An Efficient Salesforce Data Archiving Strategy

Cost has been an essential part of any business strategy. When it comes to considering various aspects of designing an efficient data archiving strategy for your Salesforce Org, along with business and technical factors, cost plays a crucial role. In our previous blogs, we already mentioned the most important business and technical factors to consider while choosing an ideal Salesforce data archiving solution or approach. In this blog, we are going to have a deep dive into various commercial aspects associated with an ideal data archiving strategy.

As we know a big trove of data comes with a big price and enterprises from varied industries need to store their historical data for copious reasons like analytics, internal retention policies, compliance reasons etc. When it comes to Salesforce, the data storage space is limited and additional storage space costs plenty. Following best Salesforce data archiving practices could be a savior for you and will help you save a lot of costs. However, there are many commercial aspects to consider while choosing an efficient data archiving solution. Let’s have a look into those.

Software cost

Every solution has a license cost which differs from one solution provider to another. The software cost could be either on a per-user basis or per-company basis. The archiving solution provider may either charge on a monthly basis or on an annual basis. If you are a non-profit organization, you can get a discount on the license cost. DataArchiva offers 10% discount to non-profit organizations. If you are going for a large number of licenses, you can check with the service provider for a discount.

Infrastructure cost

For today’s enterprises, IT infrastructure cost is a serious concern. This could inbalance the organization’s IT budget as this often costs high. IT infrastructure cost could include physical infrastructure like hardware, software, devices etc. There could be several data archiving solutions who require external infrastructure to set. However, solutions like DataArchiva doesn’t require any external infrastructure to set. You can simply install the application from the AppExchange and start archiving your historical data.

Renewal cost

Most of the archiving solutions come with a license cost valid for one year and you need to renew it after a year. Renewal cost is common for any solution and the price might change depending on the current license cost of the solution. While choosing a data archiving solution for your Salesforce Org, it is always good to check the renewal policies of the application with the vendor.

Upgradation cost

When you go for an archiving solution, it usually comes with the basic version unless you ask for a customization. An ideal data archiving solution keeps on evolving with the rapidly shifting technological environment and add innovative features in every new release. There is always a cost involved in upgrading your used solution from the basic version to a higher version, as you are going to get more benefits out of the solution. Before figuring out the best-suited solution for your Salesforce Org, do check with the service provider whether they will charge for future product enhancements. As an ideal data archiving solution for any business, DataArchiva upgrades the application on a regular basis to offer an enterprise-level archiving experience to its customers.

Support & Maintenance cost

Like infrastructure cost, support & maintenance cost is a challenge for any business using a third-party solution. Support cost depends on the type of support you want. If you are going for a premium support, this might cost you a bit on the higher side. However, most of the service providers offer basic support services for their offered solution. You can always avoid a solution which requires a maintenance cost. Maintenance costs are always heavy on the pocket. A solution like DataArchiva requires zero maintenance cost and offers top-notch support services.

Implementation cost

Every software requires a seamless implementation and this comes with a cost. A software implementation is a critical process and you need a high level of expertise to manage them. Implementation even requires time. On-premises and cloud storage dependent archiving solutions require a lot of implementation time. The duration might take from several weeks/months, while native solution like DataArchiva takes only a few days for implementation. The longer the duration, the higher will be the implementation cost. Implementation cost is one of the most important factors to consider while choosing any Salesforce data archiving solution. When it comes to solution implementation, along with the cost, you must check the credibility of the service provider as this involves time and risk.

Initial data migration cost

When you start using a new data archiving solution, initially you need to migrate your already existing historical data from your primary storage to the secondary storage offered by the solution provider. This includes a cost depending on the volume of your current historical data. Once you are done with your initial data migration, an efficient solution will take care from there. Either it will automate the data archiving process, or you can do it manually. n

Training cost

Once implementation & migration is done, you are all set to start using the application. But, the challenge comes for your team and especially your Salesforce admin. Any technological change requires some time for a user to get used to it. It is a tough task for your Salesforce admin to understand all the functionalities of a solution without initial training. Many solution providers may charge a small training cost to offer personalized training sessions to your Salesforce admins in order to get the maximum benefits out of the data archiving solution. Before going for an archiving solution, do check with the vendor whether they charge cost for training or not.

Integration cost

Last, but not the least, integration cost. If you are a medium or large scale enterprise, you might be using other third-party applications or may need one in the future when you grow as a business. You need an uninterrupted business process which requires an integrated approach. If you want your archiving solution to work with other third-party AppExchange or any Cloud applications in tandem without affecting your business processes, you must check with the solution provider before choosing one. An ideal data archiving solution must work smoothly with other solutions. This may involve a cost as this might require certain technological practice to do in the archiving solution so that it can be integrated smoothly with other third-party applications.

These are few of the standard cost aspects of any data archiving solution available in the market. However, apart from these, there might be some other commercial aspects of a solution depending on the solution provider. While considering all aspects of cost, and additional business values, DataArchiva is certainly the most cost-effective & efficient solution offering structured data archiving. You can get maximum ROI using DataArchiva, while potentially saving over 80% of your Salesforce data storage cost. To know more, please contact our Salesforce data archiving experts.

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DataArchiva is an enterprise data management application built for Salesforce that offers complete data management solutions including archive, backup, and seeding.