Cost-Benefit Analysis of Salesforce Integration User Licenses

Introduction

Salesforce integration user licenses are a new type of license that provides API-only access to the Salesforce platform. This means that users who are assigned this license type can only access data and functionality through the API, not through the user interface.

Benefits of Salesforce Integration User Licenses

There are several benefits to using Salesforce integration user licenses:

• Improved security: By restricting users to API-only access, you can reduce the risk of unauthorized access to your Salesforce data.
• Reduced costs: Enterprise Edition, Unlimited Edition, and Professional orgs are automatically provisioned with five Salesforce Integration user licenses at no additional cost. Additional Salesforce integration user licenses are significantly cheaper than full user licenses, at only $10 each!.
• Increased efficiency: API-based integrations can be more efficient than UI-based integrations.
• Enhanced scalability: API-based integrations can be easily scaled to meet your growing needs.

Costs of Salesforce Integration User Licenses

There are also some costs associated with using Salesforce integration user licenses:

• Development costs: You may need to develop custom code to integrate your systems with Salesforce using the API.
• Maintenance costs: You will need to maintain your integrations over time.

Who Should Use Salesforce Integration User Licenses?

Salesforce integration user licenses are a good option for organizations that:

• Have a large number of integrations with Salesforce.
• Are concerned about the security of their Salesforce data.
• Want to reduce the cost of their Salesforce licenses.
• Need to scale their integrations to meet their growing needs.
• Need to connect to a third-party application or data warehouse

Cost-Benefit Analysis

To determine whether Salesforce integration user licenses are right for your organization, you need to weigh the benefits and costs. Here are some factors to consider:

• The number of integrations you have with Salesforce: The more integrations for the companies to have, the more likely it is that you will benefit from using Salesforce integration user licenses in annual cost savings.
• The security of your Salesforce data: If a standard user’s credentials are exposed to potential malicious activity and those credentials are used by an attacker, they now have access to not only your data, but the entire UI. So to protect your Saleforce data, you may want to use Salesforce integration user licenses to reduce the risk of unauthorized access. 
• Your budget: Salesforce integration user licenses are a cost-effective option for organizations with a large number of integrations. A single integration user compared to a standard salesforce license is an annual savings of approximately $780 per user.
• Your scalability needs: If you need to scale your integrations to meet your growing needs, Salesforce integration user licenses are a good option.

How to Get Started with Salesforce Integration User Licenses

If you decide to use Salesforce integration user licenses, you will need to:

• All Enterprise, Professional, and Unlimited editions, which are the most commonly used, come with 5 licenses free of charge. But if you want integration users then you need to purchase the licenses.
• Assign the licenses to your users.
• Configure or develop custom code to integrate your systems with Salesforce using the API. 
• Test and deploy your integrations.

Conclusion

Salesforce integration user licenses can be a valuable tool for organizations that need to integrate their systems with Salesforce. However, it is also  important to weigh the security, stability along with benefits and costs before deciding whether they are right for your organization.