Salesforce ISV Partner Tiers and Journey Updates: Summer 2024
Just in time for Dreamforce, Salesforce has announced changes to their ISV partner program, including ISV partner tiers and journey. Below are some top takeaways from the ISV Track Overview.
The key pillars for 2024
- Launch and get to market quickly
- Accelerate scalable business growth
The focus seems to have shifted from ISV status with Salesforce being solely based on revenue and more on maturity of the ISV and their path to success. (more on the old program here)
Previous ISV Partner tiers in Salesforce were aligned to your Trailblazer Scorecard (FY24 & before)
- Base – Every ISV starts at Base. The points range from 0-249
- Ridge – Once you’ve collected more than 250 points, you unlock more support and engagement from the Salesforce team
- Crest – More than 500 unlocks even more benefits
- Summit – These are the top tier partners
The shift has been made from a point based system that was made up of your revenue, tech adoption, philanthropy and more to a maturity model based on where you are in your own Salesforce journey.
Salesforce ISV Partner Journey & Tiers: 2024
- Exploration ISVs – Actively involved in conversations with Salesforce about their first paid app on the AppExchange
- Build ISVs – Focused on app development and developing the GTM motion
- Select ISVs – Focused on growth, building pipeline, and distributing their paid solution to new AppExchange customers
- Summit ISVs – Part of Salesforce’s exclusive network of strategic ISV partnerships, with benefits such as co-marketing
This now includes “pre-listed” apps as part of the tiering and moves up from there to include:
- Pre-executed contract
- Pre-listing / build stage
- Listed ISVs who are focused on growth
- Listed and strategic / large ISVs
Now there is a lot of work that goes into moving from Tier 2 to Tier 1 which is where Invisory has always come in to help around building the GTM motion for success but it is nice to see Salesforce focus on those early stage recruit ISVs that often are left out when it comes to Partner Account Manager (PAM) support.
Benefits have been outlined and include some new options for ISVs at various tiers.
ISV Program Track: Benefits Glossary
Top ISV Partner Program Updates to know
GTM Support – Salesforce defines this as “Accelerate sales cycles and co-sell activities via joint pipeline management, account planning, demand generation, and Salesforce core sales engagement”. This is only eligible for Select and Summit ISVs and it isn’t clear how this will differ from the hands on pipeline and account management that takes place with PAMs today for these higher tier accounts so we’ll have to watch and see.
Partner GTM Courses – These courses are available to all tiered ISVs and Salesforce defines this as “Exclusive access to virtual live sessions, on-demand learning, expert coaching, and a fast-growing network of thriving SaaS professionals”. Whether this will be different from the Salesforce webinar series and Trailhead we’ll have to see but this could open up the opportunity for even more hands-on Salesforce learning.
AppExchange listing consultation – Only available to summit ISVs. Salesforce defines this as “a comprehensive AppExchange listing analysis and a 30-minute consultation for listing optimization.” For those non-Summit ISVs, Invisory has an entire module dedicated to this topic (not just a half hour) which includes a listing audit, competitive comparison and monthly analytics check in. Reach out to us if you’d like to learn more.
Co-innovation fund – Exploration and above tiers (1-4). This is a program your PAM will need to submit you for and is defined as “Access to a Salesforce investment fund, dedicated to the acceleration of app ideation and strengthening GTM assets for scalable and repeatable sales.” For those ISVs with a PAM and looking to build a new app or add features to an existing application this could be a great new resource. Co-innovation is nothing new for Salesforce but it seems they’ve put more resources behind the perk.
ISV Build Program – Mostly for build ISVs it is defined as “Access to a technical team to transform your roadmap into an application using Salesforce technologies, execute your demo strategy, and secure your first customer.” Again, this sounds like the old co-innovation and a great asset for those ISVs building and scaling.
Only time will tell how these new enhancements to the partner program will play out but it’s clear that Salesforce has listened to the feedback from ISVs around more support.
Invisory has built our business on supporting ISVs at all levels of maturity with hands on playbooks, templates and expert advice. If you could use a little extra assistance getting your Salesforce program off the ground or are looking to branch into your SI strategy contact us or set up a meeting with the team at Dreamforce.
– Written by Rachel Konforti, Head of Partnership Strategy (Salesforce), Invisory
Heading to Dreamforce? Check out Invisory’s Dreamforce 2024 guide.
