We know firsthand that experienced Salesforce talent is difficult to find and not easy to keep, especially when it comes to technical and specialized roles.
Companies continue to invest in digital transformation initiatives, and experts in specific platforms like Industry Clouds, Experience Cloud, CPQ, Mulesoft, Einstein, and Tableau are becoming increasingly harder to find. The result is technical architects are in especially high demand, and these experts are aware of the value their skills bring.
Technical Architects are still just 1% of the overall talent supply.
This isn’t to say it’s impossible for Salesforce customers to find experienced Salesforce Architects to work with – they just need to know where to look.
Some of the ecosystem’s best architects are independent consultants who work on demand. To connect with them, customers must look no further than on-demand Salesforce talent marketplaces and on-demand consultancies.
Do Salesforce customers need a full-time, in-house Salesforce Architect?
The reality is most Salesforce programs don’t require the hours of a full-time architect. Not only that, but it’s also a costly and time-consuming challenge to hire one. Even if you were able to land an architect worthy of hire, all the money, bonuses, and perks you could offer wouldn’t be enough to entice exceptional talent to stay. It’s a candidate’s market, and good architects are in the driver’s seat.
The reality is most Salesforce programs don’t require the hours of a full-time architect.
For Salesforce customers planning their next implementation project, systems integration, or technical challenge, here are a few reasons to partner with independent, on-demand Salesforce Architects.
Technical architects are still just 1% of the overall talent supply.
Our 2024 Salesforce Talent Ecosystem Report found that technical architects make up just 1% of the overall Salesforce talent supply. Unfortunately, this makes it incredibly challenging for customers to find and connect with the ecosystem’s top Salesforce Architects. Anecdotally, we also don’t see this changing anytime soon.
Additionally, our 2022 Salesforce independents survey found that 43% of independent Salesforce consultants said their long-term goal was to grow their business, and 55% said they were unlikely to return to a full-time position or large consulting firm. And it’s no wonder because independent consulting allows experts to be their own boss or subcontract to boutique partners that treat them less like resources and more like partners.
The good news is that most customers don’t need to hire a full-time Salesforce Architect (hence the beauty of partnering with an on-demand Salesforce consultancy). On-demand architects should be hired at the onset of an engagement to ensure the right decisions are made in a fractional capacity throughout the project.
Salesforce instances are getting more complicated
Like building a house, you don’t call an architect when the walls are going up. You hire an architect for the design process starting from Day One.
Salesforce Architects can not only validate the type of technology you want to use but also provide contextual insight and call out the risk areas of any plans while helping with design decisions about integration architecture or data migration strategy.
Read how this Salesforce Architect increased user adoption by 20x
Our Project to Program research survey also found that regular use of architects strongly correlates with the highest ROI. The vast majority of respondents who report A-grades (73%) and the highest return on investment (82%) always work with a technical or solutions architect.
That said, developers can do a lot, but they can’t do everything.
Architects aren’t cheap, but their value typically more than justifies those rates. This is why we’ll tell you, if you have to choose, to engage an architect at the beginning, as this is where their expertise will make the difference. Without an architect, you run the risk of blowing past your budget or timeline.
Get started faster and partner with an independent Salesforce Architect
Hiring a full-time employee takes time, money, and focus. Going with a large consultancy is one option, but even after you’ve run the gauntlet of the traditional sales and SOW process to get in their queue, it can still take 6-9 weeks to get started. Working with an on-demand consulting partner like 10K can kick off your project 50% faster than a traditional consultancy.
To partner with a proven Salesforce architect you can trust, reach out to our team to get started.
