SaaS companies are keen to bill themselves as “one-stop-shop” solutions in the global battle for tech dominance. They promise next-level speed, productivity, insight, and operational resilience when you fully commit to their platform. And these platforms are powerful—they can help enterprises achieve impressive feats of digital transformation. Every product and service is interconnected to encourage enterprises to streamline their operations and simplify their tech stack. In an ideal world, a single cloud provider could stand alone and provide everything a company needs to serve its customers.
But it’s not as simple as choosing a platform, doing a bit of configuration, and then launching. Most companies looking for digital transformation aren’t starting from scratch; they’ve already invested in a variety of technologies, both legacy and modern. They need custom solutions that will improve their existing systems, and a common question we’re asked at CodeScience is: Salesforce or AWS?
The primary focus for both platforms is on the enterprise. However, the specific requirements for each client vary greatly. At CodeScience, we always consider the type of application being developed and what the platform is best suited for when deciding whether to build on Salesforce or AWS. We evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in the context of the project. A useful framework to assess potential solutions is whether the project requires engagement or processing.
System of Engagement: Salesforce
Salesforce is, first and foremost, a system of engagement, a place to bring people together, show information, and manage workflows.
360 View of Your Customer
Managing your experience from marketing to servicing your customer.
Engagement Where Users Are
Customers and workers can be met where they are working by putting the power of their data in the apps they use.
Unleash the Power of Declarative Speed
Develop and deploy new functionality with ease and without a line of code.
An Army of Integrated Apps
Solve everyday problems with thousands of partner and salesforce apps to extend your solutions to meet everyday needs.
System of Processing: AWS
AWS is better suited for processing tasks that require computational analysis. This can include video streaming, big data processing, and machine learning.
Enable
Run high-volume and commute-intense processes in the right place to support your needs.
Scale Up the Right Storage
Store files, drawings, and videos where they can be rendered, processed, and accessed easily and quickly.
Governance
Secure your data in the right place where it needs and is required to reside.
Deploy and Scale to Flex with Your Business
Amazon Elastic Services allow you to push up to the next weight class as you need to meet the needs of your growing business.
Collaboration
The distinction between the two platforms is not absolute, and the choice between Salesforce and AWS will depend on each client’s specific requirements. The two platforms can also work well together. Salesforce can be used for its strengths in engagement and workflows, while AWS can be used for its strengths in high-processing tasks.
Many applications developed today are composite applications, meaning some parts are on Salesforce, and others are on another platform, such as AWS. This is because it’s rare to find a platform that can solve every problem, and it’s important to use the platform that best fits the particular need. By combining the two platforms, businesses can create powerful and efficient applications that leverage the strengths of both.
Further, it’s about understanding how to use both platforms to their fullest potential and how they can complement each other to meet the specific needs of each business. By being mindful of the type of application being developed, businesses can make an informed decision on which platform to build on and how to best use both to achieve their goals.
At CodeScience, we understand how to translate your business needs into technology requirements and have extensive experience guiding organizations through the digital wilds to pick the best technologies for their needs. In a world that would love to simplify digital transformation into either/or statements, we have the strategic and deep experience required for thoughtful, scalable, and future-proof development on Salesforce, AWS, or—as is often the case—both.
Would you like to chat with our experts about your business challenges with Salesforce and AWS? Let’s talk.
