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Revenue Cloud Roundtable: March 2025

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Panelists

Jessica Roundy
Solution Architect
John Garvens
Owner & Principal Architect
Garvens Consulting
Tiffany Devlin-Drye
Principal Consultant
Pierce Washington
John Bishop
Principal Consultant
Pierce Washington
Micah Gerger
Founder & Chief Technology Officer
Blue Robot Digital

Contents

I spoke with Jessica Roundy, Tiffany Devlin-Drye, John Bishop, and Micah Gerger about Salesforce Revenue Cloud and its past, present, and future.

We covered many topics, including what Revenue Cloud is and why it matters, how Revenue Cloud careers will evolve, how AI will impact revenue-centric and adjacent business processes, what excites us most about the future of Revenue Cloud, and more.

00:00 Introduction

04:15 What is Salesforce Revenue Cloud?

11:40 Revenue Cloud Career Opportunities

24:48 Revenue Cloud and Agentforce / AI

How Salesforce customers get budget approval for implementation projects

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Matt Stevenson, the founder and managing partner of Platform 6, a recruiting firm, interviewed me for a podcast episode last week.

We covered many topics during the interview. One of which was getting a budget for Salesforce implementation projects.

I shared a story about two companies—one prospect and one customer—that approach project budgeting in wildly different ways. One wants the most enormous budget estimate possible, while the other wants the opposite.

Most Salesforce customers hire consultants to complete implementation projects. Still, they struggle to get funding for those projects, especially today when inflation is high, budgets are tight, and purse strings have been tied in a Gordian knot.

Without budget approval, nothing happens. Given current economic conditions and the tendency for implementation projects—and their budgets—to spiral out of control, how can you get budget approval for implementation projects?

Getting budget approval depends on your business and how it makes decisions. So, it is impossible to answer without context about your organization’s politics, policy, and power dynamics. Suffice it to say that “it depends” is the only correct answer.

That said, you can enumerate the steps of your purchasing process and address them one at a time. Here are some questions to get you started:

  • Who makes purchasing decisions for your company? What matters to them?
  • What dependencies exist for this implementation project? Is it dependent on a software purchase, roadmap project, proof of concept, etc.?
  • When are budgets created and approved? Will you target this year or next year?
  • What criteria must be met to develop and approve a budget? Do you meet them? What is missing, and how can you fill those gaps?
  • Should you ask for a mountain of money now to avoid returning to the well later? Or should you request a small sum to start the project and refill your budget bucket as needed?

Those questions are the tip of the iceberg; there is more to discover before a budget can or will be approved. However, you can begin with those questions and drill deeper into each as you learn more about your business and how it develops budgets and makes purchasing decisions.

An outside perspective can be helpful here, especially without a well-established purchasing process. Paradoxically, getting outside help requires getting budget approval and a purchasing decision. However, an outsider with experience helping clients develop project budgets and make purchasing decisions can save you months of indecision, mountains of stress, and substantial amounts of money.

Feel free to reach out if your organization needs help getting budget approval for an implementation project. I am happy to help you develop a plan for getting the budget you need, selecting the right consulting firm for the job, and creating the roadmap to deliver what you need on a reasonable timeline with minimal stress.

Purchasing implementation projects does not have to be a chaotic mess. A bit of strategic thinking and organizational planning go a long way. Start by addressing the questions I outlined in this article and go from there. You got this.

Revenue Cloud Roundtable: October 2024

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Panelists

John Garvens
Owner & Principal Architect
Garvens Consulting
Jean-Michel Tremblay
Solution Architect
The Cloud Update
Wayne Salazar
Solution Architect
Simplus
Matt Coker
Solution Architect
Amwintech

Contents

  • 00:00 Introductions: John Garvens, Jean-Michel Tremblay, Wayne Salazar & Matt Coker
  • 08:24 Salesforce Revenue Cloud at Dreamforce 2024
  • 22:15 Salesforce Revenue Cloud: Winter ’25 Release
  • 47:15 Salesforce Revenue Cloud Careers

Resources

Use Configuration Attributes and Selection Product Rules to Drive Product Option Selection: Part I

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Contents

  • 00:00 Introduction and Review of the Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich
  • 04:40 Capturing Gluten Allergy and Peanut Allergy as Configuration Attributes
  • 06:29 Creating Gluten-Free Bread and Almond Butter Using Clone with Related
  • 13:25 Capturing Configuration Inputs Using Configuration Attributes
  • 17:28 The Four-Step Process to Create and Use Configuration Attributes in Salesforce CPQ
  • 27:39 Understanding Configuration Attributes and Adding Field API Names to PIcklists
  • 32:08 Creating Configuration Attributes for the Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Bundle
  • 37:22 Stop Putting Triggers and Flows on the Quote Line Object!
  • 38:25 Create a Selection Product Rule to Manage Product Options
  • 44:45 Associating Product Rules to Product Bundles with Configuration Rules
  • 46:15 Creating Conditions to Trigger Product Rules during Product Configuration
  • 50:50 I Made a Mistake, Troubleshot It, and Fixed It
  • 52:48 Creating Product Actions for a Product Rule to Hide, Remove, and Add Product Options
  • 55:15 Explaining and Testing Selection Product Rules Driven by Configuration Attributes

Resources

Configuration Attribute Guidelines

Product Rules

Selection Rules

Product Actions

Product Rule Guidelines

Review: Salesforce Revenue Cloud at Dreamforce 2024

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Contents

  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 04:29 Salesforce Revenue Cloud at Dreamforce 2024
  • 11:35 Will Salesforce Revenue Cloud stick?
  • 14:40 What is Salesforce Revenue Cloud called?
  • 16:14 Salesforce Revenue Cloud sessions and events at Dreamforce 2024
  • 27:23 Would Salesforce Revenue Cloud have more traction if it was easier to implement?
  • 34:40 How “Core” is the new Salesforce Revenue Cloud?
  • 35:18 Shoutout to The Cloud Update
  • 38:02 Have you f****d up Salesforce Revenue Cloud projects?
  • 39:13 Salesforce Contracts Innovation Roadmap
  • 44:22 How Salesforce Manages Its Quote-to-Cash with Revenue Cloud
  • 47:13 Comparing and mapping functions from Salesforce CPQ to Salesforce Revenue Cloud
  • 48:51 Salesforce Revenue Cloud Winter ’25 Release
  • 59:54 Salesforce Revenue Cloud Innovation Roadmap
  • 1:03:12 Migrating from Salesforce CPQ to Salesforce Revenue Cloud

Resources

Salesforce Revenue Cloud Keynote

My Sessions

Quote 6x Faster: Modernize Closing Processes in Record Time

  • Red Hat experienced a notable increase in efficiency with quoting times reduced from 12 minutes to 2 minutes and opportunity creation from 2 minutes down to 25 seconds.
  • The session underscored the critical role of user adoption and stakeholder partnership in the successful implementation of Salesforce CPQ and revenue cloud solutions.
  • Looking forward, Red Hat plans to continue leveraging Salesforce’s roadmap to enhance their product and pricing strategies, focusing on automation, bundling, and amendments.

Presenters

Maryellen Shaw
Director of Information and Technology Services Global
Red Hat
Jessica Boardman
Architect Lead, Revenue Cloud
Salesforce
Erwan Kerebel
Senior Director, Revenue Cloud Solutions
Salesforce

View Presentation

Product-to-Cash Automation with the New Revenue Cloud

Presenters

Swapnil Kharche
Revenue Cloud Architect Director
Salesforce
Christina Obligar
Principal Instructor, Trailhead Academy
Salesforce

View Presentation

Hands-on Workshop: Get Started with Revenue Cloud

Presenters

Connor Sanderson
Solution Engineer
Salesforce
Frank Hopwood
Solution Engineer
Salesforce
Dharsunn Gunaseelan
Product Manager
Salesforce
Violet Carter
Product Marketing
Salesforce

View Presentation

Unlock Revenue Potential with Consumption-Based Pricing

  • Revenue Cloud’s capability to support a blended model of subscription and usage-based pricing allows businesses to offer more flexible and customer-centric billing solutions.
  • The session highlighted a case where a company successfully transitioned from spreadsheets to Salesforce, managing recurring revenues more efficiently and preparing for a future with variable consumption models.
  • Salesforce’s ongoing commitment to innovation in Revenue Cloud was underlined with an invitation to attend future sessions on CPQ and the Revenue Cloud roadmap, offering attendees insights into the evolution of these services.

Presenters

Jen Larco
Application Solution Consultant
UKG
Mike Aaron
Senior Director, Revenue Cloud Solutions
Salesforce

View Presentation

Get Ahead with Next-Gen CPQ: Maximize Solution Selling

  • Palo Alto Networks’ ‘Hercules’ project exemplified a successful CPQ transformation, consolidating multiple systems into one streamlined platform while simultaneously cleaning and migrating vast amounts of data.
  • Co-innovation between Logic and Palo Alto Networks played a crucial role in overcoming challenges, leading to improved implementation timelines and the development of tailored solutions for complex product offerings.
  • The next steps for Palo Alto Networks include further enhancements to their CPQ system, focusing on deal construction wizards and a shift towards a recurring revenue business model, underlining the continuous evolution and scalability of their sales processes.

Presenters

Christopher Shutts
Co-Founder & CEO
Logik.io
Wing Yu
Senior Vice President, Go-to-Market
Palo Alto Networks

View Presentation

From Messy to Mastered: Revenue Cloud Sales Transformation

  • Revenue Cloud’s attribute-based modeling allows Slalom to efficiently match services with customer needs, ensuring the delivery of right value for different opportunities.
  • The API-first approach and customization of the user interface in Revenue Cloud enable users to transition from spreadsheets to Salesforce, ensuring accurate forecasting and resource management.
  • Contract lifecycle management within Revenue Cloud aims to standardize language, automate contract creation, and accommodate custom customer contracts, all while integrating with existing systems and reducing manual processes.

Presenters

Amy Loftus
CCO & President, US East Region
Slalom
Sarah Duffy
General Manager, Northern California Market
Slalom
Mike Alioto
Global Salesforce Revenue Cloud Lead
Slalom

View Presentation

Revenue Cloud Roadmap: New Configurator, Usage, AI, Oh My!

Revenue Cloud’s transformation includes API-first composition, modern UX for guided selling, and support for any revenue model, enhancing the end-to-end product-to-cash journey.

Presenters

Arun Abichandani
Senior Vice President, Revenue Cloud Product Management
Salesforce
Rahitha Ram
Director, Revenue Cloud Product Management
Salesforce
Sravya Basvapatri
Product Manager, Revenue Cloud Product Management
Salesforce
Abhishek Bhardwaj
Senior Product Manager, Revenue Cloud Product Management
Salesforce
Dan Milbrath
Vice President, Revenue Cloud Product Management
Salesforce
Brian Galdino
Distinguished Solution Engineer, Revenue Cloud
Salesforce

View Presentation

Did You Know Revenue Cloud Could Do That?

  • Revenue Cloud’s new features enable businesses to manage the entire revenue lifecycle on a single platform, addressing customer needs for a unified experience.
  • The integration of AI into contract lifecycle management allows for the automated generation of legal clauses, streamlining the negotiation process.
  • Dynamic Revenue Orchestration (DRO) simplifies the order fulfillment process by decomposing commercial products into technical components and integrating with external systems.

Presenters

Rahitha Ram
Director, Revenue Cloud Product Management
Salesforce
Vance Phan
Principal Solution Engineer
Salesforce
Tiffany Lin
Senior Manager, Product Marketing
Salesforce

View Presentation

Crawl, Walk, Run: Best Practices for Deploying Revenue Cloud

Presenters

Sanjeev Arora
VP, BPG Lead-BT Revenue
Salesforce
Monica Kanchhal
Director, Product Management
Salesforce

View Presentation

Did You Know Salesforce Contracts Could Do That?

  • Salesforce Contracts, now live, offers AI capabilities for digitizing and managing contracts, directly integrated with the Salesforce platform and Microsoft 365 for enhanced collaboration.
  • The session included a live demonstration of the contracting process, revealing how Salesforce Contracts serves as a central repository, simplifies workflows, and integrates seamlessly with Revenue Cloud for pricing strategies.
  • Future updates for Salesforce Contracts will introduce data true-up for real-time synchronization, AI-enforced playbook redlining, dynamic rule-based clauses, and auto-creation of obligations.

Presenters

Don Fernando
Senior Director, Revenue Cloud Solutions
Salesforce
Sourav Sipani
Director, Revenue Cloud Product Management
Salesforce

View Presentation

Salesforce on Salesforce: Quote to Cash Transformation

  • Salesforce is leveraging its Revenue Cloud to tackle 177 identified complexities in its quote-to-cash process, aiming to reduce the need for spreadsheets and improve the quoting and approval experiences.
  • A new organizational instance, Org SF, is being developed to support next-generation lead-to-cash capabilities, incorporating AI and multi-product, multi-channel, and multi-business model strategies.
  • Salesforce’s commitment to an integrated platform approach was emphasized, with Revenue Cloud’s dynamic revenue orchestration allowing for flexibility in go-to-market strategies without compromising backend processes.

Presenters

Dan Milbrath
Vice President, Revenue Cloud Product Management
Salesforce
Jordy Brazier
Senior Vice President, Global Business Growth & Automation
Salesforce