Crafting a Scalable Salesforce Roadmap
A globally diversified real estate investment manager—operating across multiple regions and asset classes with hundreds of active Salesforce users engaged Open Box Software to help turn its Salesforce CRM platform from a “keep-the-lights-on” system into an engine for ongoing innovation. The engagement focused on building the governance, delivery capacity and transparency needed to align a complex stakeholder landscape and accelerate value from their technology investment.
The Opportunity
Following a recent consolidation of multiple Salesforce organisations into a single environment, the client’s lean internal team was stretched thin. They were effective at break/fix support but struggled to manage the high volume of enhancement requests from different business lines and regions. Business users lacked visibility into backlog status and timelines; adoption varied by geography, with shadow processes (e.g., spreadsheets) emerging in pockets of the organisation. The client needed a sustainable way to capture demand, prioritise work and ship improvements predictably.
The Approach
Open Box partnered closely with the client’s IT leadership over a series of multi‑day, on‑site workshops and subsequent collaborations to:
- Map the current state of their Salesforce ecosystem, release practices, environments and pain points across business lines.
- Co‑create a unified backlog, using collaborative discovery sessions and T‑shirt sizing to establish effort and value at a glance.
- Introduce a governance model that brings regional and functional stakeholders together enabling clarifying roles, decision‑rights and escalation paths.
- Design a sustainable delivery rhythm with sprints, a clear release cadence and a simple way for the business to see what’s in, what’s next and why.
- Strengthen SDLC controls across Non-Production and Production environments to reduce risk and promote quality.
- Augment capacity selectively with Open Box specialists to tackle prioritised items while upskilling the client team.
The Solution
Open Box deliverables centred on people, process and platform enablement.
- Operating Model & Governance: Established a Salesforce Center of Excellence style framework with a steering forum, cross‑regional participation and regular cadence for roadmap review and prioritisation. Defined transparent decision‑making and communication practices so every business unit could see trade‑offs and timelines.
- Demand Management & Prioritisation: Consolidated disparate requests into a single, ranked backlog, sized at an initiative/feature level. Introduced simple value/effort heuristics to balance strategic initiatives with quick wins.
- Release Management & SDLC: Implemented a predictable sprint and release schedule, separating minor fixes from planned feature drops. Formalised environment strategy across environments and change controls to improve quality and auditability.
- Technical Assurance & Org Health: Reviewed sharing models, data structures and scalability considerations to validate that the single‑org strategy remained fit for purpose. Identified adoption hotspots and guided steps to reduce shadow processes.
- Roadmap Artifacts & Tooling Integration: Delivered an executive‑ready roadmap with the agreed backlog for ongoing tracking and reporting.
- Capacity Augmentation: Stood up a blended delivery model where Open Box practitioners worked alongside the client team to accelerate the first waves of change and model best practices.
The Result
- Greater clarity and trust. Stakeholders across regions gained a shared view of priorities and progress, reducing frustration and escalation loops.
- Higher throughput with predictability. A regular sprint/release rhythm and right‑sized work enabled faster delivery of enhancements with fewer surprises.
- Reduced risk. SDLC discipline and environment controls decreased production changes and improved quality.
- Improved adoption. Governance and communication helped curb shadow pipelines and encouraged consistent Salesforce usage.
- Stronger partnership. With Open Box augmenting the team and coaching in‑house leaders, the client built durable capabilities to sustain momentum post‑engagement.
Conclusion
By focusing on governance, visibility and delivery excellence—not just technology—the client transformed its Salesforce CRM from a static repository into a managed, strategic platform. The new operating model aligns business demand with IT capacity, accelerates value delivery and provides a scalable foundation for continuous improvement across a global real estate portfolio. This is the kind of partnership Open Box Software is known for: pragmatic, collaborative and built to last.
Crafting a scalable roadmap that fuels business growth.
