We have already seen why and how Salesforce helps organizations propel sales (we covered it here: All You Need to Know About Salesforce [Top FAQs]). Salesforce is a CRM tool that brings your revenue churning teams: sales, marketing, support etc, under one roof. It lets you streamline and automate processes, provides actionable analytics, and has a bunch of other useful features.
During Salesforce implementation, your salesforce developer (if you’re looking one, check our Salesforce Implementation Services) will customize it to suit your needs. Based on your requirements and processes, different apps will be installed and set up to get you the best out of Salesforce. These ‘Apps’ can either be custom built, or bought from AppExchange, a cloud marketplace for Salesforce apps. While buying a ready to use app from AppExchange might seem like the better choice, there are some scenarios when building a custom Salesforce App (through a Salesforce Developer) happens to be the better choice. In this article, we cover 4 such scenarios.
When to Choose Building a Custom Salesforce App Over Using an App from AppExchange
1. When Your Budget is Limited
Building a custom app might be a bit more expensive than the cost of buying a ready to use app, but this cost is going to be a one time payment (to your Salesforce app developer) and then the app is your property to use for free, forever. On the flip-side, most apps on AppExchange have a monthly subscription fee and it depends on the features you need and the number of users who will be using it. This can end up costing your company much more in the long run, as time passes by, the number of users increase, and you begin needing more features and services.
2. When You Need an App that is Personalized for Your Processes
While apps on AppExchange are pretty customizable, you sometimes cannot get 100% flexibility to modify the app as you wish. Most global functionalities are easily customizable, but this is not true of all functionalities. When you want business process specific functions in your Salesforce solution, getting a custom app developed is a better option. Your Salesforce development team will understand your business, the processes, and your requirements to design and develop a custom app that works best for your organization and its processes.
3. When You Need Flexibility With 3rd party App Integrations
If your business already utilizes external applications (Like Sharepoint or Microsoft Exchange, for example), you will definitely have to look over compatibility and integration possibilities between the Salesforce apps that will be installed and the existing 3rd party apps. Most apps on AppExchange integration with popular 3rd party tools like the ones we mentioned earlier, Sharepoint and Outlook, but may or may not integrate with less popular apps. In such a scenario, getting a custom app built is your best option, because it gives you (via your developer) complete flexibility into modifying the app to integrate with all existing apps.
4. When You May Need Future Modifications
By now it’s quite obvious that the biggest USP of building a custom app is that it gives you complete freedom and flexibility to build it as you wish. Every organization aims to grow, be it in a few months or a few years, and as a company grows the Salesforce solution needs to grow with it. For example, you may have outsourced marketing and only handle sales in-house. This would mean all you need initially is the Salesforce Sales Cloud. As you grow, however, you may consider moving marketing in-house. This will mean implementing the Salesforce Marketing Cloud and integrating it with the existing salesforce architecture. And this will also mean modifying and integrating any existing Salesforce app. In these scenarios, a custom app be extremely easy to modify and integrate, as opposed to a ready to sue app from AppExchange.
Conclusion
The decision to either build a custom app or use one from AppExchange might be daunting, but that’s where we, the Salesforce experts come in. Once we understand your business, the existing infrastructure, the departments and processes, we will help you understand what the best solution is, how it will work, and the benefits you will get from implementing the solution. With all this information in hand, you can make an informed decision. If you’re interested in implementing Salesforce, or to understand what/why/how, drop us a message.