Overview
Executive 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.
Company Differentiation
Vlocity’s uniqueness as a company stems from its "Industry Cloud" philosophy, which posits that general-purpose software is no longer sufficient for complex, regulated sectors. Unlike horizontal SaaS providers that attempt to be everything to everyone, Vlocity’s culture is deeply rooted in vertical expertise. They hire domain experts from the industries they serve—telecom engineers, insurance actuaries, and public sector consultants—to ensure that their business model is aligned with the specific operational realities of their clients.
The company’s relationship with Salesforce is a core differentiator. Rather than operating as a separate entity that merely integrates with Salesforce, Vlocity was built as a "Native" partner. This means their business model is predicated on extending the value of the world’s #1 CRM, rather than competing with it. Their approach to customer success is defined by "Value-Based Outcomes," where they measure success not just by software uptime, but by industry-specific KPIs like "Quote-to-Order" cycle time or "First Contact Resolution" in a utility call center. This deep commitment to vertical specialization allowed them to maintain the agility of a startup while leveraging the massive scale of the Salesforce ecosystem, eventually leading to their strategic acquisition by Salesforce in 2020.
Company Demographics
Product 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.
Product 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.
