Organizations across Canada have turned to Salesforce to grow their business, build their brand and improve the way they serve their customers. It turns out that the benefits go even further than that -- creating enormous economic value not only here but in countries around the world.

Salesforce recently announced our third annual commissioned study from IDC, on the “Salesforce Economy,” which quantifies how cloud computing is acting as a force multiplier in terms of job creation and business revenue. It’s based on the activity of customers, developers and other partners in the Salesforce ecosystem who are leading the way in transforming how they work with digital technologies.

On a global level, the IDC study predicts that the Salesforce Economy will create 3.3 million jobs by 2022. That’s impressive enough, but look at the Canada-specific results of the research and you get an even clearer picture of what moving to the cloud is bringing to businesses here:

The customers of Salesforce and its ecosystem will generate more than $17 billion in business revenue across Canada.

  • Cloud computing reduces costs by automating many of the areas of sales, marketing service that were more manual and labour-intensive.
  • Taking the software-as-a-service model also streamlines the process of getting technology and adjusting how an organization uses it based on its needs in real-time.
  • The economic advantages not only boost productivity but allow companies to spend more time developing new products and services and bring them to market more quickly and effectively.

Those revenues, in turn,  will create more than 28,000 direct jobs in Canada by 2022.

  • As companies move to the cloud, they want skilled people in house to help drive success with tools such as customer relationship management and marketing automation.
  • Besides their own staff, companies that use the cloud work with independent software vendors (ISVs), consulting firms and developers who bring in outside expertise about the best practices in using the tools.

Salesforce and its ecosystem will also drive more than 47,000 indirect jobs in Canada over the same period.

  • Cloud computing doesn’t just lead to greater employment of technology professionals. Increased spending across the economy means organizations will also need to add a range of other hires in traditional areas such as sales, marketing, services, operations, finance and more.
  • Financial services and manufacturing will see the greatest impacts globally, according to IDC. These sectors are closely followed by retail and communications/media. These also represent some of the biggest employers in the Canadian market today.

For every dollar Salesforce earns today, Canadian businesses in the Salesforce ecosystem will earn $4.03. That will jump to $5.87 by 2022.

  • When companies turn to the cloud, they don’t just adopt products and services from Salesforce. They also bring on cloud-based tools to handle areas such as storage and security, as well as new hardware, bringing even more revenue to a variety of firms.
  • The need to bring on training and other expertise adds to the economic impact the Salesforce ecosystem delivers across Canada.

On a worldwide level, the Salesforce ecosystem is nearly four times bigger than Salesforce itself in 2017, the IDC report says. Within five years, it will be five times bigger.

For Canadian companies who are still exploring cloud computing or are uncertain about it, the numbers show just how mature the technology has become since Salesforce first brought it the market. It also shows that the cloud is a rising tide that lifts all boats, from Salesforce customers to a huge array of consultants, developers and other software and hardware companies. The cloud is also driving demand for new skills, additional talent and the ability for businesses to focus on the areas that matter most.

Take the next step by diving deeper into the complete Salesforce Economy report and comparing the impact on Canada with other countries, industries and more. Also, check out this visual look at the topline results in our infographic below and learn more about the Salesforce Partner Program by visiting Trailhead.

Source: IDC White Paper sponsored by Salesforce, “The Salesforce Economy Forecast: 3.3 Million New Jobs, $859 Billion New Business Revenues to Be Created from 2016 to 2022,” October 2017.