The platform offers industry-specific applications that extend the core Salesforce CRM functionality across various sectors, such as telco, energy and utilities, media, insurance, and health (to learn more about a career in SFI, see our interview with a leading Salesforce Industries Expert here.
More complex SFI implementations require more top talent. Whether searching for your next role or looking to hire the best talent, it's critical to understand how to navigate the Salesforce Industries market in 2024.
The Salesforce Industries Talent Pool
The SFI talent pool is a niche and close-knit community within the overall Salesforce ecosystem. It consists of only around 7,000 SFI professionals worldwide, almost ten times smaller than talent pools for other major clouds like Marketing Cloud or Mulesoft.
Recent data shows SFI job vacancies have declined by over 25% year-on-year in 2022 and 2023 due to economic uncertainty affecting implementations.
The combination of fierce competition, specialised skill sets, and niche expertise has created a highly proficient but limited pool of talent. This presents an opportunity for SFI professionals to demonstrate their expertise and differentiate themselves from lower-cost providers, who may compromise on quality and dependability.
The Risks of Underinvesting
Completely outsourcing your SFI projects can seem like a cost-saving option, but it often backfires significantly. Using lower-cost, inexperienced development teams with little to no experience previously implementing SFI frequently leads to poor quality solutions built on shaky foundations.
In contrast, senior developers with years of specialized SFI experience possess the skills to tackle the most challenging aspects of implementations - from delivering complex builds with deep technical capabilities, navigating common pitfalls and nuances with intimate domain knowledge, ensuring risk mitigation with tested methods and creating reliable and scalable solutions that meet business needs.
You might pay more for their experience upfront, but it is a valuable investment. You will avoid many troubles and challenges later on, and you will get a project that aligns with your goals.
The key factor is assessing developers based on their proven abilities rather than their location. Development is a global field, with skilled professionals across many backgrounds. By focusing on experience over geography when hiring, you can achieve the best outcomes for all involved and ensure success.
Bright Spots on the Horizon for 2024
As market disruption fades, conversations I’ve shared with several talent specialists in the industry point to green shoots of regrowth. As global markets and budgets stabilise, so do the number of major SFI implementations that are resuming and ultimately, driving hiring growth.
In particular, the insurance, media, financial and health sectors are projected to see strong SFI cloud growth given rising demand. This could be just the catalyst that SFI needs to trigger a huge market shift. The more successful SFI implementations that take place, the more confidence will grow in their importance and value.
This will also expand the potential areas of SFI implementation: insurance, media cloud, health cloud, financial services cloud, and more. We will likely see SFI professionals from legacy sectors using their expert skills to develop new implementations. While newer SFI projects may face some hiring challenges until more projects have crossed the line, it is important for teams to get ahead of the curve where possible and secure the best talent for their needs.
Three Tips for SFI Hiring Success
1. Prioritise Experience as the Market Evolves
The Vlocity talent market will of course continue to fluctuate as it evolves, but investing in experienced professionals will pay off long-term, despite any immediate cost concerns. The more you put into implementations from the off, the more you will save in the long run.
2. Ensure Team Continuity and Alignment
Building a functional team that is committed to your SFI implementations for the long haul is vital for the success of your projects. The majority of Senior SFI developers I have had the privilege of working with agree that this is the most important factor in the outcome of implementations. Having a team with aligned goals, and reducing turnover are key to this – it’s crucial to find a team with the soft skills to help this happen.
3. Leverage Specialised Recruiters
Working with an experienced recruiter who understands the intricacies of the SFI talent market can be a great advantage when building your team. They can tap into niche networks and identify candidates with ideal skillsets.
The best recruiters have consistent access to the best person for the role, rather than the best person ‘available’ for the role.
Here to Help
Our team’s focus is helping candidates connect with the projects that mean the most to them, so that they are invested in their work beyond a pay check.
If you want to see more about what Empiric can offer your Salesforce team, head over to our dedicated Salesforce page. If you would like to browse our open jobs, head over to our job board.
