FAQ’s
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS AFTER AN INITIAL CONSULTATION WITH EXORION?
Post-consultation, we focus on confirming the client's budget, ensuring key stakeholder engagement, and scheduling detailed discussions. These steps are crucial for developing a comprehensive proposal and a customized Statement of Work.
WHAT ARE YOUR ADVISORY & STRATEGY SERVICES ALL ABOUT?
Once a consultation or two have taken place, and it’s decided that some assessment of your current Salesforce Cloud set up is in order, we will arrange to conduct a Phase 0 Discovery engagement. A Discovery engagement involves a workshop with the key stakeholders as well as a detailed analysis of your current set up for gap and opportunity identification. The result of this engagement is a detailed Project Plan with milestones, fully articulated Use Cases, and a proposed budget for a Phase 1 Implementation engagement. It may also include a proposed road map for a more comprehensive feature roll out as needed.
WHAT KINDS OF CONTRACT OPTIONS DO YOU OFFER?
Generally speaking our project related and Change Management contracts are Time & Materials. Change orders are employed as and if needed. Our project managers will review the actual, remaining, and trending budgets with our stakeholders weekly to ensure that there is oversight on spend, to allow for adjustments or decisions to be made, to account for any trends that may lead to budget overage BEFORE the budget is actually spent. Full transparency is a cornerstone of our delivery process. Our Self-Directed Global Education programs are Fixed Contracts.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WHITE LABEL AND STAFF AUGMENTATION SERVICES?
At ExOrion we have built and battle-tested our signature Solution Delivery Model. This model is used on all ExOrion led engagements and including in White Label arrangements (i.e., the delivery team is comprised of ExOrion, client facing, Architects, Business Analysts and Project Managers). The Staff Augmentation services involve filling in roles on existing teams, and may involve working with the partner’s solution delivery approach unless indicated otherwise.
WHICH TIMEZONES DOES EXORION OPERATE IN PRIMARILY?
While most of our team operates in Easter Standard Time (EST), we are accustomed to working with customers in ALL timezones, and do so regularly.
CAN WE ENGAGE EXORION TO PICK UP AN IN-FLIGHT PROJECT IF WE DECIDE TO TERMINATE OUR CONTRACT WITH ANOTHER SERVICE PROVIDER?
Depending on the stage in the project, ExOrion can come in and assess the overall scope, what has been done, what is remaining and any gaps that need to be addressed (a Phase 0 type Discovery) and provide a proposal for further consideration.
DO I HAVE TO BE EXPERIENCED OR BE PROFICIENT IN SALESFORCE TO WORK WITH EXORION?
No. One of the many reasons ExOrion was started was to address the fact that many clients would engage in a Salesforce Cloud solution project, and were not fully educated on how it would impact their current organization’s way of doing things. This is not unusual and as a Solution Delivery Team we take the ‘people component’ as seriously as the technical component of the engagement. No matter how well architected and built your solution is, if there is a gap in understanding with the use community or senior management, adoption will be a challenge. This is why we offer Global Education and Change Management services. (see our blogs “Cracking the Salesforce Sales Cloud Lingo Code” and “Salesforce Sales Cloud: Streamline Sales Processes” for explanations in layman’s terms.
HOW DOES EXORION ENSURE ADHERENCE TO SALESFORCE BEST PRACTICES?
Even without an official Salesforce partnership, we maintain high-quality standards by ensuring our team undergoes regular recertification and stays abreast of Salesforce’s triannual updates. This commitment to continuous learning ensures we are always aligned with the latest Salesforce best practices.
HOW DOES EXORION INVOLVE CLIENTS IN THE PROJECT RETROSPECTIVE PROCESS?
Our retrospectives are inclusive and collaborative. We involve client team members in surveys, followed by immediate review and discussion of the feedback. This practice allows us to incorporate client insights directly into project adjustments.
WHAT MAKES EXORION'S DISCOVERY WORKSHOPS EFFICIENT?
Our discovery workshops are meticulously planned with detailed, multi-day agendas, tailored in collaboration with our clients. This ensures only relevant stakeholders are engaged, optimizing time and focusing on the essential aspects of each project phase.
WHY WOULD YOU CONSIDER EXORION?
Salesforce will often recommend a Salesforce Partner that is well suited to provide your implementation and enhancement services. Our senior staff have all worked in Solution Delivery for Salesforce Partners. The difference is that ExOrion’s business model is lean with minimal overhead so we pass on the cost savings to our clients. Our rates are extremely competitive at 15% - 25% lower than the average Salesforce Partner’s rates. We also provide state-of-the-art Global Education and Change Management that many Salesforce Partners do not offer.
I’M NEW TO MY POSITION & INHERITED THE SALESFORCE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE. HOW CAN EXORION HELP ME?
It is not uncommon for new CTO’s to inherit decisions made by their predecessors. It can be a very daunting task to take on a full Salesforce Cloud infrastructure along with the litany of requests from your users, and the objective of increasing the Revenue per License. At ExOrion we are aware of this challenge that many face and are prepared to provide anywhere from an Advisory & Strategy service only as you evaluate your options, as well as a full end-to-end Enhancement engagement to ensure that your strategy to meet your objectives is aligned with a comprehensive plan of execution.
HOW LONG HAS EXORION BEEN IN BUSINESS?
ExOrion Consulting LLC was launched in Sept 2023. The number of implementation experience hours is a combination of actual, project hours spent on Salesforce Cloud solution implementations from the ExOrion consultants across their collective careers. Our experience started 20 years ago. All of our client-facing Architects are senior consultants with field-tested and refined technical and business acumen. We have both on-shore, near-shore and off-shore resources to allow pricing flexibility to make our service offering even more competitive. As noted above, our rates are extremely competitive at 15% - 25% lower than the average Salesforce Partner’s rates. About Us
CAN YOU DESCRIBE EXORION'S APPROACH TO MANAGING COMPLEX SALESFORCE PROJECTS?
Our approach to complex project management was exemplified in a challenging engagement where client transparency was limited. We navigated this by applying seasoned project management skills, ensuring clear expectations, and fostering a trust-based relationship with all stakeholders. This delicate balancing act is a testament to our expertise in handling intricate project dynamics.
HOW DOES THE SERVANT LEADER MODEL BENEFIT EXORION’S CLIENTS?
The Servant Leader Model at ExOrion is all about flexibility and responsiveness to client needs. It allows us to effectively incorporate new ideas and manage scope changes during projects. This approach fosters a deep understanding of client requirements, aiding in proactively addressing issues and establishing our team as trusted advisors.
DO YOUR CONSULTING SERVICES INCLUDE BOTH ON & OFF SITE WORK?
The majority of our work is done off-site / remotely. Our Discovery workshops can be on or off-site as preferred, though being on-site for the first week (Project Manager, Architects and Senior Business Analysts) is a vital part of our Solution Delivery Process as it establishes a solid working relationship with the core team members from the client’s side as well as the key stakeholders. This plays a pivotal role in the success of the project’s implementation, issue management, user engagement, hand off and adoption by your user community.
WHAT DOES THE TIME COMMITMENT FOR A CLIENT LOOK LIKE FOR AN ENHANCEMENT OR IMPLEMENTATION ENGAGEMENT?
We are sensitive to the fact that you have a full-time job that involves much more than just the engagement. As a result, our Solution Delivery Model involves a daily 15-min ‘stand-up’ meeting with the core team (not the full compliment of stakeholders) to go over the tasks and deliverables for that day only. This is the time commitment during the Phase 1 Build & Configure on Enhancement and Implementation engagements. Other than this, the only other cadence meeting is with your project manager and the executive sponsor for the weekly Status & Budget Burn Down Review which is scheduled for 30 mins each week. (Total of 1hr 45 mins per week).
WHAT SUPPORT DOES EXORION PROVIDE FOR CLIENTS PREPARING FOR SALESFORCE EINSTEIN AI?
Our approach to preparing clients for Einstein AI includes offering expert data architecture and integration consultancy. We guide clients through data readiness, ensuring they are well-positioned to leverage advanced AI functionalities effectively.
WHAT DOES EXORION’S CUSTOMIZED POST-GO-LIVE SUPPORT INVOLVE?
Our post-go-live support is tailored to each client’s specific needs. We offer comprehensive support packages that include access to detailed configuration workbooks and expert consultation, ensuring clients have the right level of support for their unique Salesforce environment.