(Updated on July 2021)
[Salesforce acquired Acumen solutions, and consequently their biggest partner, Slack in December 2020. Acumen Solutions is a leading professional services firm with deep Salesforce knowledge and extensive industry expertise across the public sector, manufacturing, financial services, and more. Combined with Salesforce Customer 360, Acumen will enhance its effects.]
Blink and you might miss it, Salesforce has yet again acquired another company, and this time one of their top 10 partners. The acquisition of Acumen Solutions was quickly overshadowed by the much larger (their biggest actually) acquisition of Slack. The sum has still not been disclosed as of yet, and we amongst many are starting to wonder what was in it for them?
Salesforce has already been growing at an impressive rate with their current business model of outsourced services. This is not the first time they have acquired a partner, the same goes for SugarCRM with their acquisition of W-Systems.
Reasons for Acquiring Salesforce
A lot of this is currently up to speculation, but only Salesforce can state for sure as to their intention behind this. This could be a move to simply spread geographically, to better client relationships, or the easy acquisition of a team of Salesforce developers and experts.
Geographical significance can be argued because of their significant presence in 12 countries around the globe. They also have 640 certified professionals which is also a welcome addition to the organization. Here are what we think are some of the bigger reasons for the Acumen Acquisition:
Spreading across Industries
Salesforce has been heading towards a larger focus on industry in previous years, this is evident from their products. Salesforce Cloud has a large number of divisions that cater to a large number of industries. The Health Cloud and the Manufacturing Cloud are both prime examples of Salesforce catering to specific industry verticals. The official press release after acquisition also states that there is an interest in Acumen’s expertise in sectors it is currently active in.
Coupling this with the acquisition of Vlocity in February of this year, Salesforce can better spread itself across industries. This will allow them to better meet the specific needs of customers and instantly open up more opportunities.
Customer Relationships
Not extremely well known, but on Salesforce AppExchange listings it can be seen that Acumen is extremely reputable. It will soon become a part of Salesforce Professional Services which helps customers pave the path for success. Combined with Salesforce Customer 360 it will amplify its effects.
Salesforce Professional Services will now be able to cater to a larger customer base and will be able to leverage the experience better.
What does this mean for Salesforce?
Salesforce has been acquiring multiple firms to enhance their grip on the industry, and bring in new experience onboard. The reason for acquiring Acumen Solutions lies in its hold on the industries mentioned. There are however some implications regarding the acquisition.
Salesforce could theoretically now be considered a competitor of System Integration companies. SIs, in general, are growing considerably slower than Salesforce which could represent a threat to them.
For service providers, this could mean they might have to think ahead of Salesforce and bring innovation to the table to be more agile partners.
Summary
The acquisition is another example of Salesforce’s long-term strategy, by acquiring partners they have increased their own platform offering. The acquired technology of firms will show itself in future iterations of Salesforce. Other factors also come into play like geographic expansion, gaining experts, etc. The choice of firm acquired is always a fun surprise to watch, who knows what they will acquire next?
Rolustech is an Official Salesforce Partner firm and has completed several projects in Salesforce Integration, Customization, Implementation, and more. Contact us now for a FREE Business Analysis. We will be glad to assist you!
