Salesforce Ecosystem 2022: A Year in Review

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to look back at all that has happened over the past 12 months, and what a rollercoaster it’s been!?

From exciting Salesforce ecosystem news that will change how we work forever, to macroeconomic factors that we all need to take stock of, this year has been full of ups and downs.?

In this post, I’ll take a quick look at how 2022 started, and how it’s ending from a bird's eye view. But regardless of what is included in this post, it’s important to also celebrate all of our own personal victories, big and small.?

The Salesforce Ecosystem in 2022

We kicked off the year all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and have perhaps left it with a bit more of a neutral outlook. Whilst this year has been plagued with negatives, from war, to inflation, layoffs, and a looming recession, there is still much to be positive about.

From an ecosystem standpoint, Salesforce has advanced pretty significantly over the past year. Let’s take a look…

Flow

The retirement of Workflow Rules & Process Builder was announced at Dreamforce 2021, but throughout this year we have seen a huge emphasis not only on continually improving Flow to be a Salesforce professional's ultimate weapon but also on integrating it with other Salesforce products.

Back in April 2022 at Trailblazer DX, Salesforce announced that Flow will be integrated with Slack, Mulesoft, Tableau & RPA.

Alongside Ohanaly, SalesforceBen.com also hosted 3 successful FlowFest events, to help skill-up, and challenge those who are doubling down on this powerful automation tool. Sign up for our next FlowFest competition here .

Slack

The whole process of integrating Slack into Salesforce has been a long one. The largest Salesforce acquisition to date ($27.7B), was initially announced in December 2020, and then officially closed in July 2021. But it wasn’t until Trailblazer DX & Dreamforce that we truly saw the power of what Slack integration with Salesforce could do.?

We saw the announcement of the Salesforce Platform for Slack , as well as Huddles, Canvas’, and a new set of developer tools .?

We are still early days when it comes to Slack & Salesforce, but the customer stories and demos I’ve seen really highlight the power

Acquisitions?

As per usual, we also saw a number of acquisitions by Salesforce…

1. Atonit was acquired was in February 2022, which was an e-commerce technology company.
2. Traction on demand was acquired a few weeks later, one of the largest Salesforce consultancies in the USA.?
3. Phennecs was acquired in April, and had a solution to support privacy and compliance with Salesforce sandboxes.?

Troops described themselves as a “Slack bot for sales teams”. Salesforce acquired them back in May to add extra firepower to their Slack tech and teams.

Certifications?

If you’re addicted to Certifications like a lot of the Salesforce ecosystem, then this must have been a great year for you. Whilst Salesforce has started to merge its Slack, Tableau & Mulesoft certification programs. The Salesforce core certification program brought out 3 certs, which were all highly anticipated.

1. Strategy Designer
2. Business Analyst
3. Salesforce Associate?

Read More: New and Upcoming Salesforce Certifications for 2022

Dreamforce

The first large-scale Dreamforce since 2019 also took place, with what felt like, a lot more than 40,000 attendees. The atmosphere was electric, and it was exciting to see the Salesforce community in full force.?

As well as networking, learning, having fun, and letting off some steam at the after-parties. Salesforce also announced Genie, which was declared the greatest innovation in the company's history.?

Although many are confused about how Genie fits in, Lucy Mazalon breaks it down here .?

You can also see the Top 10 Dreamforce announcements right here .

Salesforce Careers in 2022

We started off the year in classic fashion with our Salesforce Job Trends for 2022, where we chat with thought leaders from around the ecosystem, and try and predict some of the most important aspects for your career. We came up with 4 important factors…

• Salesforce Skills Shortage
• Entry-Level Programs
• Niche Skills (DevOps, Sales Roles, Flow)
• The rise of Freelancing

First up, this year definitely has seen a huge amount of new entrants into the Salesforce ecosystem, which is fantastic to see. The launch of the Trailblazer Workforce Partner Program , has created a mini-ecosystem of great training partners where professionals from any background can get the skills they need to land a Salesforce job.

It’s also been great to see programs such as Clicked provide free hands-on experience that empowers budding Salesforce professionals.?

But with the increase in new Salesforce professionals joining the ecosystem, niche skills become even more important for existing Salesforce professionals, who need to ensure they stand out from the crowd, and continue evolving their skills. In the original post, we spoke about Salesforce DevOps, Sales Roles & Flow, which I think are still fantastic niches to focus on going into 2023.?

We also touched on the rise of freelancing as a role that can perfectly meet the needs of Salesforce customers. Freelancers are typically cheaper than a Salesforce Consultancy, and more flexible than a full-time resource, so for a lot of Salesforce customers, freelancers are a cost-effective way to get the Salesforce experience they need.?

Going into 2023 with a tightening of budgets, freelancers may be able to capitalize on these opportunities.?

Salesforce Careers in 2023?

Depending on whether you see yourself as an optimist, realist, or pessimist, you can take very different approaches when looking at Salesforce careers in 2023. I like to think of myself as a realist, so I’ll try and provide a neutral outlook with the facts that surround us, taking us into 2023.

Overall, I remain excited about Salesforce careers in 2023. Although we are in or heading for an economic downturn/recession or whatever you want to call it, you can’t ignore Salesforce’s fundamentals. They own above 23.9% of the CRM market, which is comparable to Apple or Samsungs market share of the phone market, they continue to innovate and have a suite of products that can actually accelerate revenue growth and save companies money through automation. Especially important throughout a recession.?

You can read my full assessment in my earlier post “Are Salesforce Careers Recession- and Future-Proof? ”

But you also can’t ignore what is happening in the macroeconomic environment, there have been over 140,000 layoffs in the tech industry according to layoffs.fyi , with revenue growth slowing across a lot of industries, and VC investment decelerating since its peaks in 2021.

Salesforce has made layoffs , alongside many ISVs in the Salesforce ecosystem, as well as other tech companies such as Microsoft, Twitter, Meta & Amazon.

Salesforce is known for its solid revenue growth quarter over quarter, hitting between 20-25% most quarters, and mostly beating analysts' expectations. But last week, Salesforce announced its lowest revenue growth in about 5 years, with 14% YoY growth (However, 19% in constant currency).?

However positive you remain about the outlook for Salesforce, these economic effects are hitting the Salesforce ecosystem, and who knows exactly the impact it will have on your own career.?

I think the segment of the market that will be hit the hardest, will be those looking to start their careers in the Salesforce ecosystem. Whilst there is still a skills shortage in the ecosystem, and actual global supply is down as per 10k’s Talent Ecosystem Report , with the masses of new entrants to the market, and global growth down, it might take longer than it usually would to land a job.

In addition, I’m seeing a lot of Salesforce influencers ignoring these economic factors, and still quoting the “9.3 Million new Jobs ” by 2026 report that was published by IDC in September 2021, which I highly doubt predicted war, 10% inflation, and the economic situation we are seeing at the moment.

Whilst I think Salesforce is a fantastic bet to place your future career on, and Trailhead is a great place to spend your spare time to head towards your Admin certification, I think it's wise to manage expectations.?

Check out the video below to get an overview of the different paths you can take in the Salesforce ecosystem...

I hope you enjoyed this article, and as it will be my last for 2022, I wish you a fantastic holiday with your friends and family. I look forward to what 2023 will bring, and I'll see you on the other side!

Until next time,

SFB