Envisioning Salesforce’s Move With Hyperforce

Salesforce has a long history of staying ahead with technology when it comes to meeting evolving marketing needs. Whether through strategic acquisitions to broaden its portfolio or by embracing the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for greater accessibility, the company has proactively capitalized on industry trends.

While the global adoption of public cloud is on the rise, it is particularly noteworthy to observe the Asian markets. According to a report published by Forrester, the APAC region has 37% of global data centers, making it a battleground for cloud platform providers across the globe^[i].

As the demand for secure CRM solutions continues to gain momentum across Asia, statistical data corroborates the significant uptick in adoption rates.

The CRM software market in Asia is anticipated to reach US$13.58 billion in revenue by 2023, with a projected 14.19% annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2028) and a potential market volume of US$26.36 billion by 2028^[ii].

This surge can be attributed to the increasing need for highly secure and scalable solutions in a region where businesses are realizing the potential of transitioning to cloud-based CRM platforms.

Salesforce is set to play a pivotal role in this transformative journey with its product, Salesforce Hyperforce – an infrastructure to leverage public cloud for building customer relationships.

In this chapter, we will delve into the burgeoning demand for secure cloud-based CRM in nations with strict data laws and predict how Hyperforce could be a standard Salesforce platform in the future.

Exploring Salesforce Hyperforce: Architecture & Advantages

Hyperforce (formerly Salesforce Unified Cloud) is Salesforce’s advanced infrastructure architecture, purpose-built for public cloud environments.

Unlike traditional hardware-based systems, Hyperforce relies on code to deliver Salesforce’s platform and applications globally, granting customers greater flexibility and control over data location. It ensures compliance, security, agility, and scalability while maintaining customer privacy and providing a solid foundation for deploying applications.

Hyperforce incorporates stringent standards for compliance, security, agility, and scalability, reinforcing Salesforce’s commitment to data privacy.

Understanding the Architecture of Hyperforce

Hyperforce is a transformative infrastructure architecture that will enable Salesforce to deliver its products and services to customers in a more scalable, secure, and cost-effective way. Fundamentally, Hyperforce is built upon five fundamental architectural principles:-

How Hyperforce Could Change the Salesforce Dynamics – Our Prediction

As we analyze the evolution of Salesforce’s upgraded infrastructure, Hyperforce, it becomes evident that its impact will reverberate across the Salesforce ecosystem. The strategic implications of this upgraded architecture, signify a pivotal shift in how businesses leverage Salesforce services and navigate the intricacies of modern digital operations.

The Journey So Far

Salesforce’s Hyperforce was first announced in December 2020 and became generally available in October 2021. In 2021, the company committed to investing US $5 billion in Hyperforce over the next five years.

Partnerships with industry giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS) underscore Salesforce’s dedication to the success of Hyperforce. This next-gen infrastructure is already being embraced by some of the world’s largest and most advanced organizations.

The Future of Hyperforce

Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) research promise a future where Hyperforce becomes even more powerful and intelligent, continuing to revolutionize the way organizations manage their revenue and data.

Hyperforce and Data Residency Compliance: As data laws and regulations evolve, data residency and compliance become paramount. Many countries have imposed strict data localization laws, and the European Data Governance Act is increasing focus on data sharing and availability. Salesforce’s Hyperforce allows users with complete autonomy in determining their data location. Such control over the geographical placement of data assets reflects Salesforce’s approach to facilitating a landscape that aligns seamlessly with diverse and stringent regulatory frameworks worldwide.

Conquering the Asian Market with Hyperforce: One significant aspect of Salesforce’s Hyperforce strategy is its foray into the Asian market.

Recently, Forrester surveyed decision-makers across APAC nations including India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. The results revealed that China and India are on top of public cloud adoption citing the significant growth in data center establishments in the region^[iii].

In the past, businesses in China faced network latency challenges as Salesforce has no data centers in China. The possible mitigation to this earlier was hiring a data residency-as- a-service which again is an added load on organizations.

Despite holding untapped potential, the Salesforce APAC market contributed only a minor share of the company’s overall revenue. However, with Hyperforce, Salesforce now can penetrate markets like China by enabling companies to deploy Salesforce on public cloud platforms with regional data centers. This eliminates the necessity for substantial infrastructure investments.

Hyperforce as the Standard Salesforce Platform: Hyperforce represents the future of Salesforce. It’s a next-generation infrastructure architecture designed for the public cloud, promising a more powerful, scalable, and secure platform for Salesforce customers. The company’s substantial investment in Hyperforce signals its commitment to delivering the most robust and secure platform possible. Salesforce has already announced that all new customers will be deployed on Hyperforce, with existing customers expected to migrate to the platform over time.

Hyperforce Has the Potential to Transform Salesforce into a Service-Only Entity

The transition to a service-only company could be a significant strategic shift for Salesforce. While we strongly predict that Hyperforce is poised to become a standard Salesforce platform, it largely depends on how Salesforce further integrates this technology. However, it’s important to note that Hyperforce is a part of Salesforce’s broader strategy to modernize its infrastructure and cater to the evolving demands of businesses for more scalable and flexible solutions.

At its core, Hyperforce retains all functionalities of the traditional Salesforce platform while offering the added benefits of cloud scalability and flexibility. As Salesforce continues to develop and refine Hyperforce, its adoption and integration by businesses will determine if it becomes the standard platform for Salesforce services in the future. Here are some points that define Hyperforce’s potential:

1. Increasing Availability of Specialized Infrastructure Providers: As technology evolves, more specialized infrastructure providers have emerged in the market. These providers offer cloud-based solutions, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated and robust. By relying on these specialized infrastructure providers, companies like Salesforce can offload the burden of managing their infrastructure, which often includes data centers and server farms. This shift allows Salesforce to focus more on its core service offerings and customer-centric solutions, rather than diverting resources towards infrastructure maintenance.

2. Escalating Expenses of Infrastructure Management: Managing and maintaining a global network of data centers and the associated infrastructure can be a significant cost for a company like Salesforce. These expenses include not only the capital investment in hardware but also the operational costs of maintaining, upgrading, and scaling these resources as the company grows. By transitioning to a service-only model and leveraging specialized infrastructure providers, Salesforce can potentially reduce these infrastructure-related costs, leading to greater efficiency and cost savings.

3. Ensuring Seamless Performance: Salesforce’s Hyperforce responds to challenges such as infrastructure management, security, resource scalability, etc. It is an innovative architecture that allows the Salesforce platform to be deployed on public cloud infrastructure providers such as AWS (Amazon Web Services), GCP (Google Cloud Platform), and Azure (Microsoft Azure). This approach leverages the capabilities of these major cloud providers to run Salesforce services. It’s important to note that Hyperforce is designed to ensure the seamless migration of Salesforce services to these public clouds while maintaining the same high level of performance, security, and reliability that customers expect.

4. Delivering Consistent User Experience: One of the critical considerations in this transition is ensuring that Salesforce customers continue to have a consistent and reliable experience. By implementing Hyperforce and moving its infrastructure to public clouds, Salesforce aims to provide its users with an unchanged or even improved user experience. The goal is to seamlessly transition to the new infrastructure while maintaining the same level of service quality and reliability.

The Way Forward

With its pioneering architectural framework, Salesforce is positioned not just as a market leader but as a force shaping the industry’s trajectory. As Salesforce commits to furthering data residency in more countries, the transformative potential of Hyperforce extends beyond geographical boundaries. Enabling rapid and reliable delivery of its services globally signifies a shift towards a more inclusive, universally accessible CRM infrastructure. This move could revolutionize how businesses leverage Salesforce applications, fostering a seamless user experience irrespective of geographic location.

Yet, while the prospects are promising, it’s crucial to acknowledge the minor challenges encountered during Hyperforce migration. Issues such as disruptions in Einstein loading, bot functionality, and glitches within Smartcomm-managed packages highlight the imperative of continuous refinement of the platform along with expansion efforts. Salesforce’s proactive approach to addressing these known issues will be pivotal in reinforcing customer trust and solidifying Hyperforce as a cornerstone of innovation in the CRM domain.

Statistical References:

^[i] Forrester
^[ii] Statista
^[iii] Forrester

Sources:
1. Behind the Scenes of Hyperforce
2. Architectural Principles for High Availability on Hyperforce