The Salesforce Partner Ecosystem: Spotlight on Germany
The Salesforce partner ecosystem is growing. Last year, research from the IDC projected that in Germany — the world’s fourth-largest economy — Salesforce and its ecosystem of partners will create more than 62,000 new jobs between 2019 and 2024. Currently, the country boasts an impressive mix of consulting and implementation partners that includes the likes of Accenture, Deloitte, PWC and IBM and global agencies like Publicis, Sapient or Dentsu.
But it isn’t all about global brands. The Salesforce partner ecosystem in Germany is widely distributed and includes a swathe of mid-sized regional integration partners such as ec4u, comselect, die.Interaktiven, adesso, ArlanisReply or Bearingpoint.
Independent software vendors (ISVs) also have a significant presence that combines OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) partners and ISV Force partners, all of whom complement the Salesforce product portfolio and integrate with Salesforce, or use the platform to create new applications.
To better understand what’s driving growth and shaping conversations in such an influential market, we spoke with Marietta Pütz, Regional VP at Salesforce for Alliances and Channels for the DACH region; and Silke Pumberger-Schreck, EMEA ISV Sales Manager for the DACH region.
What are the business challenges unique to Salesforce in Germany?
Unlike some European countries, Germany is a decentralised market that doesn’t have a single dominant business centre like Paris or Amsterdam. Customers and partners can be located anywhere, so the Salesforce presence in Germany needs to be spread evenly to ensure proximity and practical support.
“We have to be sure we can be quickly on-site with customers and partners wherever they are”, says Marietta Pütz. “As an American SaaS company, we have to work hard to ensure we are seen as trustworthy and firmly rooted in Germany with a strong local country presence. To that end, our partners are hugely important.
“There is also a great breadth of industries represented in Germany — from automotive, to manufacturing, to health and life sciences, and so on — and within these are customers of all sizes.”
Pütz adds that Germany is also well known for its large Mittelstand SME sector. “Mid-size companies are a massive part of the German economy and are spread far and wide across the country. Salesforce needs to be wherever they are and our partners help to support that reach.”
Where do you see the most potential for the German ecosystem?
“If you’d asked me before COVID, my answer would have been different”, says Marietta Pütz. “Today, many businesses have realised how far behind they were in terms of digital transformation, and how far they have to go to catch up.”
“Some organisations initially saw the pandemic, and associated restrictions, as a temporary problem and expected the old normal would be quickly restored”, she adds. “Those organisations are struggling to regain momentum, while those that accepted early-on that the crisis had changed things forever used the moment to invest in the digital transformation of their business.”
“Many industries are suffering”, she says, “but out of the pain, opportunity is starting to arise, as new use cases develop from customers wanting to engage with companies differently, and the need for companies to interact with customers in a new way.
“Currently Salesforce only scratches the surface of what is possible in the German market. Our momentum is exceptional and we need a well-trained, experienced, and committed partner ecosystem that is driven to foster this growth. Our partners are integral to our success.”
“The launch of Work.com has also opened up possibilities for growth under these challenging times”, says Silke Pumberger-Schreck. “We are onboarding more ISVs who provide solutions like coronavirus tracking, or improved shift management for front line healthcare workers.”
One such partner is Via Data, creators of the LEMON app — an innovative health suite including a coronavirus tracer.
Is there more opportunity in product or industry solutions?
“Ultimately Salesforce is a platform vendor, and what we’ve noticed is demand for solutions that address the big changes we’ve seen under COVID”, says Pütz. “There’s increased demand for marketing solutions and e-commerce solutions — particularly for B2B.
“Answering how businesses can interact with customers when they aren’t able to meet them face-to-face is one area of opportunity. When we speak to partners about products, we encourage them to think in terms of use cases for specific industries.
“At the same time, businesses in every industry need to digitally transform with speed, flexibility and scale to keep up with changing times and customer demands, and we are proud to offer a breadth of industry cloud solutions to help customers get back on track quickly. Our ecosystem complements their industry knowledge and Salesforce portfolio skills.”
Pumberger-Schreck says these focusses are reflected in ISV partner conversations, where the ecosystem is seeing more interest in integrations with the marketing cloud, the B2B e-commerce cloud, and industry clouds like healthcare and manufacturing. She says, “We are also seeing great opportunities for ISV partners who extend one of our Cloud Products, such as TeamViewer Remote, Access Control, and the AR app for ServiceCloud.”
How do partners typically collaborate in Germany?
“When we look at our broad system integrator (SI) ecosystem we observe different forms of collaboration”, says Marietta Pütz. “The most successful are those who start engaging with us very early on, taking a strategic approach and developing with us, the customer or prospect. Building a joint understanding of needs and demands, drawing up a vision and making it live on the Salesforce platform is the perfect way to collaborate.”
“We have great examples of ISV partnership with SIs”, says Pumberger-Schreck. “We see many joint initiatives at Salesforce events, but also working one-to-one to generate more opportunities and deliver joint customer success through their combined offering.”
She also sees more examples of multinational cooperation. “Factory 42, a successful consulting partner, is collaborating with DocuSign, an ISV partner from the US to offer implementation services for DocuSign customers.”
“This year provided us with a lot of opportunities to get to know the deep industry capabilities and expertise across the ecosystem”, adds Marietta Pütz. “We surveyed our Consulting partners and found out that some of our industry-focused consulting partners didn’t have relevant partnerships with industry ISVs. So we’ve been working with local ISV teams on engaging system integrators and making sure everyone is aware of complementary expertise, inside their partner category and outside.
“With regards to giving back, all of our partners have a strong sense of community responsibility, whether it’s providing software and services pro bono or living up to the Salesforce 1–1–1 commitment”, adds Marietta Pütz. “This is something we appreciate a lot. Marc Benioff’s statement, ‘the business of businesses is to improve the state of the world’, is really exemplified here.”
What does the future hold?
“To keep growing, we need to continue bringing in new talents, expertise and capabilities to the ecosystem”, says Pütz. “Industry-specific solutions and knowledge is going to be vital as Salesforce continues to verticalise at the local level.
“At the same time, our portfolio will continue to grow organically, and there are niche opportunities as well. It’s been a challenging year for many, but the opportunities for expanding market share and growing the customer base are exciting. It’s a great time to join the ecosystem.”
We thank every partner in the ecosystem in Germany for their dedication to success and look forward to working with the next wave of innovators.
