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. They’re also aware of the value their skills bring to the table and the weight of their earning potential.
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 that work on demand. To connect with them, customers need to look no further than on-demand Salesforce talent marketplaces and talent brokers.
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 why you need to partner with independent, on-demand Salesforce architects.
Salesforce talent supply is tight and customer demand is skyrocketing
Global supply growth slowed from 29% in 2020 to 23% in 2021
And, not only that, Technical Architects are still just 1% of the overall 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.
Our 2020 Salesforce independents survey found that more than 50% of consultants said their long-term goal was to grow their own business, and 56% 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.
Global demand is skyrocketing — up 364% YoY
Rapidly growing talent demand only compounds the challenge of hiring a Salesforce architect. Customers can offer all the money, benefits, vacation, and perks, but there will always be another company that will out-bid your offer.
The good news is most customers don’t have a real need to hire a full-time Salesforce architect – hence the beauty of using an on-demand talent marketplace. On-demand architects should be hired at the onset of an engagement to ensure the right decisions are being made and in a fractional capacity throughout the project.
Salesforce instances are getting more complicated
Developers can do a lot, but they can’t do everything.
Just 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.
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 bring them in at the beginning as this is where they are the most valuable. Without an architect, you run the risk of blowing past your budget or timeline.
Get started faster with a Salesforce talent broker
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 you 6-9 weeks to get started. Talent brokers and on-demand talent communities like 10K can typically connect you with an expert in less than a week.
To partner with a proven Salesforce architect you can trust, reach out to our team to get started.
