Skip to main content
VLOCITY logo

Vlocity: Industry-Specific Cloud Software on Salesforce

Vlocity provides industry-specific cloud software for major industries, built natively on Salesforce to drive digital transformation through deep vertical expertise.

AI Analytics, Forecasting, & Planning
AI Fraud Prevention
AI Platform & Governance
AI Self-Service Solutions
AI Workflow Automation
Analytics
Business Applications
Cloud Computing & Migration
Compute & Storage
Contact Center (CCaaS)
CPaaS/Messaging + Voice APIs
CRM/Case Management
Digital Engagement + Messaging
Fully Outsourced IT
Governance, Risk & Compliance
Internet Access
IoT Solutions
Knowledge Management & Content Operations
Managed Network Operations
Patch Management as a Service
Self Service & Virtual Assistant Solutions
Service Desk
Unified Communications (UCaaS)
Workflow Automation

Overview

Vlocity, now a strategic part of Salesforce (Salesforce Industries), is a leading provider of industry-specific cloud and mobile software. Founded in 2014 by industry veterans, the company was built on the premise that the next wave of cloud computing would be defined by vertical specialization. Vlocity serves six primary industries: Communications, Media & Entertainment, Energy & Utilities, Insurance, Health, and Government.

The company’s core offering is a suite of omnichannel applications that sit natively on the Salesforce platform. These applications include industry-specific CRM, configure-price-quote (CPQ), contract lifecycle management (CLM), and digital commerce solutions. By layering these deep vertical capabilities on top of Salesforce’s horizontal platform, Vlocity enables large enterprises to execute digital transformation initiatives without the need for extensive custom coding.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Vlocity experienced rapid growth by targeting the world’s largest companies in highly regulated and complex sectors. Their market presence is characterized by high-stakes digital transformations for global brands like T-Mobile, Orange, and MetLife. Following its acquisition by Salesforce for $1.33 billion in 2020, Vlocity’s technology has become the foundational engine for "Salesforce Industries," integrating its vertical workflows directly into the core Salesforce product roadmap. The business focus remains on reducing the "last mile" of software development by providing 80-90% of the required industry functionality out-of-the-box.

Positioning

Vlocity positions itself as the "Industry Cloud" leader, occupying the strategic space between horizontal CRM providers and legacy vertical-specific point solutions. Their positioning strategy is built on the concept of "Digital-First, Industry-Specific." They message heavily to the C-suite of large enterprises who are frustrated by the slow pace of digital transformation using traditional ERP or legacy stacks.

In the market, Vlocity differentiates itself from horizontal competitors (like Microsoft or Oracle) by highlighting that their software "speaks the language" of the industry. For example, in the telecommunications sector, they don't just talk about "leads" and "opportunities," but about "MACD" (Move, Add, Change, Disconnect) orders and "Average Revenue Per User" (ARPU).

Key brand pillars include:

  • Agility and Speed: Positioning their low-code tools as the antidote to long, expensive custom development cycles.
  • Native Integration: Leveraging the trust and ubiquity of Salesforce to position themselves as the safest and most scalable choice for existing Salesforce customers.
  • Operational Excellence: Focusing messaging on the "Middle Office"—the complex logic between the front-end customer experience and back-end billing systems where most digital transformations fail.

By focusing on these deep vertical pain points, Vlocity avoids being viewed as a commodity CRM add-on and instead positions itself as a mission-critical platform for operational core systems.

Differentiation

The primary product differentiator for Vlocity is its "Native on Salesforce" architecture. While other industry solutions often require complex API integrations to connect with a CRM, Vlocity’s applications reside directly on the Salesforce platform, utilizing the same data model, security framework, and user interface. This eliminates the "integration tax" and ensures a single source of truth for customer data.

Key technical advantages include:

  • Industry Console: A pre-configured UI tailored to specific roles (e.g., an insurance agent or a telecom retail clerk) that surfaces the most relevant data and actions without custom coding.
  • OmniScript: A low-code guided process tool that allows business users to design complex, branching workflows (like a multi-step insurance quote or a service plan change) that are responsive across any device.
  • DataRaptor and Integration Procedure: These tools provide high-performance data mapping and transformation capabilities, allowing the platform to interact with legacy back-office systems (like billing or ERP) at scale.
  • Industry-Specific Data Models: Vlocity provides out-of-the-box data schemas that comply with industry standards (such as TM Forum for Telecom or ACORD for Insurance), significantly reducing the time required for data architecture and discovery phases during implementation.

By providing these "Lego blocks" of industry functionality, Vlocity allows organizations to launch new digital products and services in weeks rather than months, providing a significant speed-to-market advantage over competitors using horizontal platforms or legacy on-premise systems.

Ideal Customer Profile

The ideal Vlocity customer typically fits the following profile:

  • Industry Focus: Operates in Communications, Media, Energy, Utilities, Insurance, Health, or the Public Sector.
  • Company Size: Mid-market to large Global 2000 enterprises with complex service and sales requirements.
  • Technical Maturity: Already invested in the Salesforce ecosystem or planning a wholesale migration to a cloud-first strategy.
  • Business Complexity: Manages high-volume transactions, complex product dependencies, or highly regulated customer workflows.
  • Budget: Has a significant digital transformation budget ($500k+ for initial implementation) and values "out-of-the-box" industry logic over building from scratch.

Best Fit

Vlocity (now Salesforce Industries) excels in the following scenarios:

  • Industry-Specific Digital Transformation: When a generic CRM requires too much custom coding to meet industry-standard processes like 'Quote-to-Cash' in Telco or 'Claims Management' in Insurance.
  • Complex Product Catalog Management: It is the premier choice for companies with massive, interdependent product portfolios that require sophisticated rules-based configuration (CPQ).
  • Omni-channel Customer Journeys: Best for organizations needing to provide a seamless, guided experience across self-service portals, call centers, and retail stores using a single source of truth.
  • Rapid Time-to-Market: When a business needs to launch new industry products in weeks rather than months by using pre-built industry consoles and data models.

Offerings

Vlocity is packaged into "Salesforce Industry Clouds." Key offerings include:

  • Communications Cloud: Tailored for Telcos, including BSS/OSS integration, EPC, and CPQ.
  • Media & Entertainment Cloud: Focuses on ad sales, subscriber management, and content rights.
  • Energy & Utilities Cloud: Includes features for CIS (Customer Information Systems) and field service integration.
  • Insurance & Financial Services Cloud: Specialized modules for policy administration, claims, and wealth management.
  • Health Cloud: Focused on payer/provider workflows and patient journeys.
  • Government Cloud: Secure environments for case management and program applications.

Get our evaluation of VLOCITY

Our advisory team has deep experience with VLOCITY. We'll give you an honest, independent assessment — including how they compare to alternatives and what to watch out for.

Request Evaluation

Buying Guide: VLOCITY

Everything you need to evaluate VLOCITY— from features and pricing to implementation and security.

Introduction

Welcome to the strategic buying guide for Vlocity, now a core part of Salesforce Industries. In an era where generic CRM functionality is no longer enough to stay competitive, Vlocity provides industry-specific cloud software that embeds deep sector expertise directly into the Salesforce platform. This guide is designed to help IT leaders and business stakeholders evaluate how Vlocity’s specialized data models, pre-built business processes, and "low-code" industry components can accelerate digital transformation. By the end of this guide, you will understand Vlocity’s unique value proposition in sectors like Telecommunications, Financial Services, and Public Sector, and be equipped to determine if it is the right architectural fit for your organization’s long-term growth.

Key Features

Vlocity provides a layer of industry-specific intelligence on top of Salesforce:

  • OmniStudio: A suite of low-code tools (OmniScript, FlexCards) for building dynamic, guided user experiences that work across any device.
  • Enterprise Product Catalog (EPC): A centralized hub for defining complex products, bundles, and promotions with inheritance and lifecycle management.
  • Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ): Industry-specific CPQ engines capable of handling massive transaction volumes and complex attribute-based pricing.
  • Industry Data Models: Pre-built, standards-compliant schemas (e.g., TM Forum for Telco, ACORD for Insurance) that reduce the need for custom objects.
  • Vlocity Digital Commerce: High-performance APIs designed for web-scale shopping experiences, capable of handling high-volume "Flash Sale" scenarios.
  • Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM): Integrated document generation and tracking to manage the end-to-end legal process within the sales flow.

Use Cases

Vlocity is deployed across various industries to solve high-stakes challenges:

  • Telecommunications: A global carrier uses Vlocity to manage "Triple Play" (Internet, Phone, TV) bundles, allowing agents to configure complex orders with localized pricing in under 3 minutes.
  • Insurance: A provider uses Vlocity Health to automate the "Quote-to-Card" process, reducing the time to issue a policy from days to minutes through guided OmniScripts.
  • Public Sector: A state government uses Vlocity to manage benefits applications, providing citizens with a mobile-friendly portal that guides them through eligibility requirements.
  • Energy & Utilities: A utility company utilizes the Vlocity Energy Console to give service reps a 360-degree view of usage data, billing history, and service outages on a single screen.

Pricing Models

Vlocity follows the Salesforce "Industry Cloud" pricing strategy:

  • License Type: Typically sold as a per-user, per-month subscription.
  • Tiered Packages: Pricing varies by industry (e.g., Communications Cloud vs. Health Cloud) and the depth of functionality (Starter vs. Plus vs. Unlimited).
  • Add-ons: Specialized modules like CLM, Advanced CPQ, or Digital Commerce may require additional fees.
  • Volume-Based Pricing: For certain "headless" or digital commerce use cases, pricing may be based on transaction volume or API calls.
  • Implementation Costs: Buyers should budget significantly for certified implementation partners, as Vlocity configuration requires specialized certification.

Technical Requirements

Because Vlocity is a managed package on Salesforce, the requirements are primarily platform-based:

  • Salesforce Edition: Requires Enterprise, Unlimited, or Performance Edition.
  • Browser Compatibility: Latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge (Chromium).
  • Namespace Availability: Sufficient space for the Vlocity managed package (which is large).
  • API Limits: Adequate Salesforce API daily limits to support Integration Procedures and external data calls.
  • Metadata Limits: Awareness of Salesforce's maximum number of custom objects and fields, though Vlocity’s data model is designed to be efficient.

Business Requirements

To successfully adopt Vlocity, organizations must meet several business and process prerequisites:

  • Salesforce Maturity: Since Vlocity is native to Salesforce, the organization should already have a functional Salesforce environment and a team comfortable with the platform.
  • Process Standardization: Stakeholders must be willing to align their business processes with industry 'Best Practices' provided by Vlocity to minimize expensive over-customization.
  • Cross-Functional Buy-in: Implementation requires tight coordination between IT, Product Marketing (for catalog design), and Operations (for workflow mapping).
  • Specialized Skill Sets: The team will need training on Vlocity-specific tools like OmniStudio (OmniScripts, DataRaptors, and Integration Procedures).
  • Executive Sponsorship: Given the transformative nature of the tool, active leadership is required to manage the change in how products are defined and sold.

Implementation Timeline

A typical Vlocity implementation is phased to ensure value realization:

  • Phase 1: Discovery & Scoping (4-6 weeks): Identifying industry-specific pain points, mapping current state vs. future state processes, and defining the data model.
  • Phase 2: Foundation & Setup (4 weeks): Configuring the Salesforce environment, installing Vlocity industry packages, and setting up core security/permissions.
  • Phase 3: Configuration & Build (12-20 weeks): This is the bulk of the work, involving the creation of OmniScripts, configuring the Product Catalog (EPC), and setting up CPQ rules.
  • Phase 4: Integration & UAT (6-8 weeks): Connecting to legacy billing or ERP systems and conducting rigorous user acceptance testing.
  • Phase 5: Training & Go-Live (2-4 weeks): End-user training and phased rollout to production.
  • Note: Timelines vary significantly based on the complexity of the product catalog and the number of legacy integrations.

Support Options

Support is delivered through the Salesforce ecosystem:

  • Standard Support: Includes access to the success community, documentation, and online case submission.
  • Premier Support: Offers 24/7 global support, priority routing, and access to specialized technical account managers.
  • Trailhead: Extensive online learning paths specifically for Vlocity/OmniStudio certifications.
  • Professional Services: Salesforce offers expert consulting for architectural reviews and complex implementations.
  • Partner Ecosystem: A wide network of Global System Integrators (GSIs) like Accenture, Deloitte, and PwC who specialize in Vlocity.

Integration Requirements

Vlocity is designed for deep integration within complex enterprise ecosystems:

  • OmniStudio Integration Procedures: High-performance server-side processes that can interact with external APIs (REST/SOAP) and return data to Salesforce without code.
  • DataRaptors: Mapping tools that transform data between Vlocity/Salesforce and external JSON/XML formats.
  • Pre-built Connectors: Standard integrations for industry-specific middleware (e.g., Matrixx for Telco, various claims engines for Insurance).
  • API-First Architecture: Every Vlocity service is exposed via API, allowing headless commerce or integration with third-party mobile apps and websites.
  • Data Residency: Adheres to Salesforce’s multi-tenant architecture, supporting standard encryption and data transport protocols (TLS 1.2+).

Security & Compliance

As a native Salesforce application, Vlocity inherits the robust security framework of the Salesforce platform:

  • Certifications: Includes SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and FedRAMP (depending on the specific Salesforce pod).
  • Data Governance: Granular field-level security, sharing rules, and Shield encryption support.
  • Identity Management: Supports SAML, OAuth, and OpenID Connect for Single Sign-On (SSO).
  • Audit Trails: Full visibility into configuration changes and user access logs.
  • Privacy: Tools to support GDPR and CCPA compliance, including "Right to be Forgotten" workflows.

More AI Analytics, Forecasting, & Planning Vendors

View all

Considering VLOCITY?

Independent. Vendor-funded. Expert-backed.

We'll help you evaluate VLOCITYagainst alternatives, negotiate better terms, and ensure a successful implementation. Our advisory services are funded through the vendor ecosystem — at no cost to you.

Get Our Evaluation How We Work