Licence Types: Editions, Platform & User Licences
Salesforce licensing is deceptively complex — with CRM editions, platform licences, feature licences, community licences, and identity licences all serving different purposes at very different price points. Getting the licence mix right is where the biggest savings opportunities exist.
Salesforce Licence Types: A Comprehensive Guide
The definitive guide to Salesforce licence types: Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Platform, Feature, Community, and Identity licences. Understand what each type includes, how editions compare, which users need which licence, and how to build the optimal licence mix for your organisation.
Read the Full GuideSalesforce Platform Licence: What You Need to Know
Platform licences cost a fraction of full Sales or Service Cloud licences — and many users only need platform access. Understand what the Platform licence includes, its limitations, and when it is the right choice over a full CRM licence.
Read ArticleLightning Platform Starter vs Platform Plus
Salesforce offers two Platform editions with very different capabilities and price points. Compare Starter vs Plus across custom objects, API limits, storage, and features to choose the right tier for each user segment.
Read ArticleWhat Are Salesforce Feature Licences?
Feature licences unlock specific Salesforce capabilities — from Marketing User to Knowledge User to Flow User. Understand which feature licences exist, what they enable, and which ones you are paying for but may not need.
Read ArticleSalesforce Community Licence: Pricing & Features Guide
Community (Experience Cloud) licences enable external user access at lower cost. Understand the login-based vs member-based models, pricing tiers, and how to optimise community licensing for partner and customer portals.
Read ArticleMaximising Value from Salesforce Identity Licences
Identity licences provide SSO and authentication at the lowest per-user cost in the Salesforce portfolio. Understand the use cases, limitations, and cost optimisation strategies for Identity licence deployments.
Read ArticleCIO Playbook: Licensing External Users in Experience Cloud
Licensing external users — customers, partners, and suppliers — in Salesforce Experience Cloud requires careful planning. Understand the licence types, pricing models, and strategies for controlling external user costs at scale.
Read GuideContract Negotiation & Renewal Strategy
Salesforce is one of the most aggressive negotiators in enterprise software. Their sales team uses time pressure, bundling tactics, and opaque pricing to maximise deal value. Knowing their playbook — and having your own — is the difference between a good deal and a great one.
CIO Playbook: Negotiating Salesforce Contracts
The definitive Salesforce negotiation resource: preparation frameworks, pricing benchmarks, discount strategies, contract clause analysis, renewal tactics, competitive leverage, and the most common Salesforce negotiation traps to avoid.
Read GuideInside Salesforce's Business Desk: Unlocking Better Deals
Salesforce's internal Business Desk controls deal approvals and discount authority. Understanding how it works — and how to navigate it — gives you insight into what discounts are genuinely available and how to unlock them.
Read ArticleSalesforce Negotiation During Mergers & Acquisitions
M&A events create both risk and opportunity in Salesforce contracts. Understand contract assignment rules, org consolidation options, licence transfer mechanics, and how to negotiate with Salesforce during corporate transactions.
Read ArticleSELA: Negotiation, Management & Exit Strategy
The Salesforce Enterprise Licence Agreement (SELA) offers the deepest discounts and greatest flexibility — but only if negotiated correctly. SELAs are complex multi-year commitments that require careful structuring, mid-term management, and strategic exit planning.
Salesforce Enterprise Licence Agreement (SELA) Guide
The comprehensive SELA guide: what a SELA includes, how it differs from standard Salesforce contracts, qualification criteria, pricing mechanics, and the key terms to negotiate before signing a multi-year enterprise commitment.
Read GuideManaging a SELA: Maximising Value During the Term
A SELA does not manage itself. Strategies for maximising value during the agreement term: tracking usage against entitlements, managing true-ups, exercising flexibility rights, and avoiding the pitfalls that erode SELA value over time.
Read ArticleRenewing or Exiting a SELA: End-of-Term Strategies
The end of a SELA term is your highest-leverage negotiation moment. Understand the renewal dynamics, exit options, how to prepare 12 months ahead, and the strategies that deliver better terms whether you renew or transition out.
Read ArticleOptimisation: Usage, Compliance & Cost Control
Most Salesforce customers are over-licensed — paying for licences that are unused, under-utilised, or at a higher edition than needed. Continuous optimisation, compliance monitoring, and strategic usage management can reduce your Salesforce spend by 20–30% without reducing capability.
Salesforce Licence Optimisation & Usage Management
The comprehensive optimisation playbook: identifying unused licences, right-sizing editions, managing user lifecycle, building usage dashboards, and implementing governance that keeps your Salesforce estate optimised over time.
Read GuideSalesforce Licence Compliance & Audit Readiness
Salesforce conducts usage reviews that can result in true-up charges. Understand what Salesforce monitors, how compliance is measured, and how to maintain audit readiness that prevents surprise costs at renewal time.
Read GuideManaging Salesforce Licensing Minimums & True-Ups
Salesforce contracts include minimum commitments and true-up obligations that can lock you into costs even if usage declines. Understand the mechanics, negotiate better minimum terms, and manage true-ups strategically.
Read ArticleSalesforce Storage & API Usage Management
Storage overages and API limit breaches are common hidden costs. Learn how to monitor storage consumption, optimise data management, manage API call volumes, and avoid the premium charges that catch organisations off guard.
Read ArticleSalesforce Org Strategy: Consolidation vs Multi-Org
Single org or multi-org? The answer has major licensing and cost implications. Compare consolidation vs multi-org approaches across licensing efficiency, governance, data isolation, and total cost of ownership.
Read ArticleMarketing Cloud, Pardot, CPQ & Multi-Cloud Deals
Salesforce's cloud portfolio extends far beyond Sales and Service Cloud. Each product — from Marketing Cloud to CPQ to CRM Analytics — has its own licensing model, pricing mechanics, and negotiation dynamics. Understanding these is essential for multi-cloud deals.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Licence Explained
Marketing Cloud licensing is one of the most complex in the Salesforce portfolio — with editions, contact tiers, super message credits, and add-on studios all affecting cost. Understand the pricing model and optimisation levers.
Read ArticlePardot (Account Engagement) Licensing: Optimisation Guide
Pardot — now Marketing Cloud Account Engagement — uses contact-based and edition-based pricing. Understand the licence tiers, feature differences, and strategies for optimising your Pardot investment.
Read ArticleSalesforce CPQ & Billing Licensing Playbook
CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) and Billing are powerful revenue tools — but their licensing adds significant cost. Understand the per-user pricing, add-on charges, and how to right-size your CPQ deployment.
Read ArticleEvaluating Salesforce CRM Analytics (Tableau CRM)
CRM Analytics (formerly Tableau CRM/Einstein Analytics) adds advanced analytics to Salesforce. Evaluate the licensing options, understand when native analytics vs standalone Tableau is the better investment, and optimise your analytics spend.
Read ArticleCIO Playbook: Optimising Tableau & MuleSoft Licensing
Tableau and MuleSoft were acquired separately and retain their own licensing models within Salesforce deals. Understand the licensing mechanics, how to negotiate them alongside core Salesforce, and optimisation strategies for each.
Read GuideCIO Playbook: Salesforce Multi-Cloud Deal Strategies
Multi-cloud Salesforce deals — combining Sales, Service, Marketing, Platform, and Data Cloud — create the best discount opportunities but also the most complexity. Strategies for structuring and negotiating multi-cloud commitments.
Read GuideMaximising Value from Salesforce Credits & Premier Support
Salesforce deals often include credits, success plans, and Premier Support — but many organisations fail to extract full value. Understand how to maximise credit utilisation and evaluate whether Premier Support is worth the cost.
Read ArticleEinstein, AI Cloud & Data Cloud Licensing
Salesforce is aggressively pushing AI and Data Cloud products — with premium pricing and new consumption-based models. Understanding the licensing mechanics before you commit prevents budget surprises and ensures you are paying for value, not hype.
Salesforce Einstein & AI Cloud: CIO Adoption Playbook
Einstein AI capabilities are being embedded across the Salesforce portfolio — with varying licensing implications. Understand which AI features are included, which require additional licensing, and how to plan your AI adoption strategically.
Read GuideNegotiating Salesforce AI & Data Cloud Licensing
AI and Data Cloud contracts are the newest — and least standardised — Salesforce deals. Expert guidance on negotiating pricing models, consumption commitments, credit structures, and the contract terms that protect you from cost overruns.
Read ArticlePlatform Strategy, Sandboxes & AppExchange
Beyond core CRM, Salesforce is increasingly used as a custom application platform. Platform licensing, sandbox strategy, and ISV app management all have significant cost implications that require deliberate planning.
CIO Playbook: Platform & Custom Apps Licensing
Using Salesforce as a custom app development platform changes the licensing dynamics significantly. Understand Platform licence entitlements, custom object limits, API considerations, and how to build an efficient platform licensing strategy.
Read GuideCIO Playbook: Managing ISV & AppExchange Licensing
AppExchange apps and ISV solutions add capabilities — and cost. Strategies for managing third-party app licensing: evaluating vs building, negotiating ISV contracts, and controlling the hidden cost of AppExchange sprawl.
Read GuideSalesforce Sandbox Strategy: CIO Playbook
Sandbox environments are essential for development and testing — but sandbox licences add cost. Understand the sandbox tiers (Developer, Developer Pro, Partial, Full), included entitlements, and how to optimise your sandbox strategy.
Read GuideReal-World Results: Client Success Stories
See how organisations across industries and geographies have achieved significant Salesforce savings through expert negotiation, licence optimisation, and strategic contract management. Real results, real numbers.
US Hospital Network Cuts Salesforce Renewal Costs by 28%
A US healthcare provider network achieved 28% savings on their Salesforce renewal through strategic licence right-sizing, edition optimisation, and competitive leverage during contract negotiation.
Read Case StudyAustralian Telecom Wins 30% Savings & SELA Flexibility
An Australian telecom company secured 30% savings and unprecedented contractual flexibility in their Salesforce SELA through expert negotiation of pricing, terms, and future growth protections.
Read Case StudyUS SaaS Provider Secures 40% Savings & Custom Bundle
A US technology company achieved 40% Salesforce savings through a customised licence bundle that eliminated unnecessary editions and created a bespoke entitlement structure matched to actual usage patterns.
Read Case StudyGerman Manufacturer Saves €4M Optimising Salesforce SELA
A German manufacturing group saved €4M by optimising their Salesforce SELA, consolidating global usage across subsidiaries, and renegotiating terms that reflected actual deployment patterns.
Read Case StudyFrench Luxury Retailer Cuts Marketing Cloud Costs by 30%
A French luxury retailer achieved 30% reduction in Marketing Cloud costs through contact tier optimisation, message credit renegotiation, and strategic bundling with core Sales Cloud entitlements.
Read Case StudyUS Retail Chain Negotiates 32% Savings & Flexible Terms
A US omni-channel retail chain secured 32% cost savings and significantly improved contractual flexibility in their Salesforce renewal through competitive positioning and strategic term negotiation.
Read Case StudyUS Manufacturer Saves 25% on Sales Cloud & CPQ
A Midwest US manufacturer saved 25% on Salesforce Sales Cloud and CPQ licensing by right-sizing user counts, renegotiating CPQ terms, and restructuring their agreement at renewal.
Read Case StudyBrazilian Bank Saves 25% & Aligns with Global Benchmarks
A Brazilian bank streamlined their Salesforce licensing to save 25%, aligning costs with global pricing benchmarks and restructuring their agreement to reflect actual usage across divisions.
Read Case StudyNeed Expert Help with Salesforce Licensing?
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