HFS Horizons: Salesforce Service Providers, 2025

The HFS Horizons: Salesforce Service Providers, 2025 report is for CRM leaders, digital transformation executives, and sourcing professionals evaluating service providers to scale Salesforce, Data Cloud, and Agentforce investments.

Overview

HFS Horizons: Salesforce Service Providers, 2025 assesses 19 IT and business services providers helping enterprises deploy and scale Salesforce, including Data Cloud and Agentforce. The report applies the HFS Horizons framework, developed by HFS Research, which classifies providers as Horizon 1 Disruptors, Horizon 2 Enterprise Innovators, or Horizon 3 Market Leaders based on innovation scope and value aspiration. The assessment draws on provider briefings, reference checks with 26 active clients and 20 active partners, and HFS Pulse survey data covering 15 service providers.

Key findings

1. Accenture, Cognizant, Deloitte, IBM, Infosys, Publicis Sapient, PwC, and TCS earned Horizon 3 Market Leader status among the 19 providers HFS Research assessed for Salesforce services in 2025.
2. Accenture’s Data Cloud and Einstein AI engagement with Queensland University of Technology drove an 84% increase in proactive student engagement and a 69% reduction in response times.
3. Clients rated providers 9.7 out of 10 on geographic coverage and 9.3 on quality of service delivery, versus 9.0 and 8.9 from partners, based on 26 client and 20 partner references.
4. Agentforce is priced at $2 per conversation, a cost structure enterprises cited as a top barrier to funding further Data Cloud and Agentforce investment.
5. Creative commercial models showed the widest client-partner rating gap in the study, with clients scoring providers 9.2 out of 10 versus 8.1 from partners.

HFS finds that Horizon 3 leaders share strong capabilities across the full Salesforce suite, deep industry expertise, and established partner ecosystems. HFS assesses that pricing complexity and license optimization remain the primary barriers to further Data Cloud and Agentforce investment, even as co-innovation with clients grows as a differentiator.

Research methodology

This report draws on HFS Research’s 2025 briefings with each of the 19 participating providers, reference checks with 26 active clients and 20 active partners, and HFS Pulse survey data featuring 15 service provider ratings from Salesforce decision-makers at enterprises globally.

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