As a kickoff to Dreamforce ‘17 in San Francisco, the Salesforce team pulled together an ISV Keynote geared toward helping partners succeed, and announcing product launches and updates.

I highly recommend that you watch the recorded presentation, called “Winning Together in the Salesforce Ecosystem”, when it is released. With lots of news breaking, though, we wanted to get you notes that are tailored to current or prospective AppExchange partners.

The panel was loaded with partner CEOs and Salesforce VIPs (full list of speakers here). Let’s dive into the insights in these key focus areas:

Growth

Just like many of its partner organizations, the AppExchange is growing. Partners have been helping Salesforce deliver innovations for customers over a decade, and the results are impressive. Did you know that 87% of Salesforce customers have installed at least one AppExchange app? That number rises to 89% when it comes to Fortune 100 companies.

All of this collaboration has helped to forge a huge economy and make the AppExchange the largest B2B app marketplace. It also has positioned Salesforce as the fastest growing enterprise software company in the world (and according to Forbes, one of the most innovative).

In addition the recent milestone of 5 million AppExchange installs, a few impressive numbers we can look forward to by 2022, according to an IDC report:

  • 3.3 million jobs created
  • $859 billion (with a B) in GDP impact
  • For every dollar that is spent on Salesforce, an incredible $5.18 will be spent on the Ecosystem!
  • The Partner Ecosystem will grow from almost 4x the size of Salesforce (today’s ratio) to over 5x the size. Stated another way, the partner ecosystem will grow at a faster rate than Salesforce over the next 5 years.

So what’s actionable and what’s in it for you? A new development platform, a revamped and well-funded partner program, new technology and a new app marketplace.

Salesforce’s AppExchange SVP, Leyla Seka, presents new AppExchange innovations in the Winning Together in the Salesforce Ecosystem keynote.

Lightning

One of the primary changes from last year to this is the adoption of the Salesforce Lightning Experience. Much of the AppExchange has been updated to be Lightning-ready — a total of 1200 Lightning-ready apps, including 90 of the most popular apps on the AppExchange. If you’re not updated to the new experience, you’re missing out on opportunity and the time is now. Learn more in our helpful guide to getting your app built with the Lightning Experience.

At CodeScience, we have moved to a Lightning first architecture and design approach. It has enabled our partners, like FullStory, to not only build engaging apps but reuse their components to solve multiple use cases for multiple personas with no additional effort. A video from our presentation at Dreamforce highlighting this effort will be available shortly.

Einstein

With the dawn of the fourth industrial revolution, smart production made possible by cyber-solutions and the Internet of Things, companies are increasingly looking to AI to solve problems. This week Salesforce introduced myEinstein, machine learning that enables developers and admins of all skill levels to build AI apps across Salesforce with clicks, not code. Its prediction model helps companies test for success, ultimately helping to prevent against attrition.

You can learn more about Einstein at https://einstein.ai/, or check out this Salesforce blog on what the announcement means for Partners.

ISV Partner Program

Earlier this year, Salesforce launched an enhanced partner program, new technology tools, and a $100,000,000 investment fund to continue growing opportunities for SaaS companies worldwide. Here’s what CodeScience CEO Brian Walsh had to say about it back in May.

Highlights include:

  • Reducing ISV partner revenue share (referred to as Percent of Net Revenue or PNR) from 25% to 15%.
  • Introducing a new Trailblazer Score meant to better reflect alignment between Salesforce and Partner products.
  • Offering the ability for Partners to accept SEPA and ACH payments via the AppExchage from their customers.
  • Launching a new $100,000,000 fund (via Salesforce Ventures) for investing in SaaS companies “who are building intelligent, transformative apps and components on the Salesforce Platform.”

Full program resources from Salesforce can be found here.

New AppExchange

Salesforce VP of Product Management Heather Conklin shared notes on the new AppExchange changes. She said that the updated AppExchange, dubbed the Salesforce Store, is about so much more than apps — it’s the store for everything a customer needs to work with Salesforce.

Here are a few advantages within the new Salesforce Store:

Personalized Discovery. A smart recommendation engine shares apps visitors may find most useful.

Industry App Collections. Potential buyers can see the suite of apps relevant to their industry, creating an improved path for finding new solutions.

Trailhead Learning. Trailhead is now integrated into the AppExchange, so it’s now easier access the right trails at the right time.

Lightning Data. Allows customers to “fuel sales and marketing with the right data to discover data-driven insights and increase sales rep productivity.”


As a bonus, we enjoyed seeing a CodeScience customer win the first annual Appy Award!

Selected by the AppExchange leadership team, the award was presented to Pierre Naudé, CEO of nCino on behalf of the company. nCino is an AppExchange partner that has reimagined banking in the cloud — and we’re proud to have featured them as a part of our partner panel at DF17.

Excited about these opportunities on the AppExchange? We’re ready to work with you to help you realize your vision and be part of the expanding ecosystem, so let’s schedule a consultation today.