One of the leading providers in the SaaS industry, Salesforce is a cloud computing company with a multitude of features, including optimized sales and marketing, data analytics, and customer relationship management (CRM), just to name a few.
Salesforce is also a PaaS company, or Platform-as-a-Service, as it provides development and distribution support for users to create their own applications.
The Service Differences
1. Software as a Service (SaaS)
This is a cloud-based application accessed over the internet, and is hosted by a third-party software vendor who maintains these databases remotely. Users pay the provider a monthly subscription fee instead of a one-time package deal, which allows users to pay a smaller upfront fee for the features they want, with the scalable option to upgrade as their business expands. Other benefits include easy integration with other apps, automatic updates, and software maintenance for less of a burden on a company’s IT department.
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Like SaaS, PaaS is cloud-based, but the vendor provides tools for a user to create, distribute, and monitor applications. Companies that use this service don’t have to spend time developing their applications from scratch, nor squander the effort required to maintain it.
3. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Also a cloud computing service, IaaS manages servers, networking, and data storage. This service provides IT resources faster, such as troubleshooting and software upgrades, and can support users remotely. IaaS vendors also provide better security and data recovery than in-house software.
>>MORE: Best Platforms, Various Types, and Definition of Ecommerce SaaS
Salesforce Features
This service supplies an enormous variety of implementation options for all business sizes and categories. These are a few of their more influential features.
1. Small Business Solutions
Salesforce Essentials walks newer companies through the basics of Customer Relationship Management for a fast, easy startup. It also offers tools and resources for acquiring leads, maintaining customer satisfaction, and analyzing data for streamlining revenue growth.
Pricing Scale
Essentials:
- $25/month
- 14-day free trial
Sales Professional:
- $75/month
- 30-day free trial
Service Professional:
- $75/month
- 30-day free trial
Pardot Growth:
- $1,250
2. Sales
Besides having all of your sales activities in one place, the Sales Cloud also monitors revenue performance, forecasting, and tracks opportunities within a customer’s timeline. This app can manage sales accounts, which makes for better organization and interaction with customers, as well as automated alerts and activity tracking.
Pricing Scale
Essentials:
- $25/month for up to 10 users
- 14-day free trial
Professional:
- $75/month
- 30-day free trial
Enterprise (promoted as their most popular option):
- $150/month
- 30-day free trial
Unlimited:
- $300/month
- 30-day free trial
3. CRM
Service Cloud organizes all interactions with customers so your business can offer personalized support and productive engagement. It also automates workflow, creates insights from interactions, and shows your team the opportunities to upsell.
Pricing Scale
The Service Cloud has the same packages and prices as the Sales Cloud.
4. Marketing
The software included in the Marketing Cloud provides options for automated email and digital advertising, as well as customer analytics through AI. This app also supports communication channels like push notifications and connections with social media platforms.
Pricing Scale
Depending on your company’s particular marketing model, Salesforce has a wide variety of package editions for strategies such as:
- Customer Data Platform ($12,500-$65,00)
- B2B Marketing ($1,250-$15,000)
- Social Studio ($1,000-$40,000)
- Advertising Studio ($2,000)
- Datorama ($3,000-$10,000+)
- Salesforce Content Management System ($10,000)
5. Platform as a Service
Salesforce Platform is a low-code service for users to build applications and tools quickly. Its AI integrates with your other Salesforce data for better customer insight and productive automation. This service also includes a high-level security center through Salesforce Shield that encrypts data, manages privacy, and monitors potential threats.
Pricing Scale
Platform Starter:
- $25/month
Platform Plus:
- $100/month