, two very different skill sets.   and yeah, it was, it was less expensive than expected. We architected it with thinking about the consumption based pricing. We thought about what data we really needed to pull in, and we were actually surprised that we actually used far fewer credits than expected. 

So it is achievable, we’re not a huge company, we’re getting value from it,   and it’s not as hard as you, as you think, but you need the right skills in place, and it’s these senior level skills which I think are lacking in the ecosystem.   I’ll leave you with one last thought, data cloud will punish you if you do not do all the planning correctly, okay?

You, you, you can’t use the approach that people have used typically in Salesforce, which is, “oh I’ll have a go, I’ll make some changes, I’ll see what happens, let’s click on that, I wonder what happens.” If you do that, you will not be, you will unpick everything you’ve done, burning up all those credits.    this really is about proper design up front, planning up front, architecture up front, before you start building. 

Ben McCarthy

Yeah, very cool. And it is all, as you said, it’s on the core platform, isn’t it? So it’s a very familiar UI, so it’s clicks, not code. So, you know, people on this call, maybe you’re a conservator at the core, you know, could possibly learn those, those skills. As you said, it’s more of the, the architecture, the software skills, perhaps requirements, those types of things that, that are gonna need probably more focus before you begin. 

Ian Gotts

Yeah, I mean, it’s actually, I think it’s a data driven project. I think Mo talked about that. Unless you understand the data structures of the systems that you’re now trying to connect to, and understand the data volumes, and understand it.    building an interrelationship diagram of the core system, of the source system.

You’ve no idea what the volumes are going to be, therefore you’ve no idea what it’s going to cost. So it’s not just soft skills, it’s data modeling, it’s data analysis type skills that you need in that design and architecture stage.   but yes, when you start to go to, how do I build this, how do I build a DSO, DMO, yeah, they’re things that you don’t understand, they’re custom objects, they’re custom fields.

By the way, make sure you document, because the next time you come back to it, because you’re going to have to reuse this for the next use case, again, all this idea of, oh, we didn’t bother documenting and we haven’t actually done the design, that will nail it, you’ll get no value from your implementation and you certainly won’t be able to maintain it.

Ben McCarthy

So a lot of the disciplines we’ve been talking about for the last X years, those are all going to become really important for today’s brand.  Yeah, great, thank you. And Mo, you kind of talked about it a bit earlier, you know, there’s more cross departmental collaboration with DataCloud now, but how are Cognizant positioning themselves in this new world, you know, I think it’s going to kind of change for you in the future because of DataCloud coming into the mix. 

Mo Jassatt

Yeah, definitely. I’ve seen that today, actually, because we are now, you know, positioning DataCloud with,    for example, AWS and bringing AWS data in, for example.   with Salesforce now selling on AWS, that’s another angle to the whole thing as well. Because if you’ve got DataCloud as a consumption based,   product, and you also have AWS and you host it on AWS, AWS credits.

So there’s a lot of all of this sort of multi vendor landscape being created now where there’s  cross collaboration going on.   and as I say, you know, we, we’re starting to see announcements from Salesforce around,    connectors with Snowflake, for example, and Databricks, so inevitably, you know, they’re working very closely with those partners to create those connectors and being able to, to, to, to, to, to get the data done through.

So I, I think we’re going to see more of that sort of Data ecosystem coming together and all those platforms driving, you know, the power of the data from each of those platforms to the end user.   and you know, they all accept that they have to work together. You can’t work in isolation. You’ve got to, you’ve got to work with those other vendors and those other practices to be able to actually build the right data model and get the right results you’re looking for.

So collaboration is a key skill. It’s, you know, as I say, anybody new coming in, anybody much experienced consultants we have, they’re now having to work with a lot more different teams than they used to,    to get the data, data plan implemented. But just think about, about how that project runs. So I’m now, I’m now running my Datapad project.

And I say to our marketing team, by the way, I want you to provide this marketing data. And they go, well, we haven’t kind of got it in that format. So I said, well, in that case, can you make some changes to HubSpot? They’re like, well, actually, we’ve got our own priorities. Then you go back to our,    our academy team, and they’ve got their training, their training application.

And we’re going, well, actually, we’d love to get the data out of that. They go, well, actually, we don’t export in that format. Well, can you do some changes? Well, no, we’ve got our own priorities here. So actually, it needs to bubble up to someone at a high level, who can actually take an overall enterprise view of this. 

Yeah, okay. Well, we’re going to change the priorities of that team and that team, because actually, it’s for the greater good. Because actually, now we can do something better inside Salesforce and marketing from the game. So it’s not just the technical side, but actually from the project side, it is cross collaborative and it needs the sponsor needs often to be higher than necessarily just the Salesforce platform owner.

So again, very different world than what we’re moving into.  Yeah, it’s also pulling in a lot of the other departments previously you would consider. So, you know, in terms of things like,    the data ethics, for example, you know,    the sharing of data now, particularly a lot of,    clients that might be concerned about exposing customer data out into LLMs, for example, the large language models.

Salesforce has that built in security and that data doesn’t get out to the external models.   but then, you know,  When you start to drive the data coming out of those language models, you know, there’s all the other things around bias and hallucinations and all those technologies that somebody may be familiar with.

And how do you manage that? How do you actually fine tune those models? So once the project’s implemented, it’s not over because you’re constantly fine tuning the models and fine tuning the data. And I think the expectation from some clients is, well, if I go live on day one, everything’s going to be right, nice and rosy.

It won’t be because you’re going to have to constantly fine tune that data. So again, you know, a lot of consultants and new entrants into the ecosystem need to appreciate that this is a journey that we’re on. Clients are on and it’s a continuous journey. Once you’ve online, it doesn’t stop because you know, there’s new data sets coming on board you’re having to Govern that data monitor that data and make sure that the data that’s been presented out to your end user is is  up to scratch and   it doesn’t have that bias and those hallucinations, etc So, you know, as you say, you you know, there’s the project element But there’s also how do you support this thing going forward and that’s a whole different type of game as well a different story Yeah, I kind of, I kind of go to that point.

From like the, the opposite or the consulting project side, how are you, how would you think like entry level candidates coming in with different from a skill set that would be, let’s call it like reasonable and attractive versus say, senior architects, right? We’re really more comfortable with those types of, types of roles and implementation.

Jeff Sample

I’m wondering how you think about how people coming in could better position themselves,   on the consulting project side. And even thinking, you mentioned the 12 to 18 months. Timeline, which I think is really interesting in this big reason why we wanted to have this conversation for people coming in is kind of built Towards that a little bit, right?

Mo Jassatt

Yeah, and I think you know as an organization, you know new entrants coming in They need to sort of demonstrate some of the skills we’ve talked about on this webinar It’s you know The ability to be able to collaborate the ability to be able to demonstrate that you can take a wider perspective Uh and a wider view across problems.

So, you know using examples Potentially from your previous jobs or whatever it may be. I’m trying to overweigh that to say actually yes, you know for a role in salesforce and particularly Data cloud is going to be, you know within every single cloud.   so You know the ability to be able to think that way is going to be pretty crucial So my advice to new entrants coming into the ecosystem would be to  Listen to some of the skills that Ian and I and everyone’s talked about on this call and think about how you can translate those into some of the experiences you previously had and bring those to life,   during the  hiring process.

  and I think that would be the differentiator in terms of whether you can get through or not. So,    for me, that’s the advice I would give. And certainly, this is not just constrained to the people that are entering the ecosystem. This also applies very much to experience ties as well. Because those architects, those technical,   architects that are thinking quite narrow today, they’re going to have to change otherwise. 

Ian Gotts

I really want to set some expectations here.  If you’re coming into a data cloud project and you’re new to your entry level Salesforce, you actually haven’t got very many IT skills. You need to be clear, you’re going to end up doing some of that configuration, so you need to make sure you’re doing that.

You’re not going to be able to do a few trial and error badges, or even do the data cloud consulting course, and then, and instantly have those enterprise implementation skills, those architecture skills. You’re going to have to grow into those, and that’s a one, two, three, four, five year journey in terms of your experience.

The point is, getting in now means that you will be growing as data cloud, growing as the demand grows.  But you, but just to expect to come into the ecosystem new and go, Great, I want to be involved in a Datapad project and I want to do architecture. You just won’t have those skills, because you won’t have had a chance to grow that.

  the good news is that Data Cloud projects will be team projects, which means that you’ll not, there won’t be any solo Data Cloud Admins. But you will be able to join a project team as a junior member of that project team, and then grow and learn from the rest of the team. Which I think is something, I mean, in my Accenture career, that’s what, that’s why we grew so quickly.

We had great mentors, we ran great people. I’m sure the same is true for Cognizant. But the idea of being a solo admin somewhere where you don’t have any of those core enterprise skills around you is going to be really hard. Good news for data labs, those projects tend to be team projects, collaborative.

And you want to make sure you’ve got the right configuration skills, you’ve got the data lab certs, so you can get inserted into those projects. And then if you’ve got the aspirations, you can then start growing through to be the architecture roles, the design roles, the analysis roles. But you shouldn’t be expecting to walk in day one unless you’ve got those skills from another ecosystem, like SAP or Oracle or, or, or,    custom applications. 

Ben McCarthy

Yeah, I think that’s a really good point Ian. You know, we’ve been talking a lot about saturation and things like that, but these skills you kind of pointed out, and Mo and Jeff as well, are kind of, to an extent, totally new. And of course, some people in the ecosystem will have them if they’ve been exposed to these types of projects.

They’ve worked with data lakes, you know, some architects will, for example. But I think the vast majority of people won’t.   so there’s a totally new skill that people can start exploring,   and surely I’m not going to be an expert, you know, on day one, but, you know, there’s stuff to be worked towards, and I think that’s what we’re going to segue to.

  now let’s talk a bit about Jeff and their latest latest training course. So,   Jeff, give us a bit of a summary about what Clicks have been working on at the moment. Yeah, so I mean, yeah, for sure. I mean, Mo and Ian hit on a bunch of these touchpoints that we’re also hearing directly from other partners, from Salesforce and some other leads.

Jeff Sample

And I think one of the interesting things that Mo said is one, the 12 to 18 months, which I really want to pin, is this is going to grow, right? Like this, we are, we’re getting ahead of potential movement where there will be more jobs in the future. So thinking towards the future can help you enable some of these entry level positions.

Just like when we talked about in 2021  22 when it happened, sir, no experience could get you there. We’re going to see growth in this potential environment.   the other thing he alluded to is the cross pollination of data and analytics, right? Data modeling. This new skill set outside of some of the core stuff that we do, which is core consulting, 21st century skills, collaboration.

  that mindset and building those skills is really critical, right? Thinking just outside of the tools, thinking about how do we pull all those together and building some of those skill sets. So we’re super excited that we’ve been able to partner with or bring both of our partners, Salesforce and IBM, through their IBM Skills Build initiatives, together in a four month project.

Career Catalyst program on data and AI and CRM. It’s 295 bucks for a four month program. You get a free sales first voucher if you get up into it.   we’ll also give you access to some of our career development programs. You get access to coaches like Mo,   and some of our others like Vanessa Grant, who will be helping everybody alongside this.

And we really have catered and crafted this experience to thinking towards that future, right? Those 12 to 18 months of building them. Those skill sets that we think are high demand right now. And we’re hearing from employers who are really catered towards breaking into their local careers. So we’re super excited to be opening this.

It’s the first time we’ve done a program like this, which is really crafted and curated with multiple types of experiences. We’ll be doing stuff on Einstein. We’ll be doing stuff on Data Cloud. We’ll be doing data analytics stuff. We’ll be doing data modeling stuff. And it’s for people who are trying to break into careers, but as Mo mentioned, also for some of those early career professionals who are maybe zero to two years of experience, who really want to make sure that their future careers, and building these skill sets in the ecosystem, which are needed and will be needed even more as this platform continues to grow.

This is a big bet by Salesforce, right? We talked about this a lot, right? Data Cloud is a big bet, and they will meet that. to be able to grow that product and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to build an ecosystem and some of these data analytics tangent roles as well through a program like this to really put a build in a new talent into the ecosystem. 

Ben McCarthy

Great, thanks so much Jeff.   and I think something else to mention as well is sales. I think last time they released the data it was up to date. Sales,    data cloud was about 400 million    annual recurring revenue growing 90 percent year on year and core sales was growing like 8 percent 9 percent something like that.

So, you be absolutely gigantic.   I know my colleague is going to the training course in the comments she has done at the session as well. But how can people get started? I’ll let  Yeah, so once you get started, you’ll go through the,    the signup process. The program will start on September 23rd. So before that, we’ll have some free work.

Jeff Sample

We’ll be getting everybody into a new community within this, which is combined with, again, our IBM Skills Builder and some of our Salesforce people. It will be limited in availability for the four month program. 

And once you get started, on September 23rd, we go through a variety of experiences that towards your time zone and also where you’re kind of at in your career. If you’re new to Click, Mo as a coach can kind of test this. We really are able to cater to a bunch of different people in different career trajectories and pair you up with other people to progress in your career.

So once you click on a link, you can go through the process. September 23rd is when the kickoff starts. And four months later, you’re gonna have a ton of new skills, some hands on experience that you can put in a portfolio and ready for kind of the future of Salesforce with Lead.  Cool. Fantastic. Thanks so much, Jack.

Ben McCarthy

Any final words of wisdom from anyone before we sign off? 

Ian Gotts

 I think data cloud is something that Salesforce has to do.  This is not a, Oh, the product launch has disappeared. There’s the level of commitment you’re seeing here. So,    it’s very early, early days, but actually now is the time to get started and get involved,    which means that the year from now, two years from now, you will be one of the leaders in this.

  so get started now is, would be my advice. Get on the train. It’s leaving the station. Absolutely. And I speak to Salesforce on a daily basis from the Alliance’s perspective.   and there is a considerable amount of focus investment from the senior leadership there on Datapower. They are fully invested.

Mo Jassatt

You mentioned Ben in terms of the recurring revenue. I think they want to close this year at a billion dollars recurring revenue. So it’s, it’s the fastest growing product I think they’ve ever launched, if I’m right.   huge amount of investment that they’re making there with partners as well in terms of getting clients up and running with this, with this product.

  they’re offering free credits. They’re offering, you know, switching They’re offering investments to standard proof of concepts. We’re going to need people to do this, right, in the next, even probably six months, I would say, right, the clients are going to be ready to do something with it.   so yeah, it’s a great place to start,    definitely one for the future,   and I think it’s going to be a shift in the market in the next six months.

So get on the train. Yep. Yeah. I mean, just kind of aligning to that, it really is for people who are trying to break into careers or really are trying to reach perfect careers. It is thinking to the future as we’ve been talking about, right? Like the same thing that’s coming up where we know this is coming because the companies and we’re seeing it.

Jeff Sample

Right. That’s the big reason why we created this program. We really want to prepare people who are trying to break into careers. We know it’s hard. Me and Ben, you know, we talk about this all the time in the current market. This is a good way. Entry level careers is hard to break in for all industries and finding industries that are high demand that really fit some of your skill sets like what we potentially see here.

Ben McCarthy

  it’s a great one to try to break into in your career time.  Yep. Great. Thanks so much, guys. I interviewed someone the other day who interviewed Parker Harris internally at Salesforce and he asked him like, you know, where should we focus in the next few years? And he was like, data cloud, data cloud, data cloud.

And everyone loves Parker Harris so much. But    thank you so much everyone for joining today. Thank you very much guys. Bye