Some organizations require a specific license type for their Salesforce org. In addition, when working on projects involving multiple companies or organizations, you’ll want to ensure everyone has access to the same data. Choosing the correct licensing option for your organization is critical.
Here’s more on the types of licenses organizations can purchase and benefit from through Salesforce.
What are Salesforce Licenses?
Salesforce licenses provide users access to the cloud-based software suite, Salesforce.com. They are contracts between a company using the software and its customers who purchase subscriptions. These contracts allow companies to use Salesforce as their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which offers many different features such as;
- Customer relationship management
- Marketing automation
- Analytics
- Business intelligence
- Mobile app building
Companies can easily access these features through the platform’s user-friendly interface and robust tools to manage their data.
How many types of Salesforce Licenses are there?
The Salesforce licensing structure is relatively complex. Before choosing the appropriate licensing type, you should ensure you understand what kind of organization you want to operate. Salesforce offers nine main user license types;
- Authenticated website user license
- Chatter
- Customer Portal – Enterprise Administrator user license
- Customer Portal User License
- Experience Cloud License
- Partner Portal user license
- Service Cloud User License
- Sites and com user license
- Standard User License
The Standard User License
This license has different designs, including;
Company Community User- This license allows employee communities to access custom tabs, Chatter, an Experience Cloud site, and Salesforce Files.
Developer – For users who customize applications. It gives access to development tools and environments without sharing access to production objects.
External Identity - Grants access to Salesforce Customer Identity. It enables customers and partners to self-register, login, update profiles, and securely access the web and mobile apps with a single identity.
Identity Only- Provides access to identity services only.
Knowledge Only User - For users who only need the Salesforce Knowledge app access. Users can access custom objects, custom tabs, and a few standard tabs.
Salesforce license - For users who require full access to AppExchange apps and standard CRM. They can access any standard or custom app.
Salesforce Platform - For users who need access to custom apps without CRM functionalities.
A subscription to the Force.com App allows users to access the Lightning Platform Enterprise App without CRM functionality.
How do you know which License your business needs?
To determine whether a license suits your business, you’ll need to review whether your organization uses;
- Apex programming languages
- Custom objects
- Workflows
- Components
- Mobile app creation
- Page layout customization
You may also need to consider additional factors, including;
- How many users will use the app.
- The kind of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions you already have.
- What pricing model do you currently use for other services.
Is it possible to change from one Salesforce License type to another without any impact on Salesforce features?
You can upgrade to any version of Salesforce if you are on a free trial. For example, anytime, you can upgrade a Chatter Free license to a standard Salesforce or Lightning Platform Starter. However, you can’t convert a standard Salesforce, Lightning Platform Starter, or Chatter Only license to a Chatter Free license.
Salesforce doesn’t allow you to change a profile’s permissions or features between two different packages, even though both profiles belong to the same organization. You must create a new user to move from one license to another.
Regarding the security implications here, there are no genuine issues with making changes to profiles across packages. There is just an administrative overhead involved in doing so.
Does this mean that if I want to add or remove Salesforce users, I would have to change my License type?
You can create a new user under the free salesforce license if you have a Salesforce org. Deactivating a user makes the license available for you to reuse, and you can determine the number of users afresh. You do not require to change your license type to add or remove users.
Do all the Licenses come with the same functionality as Salesforce?
Salesforce offers various licensing options to support different situations, including cloud-hosted, mobile, and enterprise applications. Depending upon the case, a customer may purchase only a single license or a combination of several types. For example, a developer might want multiple licenses to support their development team, client base, and deployment environment.
Understanding the purpose behind each of these licenses is essential before purchasing them. This way, you can pick the right ones that meet your requirements.
How important is understanding the use cases for your users in Salesforce?
Most companies are moving towards cloud computing because it allows them to scale their infrastructure easily. Cloud services provide multiple benefits such as scalability, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and security.
The biggest challenge with these solutions comes from the lack of knowledge around how they work and how to use them effectively. Understanding the various cloud service offerings and their uses is essential to maximizing their capabilities.
To get maximum return from your cloud solution, you must ensure you fully understand the use cases, limitations, and functionality of each type of cloud service offered by Salesforce.com.
Get help from cloud experts
You’ve heard it before; the devil is in the details, especially regarding licenses. Every team member should access the latest version of Salesforce so they can understand precisely how licenses work. Even if you have much experience using the product, you can easily miss something important.
Coherent Solutions makes it easier for companies to adopt Salesforce. Our cloud services have a basis on one of the world’s leading CRM platforms, so we’re well poised to deliver the best possible experience for our clients. The Coherent Solutions’ team of cloud experts provides Salesforce consulting services and technical advice that help businesses use the full potential of Salesforce in ways other companies could never offer.
Contact us today to improve customer experience and drive growth through data insights, user research, design thinking, and technology.