On February 14th, Gartner unveiled its inaugural Magic Quadrant for Customer Data Platforms (CDPs). The report transitioned from its prior market guide and placed Salesforce as the market leader. This announcement surprised many in the industry, given Salesforce Data Cloud’s relatively short history and the company’s evolving approach to building a CDP.
Is Salesforce Really the Leader?
It strikes me as odd that Salesforce is leading in the CDP space. Many brands either don’t use Salesforce products or have limited, single implementations of Service Cloud, Sales Cloud, or Marketing Cloud. Why would brands in this situation consider the Salesforce Data Cloud to play the critical role of a CDP, acting as the backbone of their customer data strategy?
The Salesforce Data Cloud, by design, has undoubtedly become the essential data fabric that connects all Salesforce products. If your organization heavily relies on various Salesforce offerings today, then the Salesforce Data Cloud should be considered in the evaluation process for addressing your needs.
The Evolution of Composable Architecture
When looking at CDPs a critical aspect to consider is the maturity of your customer data infrastructure. CDPs became popular as marketing teams were often either underserved by IT or operated in silos. With organizations now developing robust cloud customer data infrastructures, the necessity for a traditional CDP is being re-evaluated. This evolution paved the way for “composable CDPs” or the modularization of CDP components, offering a new architectural approach that aligns with modern, flexible, and scalable data management strategies.
Some traditional CDP’s (e.g. Segment) have tried to stave off this new competition by modularizing their offerings. Salesforce has yet to introduce modular tools in this domain. Discussions with them often lead to them talking about their zero-copy data-sharing, capabilities with Snowflake. While this feature is convenient, it’s only accessible after moving all of your data into Salesforce Data Cloud. If flexibility through composable or modular design is paramount, it may prompt a reevaluation and exploration of alternative solutions.
Consider Your Use Cases
To ensure you select the ideal CDP for your needs, focus intensely on your use cases. In the MarTech world, while there’s a tendency to debate over new acronyms or trending topics, delivering ROI remains the ultimate goal of these platforms. Prioritizing your specific use cases and ensuring the platforms you consider can effectively support them is critical for achieving meaningful results.
After determining your use cases, establish criteria for selecting your consideration set. Consider factors like pricing models (e.g. records under management, events, or records loaded into the CDP). A number of our clients have faced challenges with Salesforce in this area. As a measure to reduce these costs, they have taken steps to delete outdated or inactive user profiles.
Ensuring the platform meets your marketing needs is first priority. Another consideration should be its ability to integrate with your source systems and push audiences to your activation channels. If you are not deeply embedded in the Salesforce ecosystem, then I doubt Salesforce Data Cloud is going to be your chosen vendor. Being deeply embedded includes having a combination of platforms, such as Salesforce Service Cloud, Salesforce Sales Cloud, or Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
Test Driving CDPs
One final point: don’t be overly impressed by the presentation or demonstration of any CDP. Instead, insist on access to a sandbox environment so that you can engage with the tool directly, and develop several use cases. If possible, enable both IT teams and end users to become familiar with its capabilities. Just as you would take a car for a test drive before making a purchase, you should expect to ‘play’ in a CDP sandbox. If vendors are hesitant to provide sandbox access, dig deeper into their reasons. It could easily be an issue of complexity or usability.
Other CDP Sources of Information
The Magic Quadrant highlights a range of excellent Customer Data Platforms (CDPs). The quadrant offers diverse options beyond the leading brands, each with its own valuable features. Keep in mind Gartner evaluates platforms based on two axes: the ability to execute and the completeness of vision. It’s important for your brand to align these axes with your own vision and execution capabilities, ensuring that the CDP you choose fully supports your goals and strategies.
The Magic Quadrant is just one source of insight. Other valuable resources include analyses from Forrester, G2 Grid Reports, and specialized websites like www.CDP.com, the MarTech Weekly, or the CDP Institute. These platforms offer diverse perspectives and can complement the findings of the Magic Quadrant. Their array of perspectives ensures you have a well-rounded view of the CDP landscape in order to make an informed decision.
Transparent Can Help
In addition to doing independent research, we recommend partnering with an independent MarTech consulting firm to navigate this space effectively. Choosing a consultancy that does not earn reseller fees is key. Instead, look for a firm with extensive experience in managing numerous Requests for Information (RFIs), Requests for Proposals (RFPs), and Proof of Concept (PoC) projects. These tend to offer a broader and impartial view of the Customer Data Platform (CDP) market. This strategy guarantees a thorough and clear evaluation, aiding your decision-making process.
As independent experts deeply immersed in this space, we operate free from the influence of reseller commissions, ensuring our advice is both unbiased and tailored to your unique needs. Our expertise is backed by comprehensive and up-to-date resources. This includes detailed CDP decision criteria, reference architectures, maturity models, and evaluations of business value. We’re here to offer our support and guidance. Please reach out to us info@transparent.partners
Darren Rankine, Partner, Technology
