September 24, 2024 Exit Playbook • Strategic Planning

The Salesforce Exit Playbook: 7 Steps to Freedom

You've decided to leave Salesforce. Or you're evaluating whether it's feasible. Here's the complete methodology we use: from initial assessment to final decommission. Real timelines. Real costs. Real risk mitigation.

By Tyler Colby

The Decision

Leaving Salesforce isn't emotional. It's economic.

You've run the numbers. Annual license costs: $1.8M. Actual value delivered: maybe $600K. You could build a fit-for-purpose CRM on PostgreSQL + React for $400K, operate it for $150K/year, and save $1.25M annually.

But there's a catch. Exit costs.

If exit costs $3M and takes 24 months, the ROI is negative for 2.4 years. If leadership can't stomach that, you're stuck.

If exit costs $600K and takes 6 months, you break even in 6 months and save $1.25M every year thereafter. That's a project worth doing.

The playbook below is how we make exits predictable, fast, and low-risk.

Step 1: Assessment (2-4 Weeks)

You can't plan an exit without knowing what you're exiting from.

What We Assess

  • Data volume and complexity: Record counts per object, relationship depth, custom objects, field count
  • Customizations: Apex classes, triggers, Visualforce pages, Lightning components, flows, process builders
  • Integration landscape: Inbound APIs, outbound APIs, middleware platforms, batch jobs, webhooks
  • User dependencies: Permission sets, profiles, sharing rules, who does what
  • Data quality: Duplicate records, orphaned data, incomplete relationships, validation failures

Deliverable: Exit Feasibility Report

The report includes:

  • Complexity score: 0-100 scale (50 = moderate complexity, 80+ = high complexity)
  • Data portability score: How easily your data can be extracted with relationships intact
  • Integration complexity: Count and types of integrations, re-implementation effort
  • Estimated timeline: Best case, likely case, worst case
  • Estimated cost: Ranges for each phase
  • Risk factors: What could go wrong, mitigation strategies

Timeline: 2-4 weeks
Cost: $15K - $35K (depends on org size)

Architect's Note: Assessment must be thorough—underestimating complexity leads to failed exits. Salesforce architects look for hidden dependencies during assessment: formula fields that reference 5+ objects, validation rules that assume specific data states, workflows that modify records via cross-object field updates. The Well-Architected principle of Trusted means you need complete data lineage documentation before migration. If you can't trace how a field value got there, you can't replicate it in the target system.

Step 2: Target System Selection (1-2 Weeks)

Where are you going?

Common Target Platforms

  • HubSpot: Good for marketing-led orgs, weaker on service/support workflows
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365: Good for existing Microsoft shops, complex licensing
  • Zoho CRM: Budget-friendly, less extensible
  • Custom build: PostgreSQL + API layer + React UI. Maximum control, requires engineering team
  • Hybrid: CRM for sales, separate support platform, data warehouse for analytics

Selection Criteria

  • Feature parity: Does it do what Salesforce does that you actually use?
  • Data model fit: How much schema transformation is required?
  • Integration support: APIs, webhooks, pre-built connectors for your stack
  • User adoption: Can your team learn it quickly? UI/UX quality?
  • Total cost: Licenses + storage + integrations + maintenance

Timeline: 1-2 weeks
Cost: Included in assessment or $5K standalone

Step 3: Migration Architecture Design (2-3 Weeks)

This is where we design how data moves from Salesforce to the target system.

Key Design Decisions

1. Big Bang vs. Phased Migration

  • Big Bang: Migrate everything in one weekend. High risk, minimal dual-system complexity
  • Phased: Migrate objects incrementally (Accounts first, then Contacts, then Opportunities). Lower risk, requires data sync between systems during transition

2. Relationship Preservation Strategy

  • Map Salesforce IDs to target system IDs (maintain relationship mapping table)
  • Use External IDs for matching (requires External ID fields on all objects)
  • Export relationship metadata separately, rebuild post-migration

3. Cutover Plan

  • User access freeze in Salesforce
  • Final data extraction
  • Data load into target system
  • Validation (record counts, relationship integrity, data spot-checks)
  • User access enable in target system
  • Rollback criteria and process

Timeline: 2-3 weeks
Cost: $25K - $50K

Architect's Note: Migration architecture determines success or failure. Salesforce architects recommend parallel run validation: run both systems in parallel for 2-4 weeks before cutover, compare outputs, identify discrepancies. The Well-Architected principle of Adaptable means your migration strategy should accommodate schema evolution—if a field is added to Salesforce mid-migration, the process shouldn't break. Use configuration-driven migration pipelines, not hard-coded scripts.

Step 4: Data Migration Execution (4-8 Weeks)

This is the heavy lifting.

Migration Process

Phase 1: Extract (1-2 weeks)

  • Export all data from Salesforce (Bulk API 2.0 for performance)
  • Export relationship metadata (parent-child mappings, lookups, master-details)
  • Export historical data (Field History, Audit Trail if needed)
  • Validate completeness (record counts match, no truncated exports)

Phase 2: Transform (2-3 weeks)

  • Schema mapping: Salesforce fields → target system fields
  • Data type conversions (picklist → enum, lookup → foreign key)
  • Data cleaning (deduplicate, fix validation errors, handle nulls)
  • Relationship reconstruction (map Salesforce IDs to target IDs)

Phase 3: Load (1-2 weeks)

  • Load master data first (Accounts, Contacts, Products)
  • Load transactional data second (Opportunities, Cases, Orders)
  • Load relationship data third (rebuild parent-child links)
  • Load configuration last (workflows, validation rules, if applicable)

Phase 4: Validate (1 week)

  • Record count reconciliation (Salesforce counts = target counts)
  • Relationship integrity checks (no orphaned records)
  • Data spot-checks (sample 100 Accounts, verify all fields migrated correctly)
  • User acceptance testing (key users validate their workflows)

Timeline: 4-8 weeks
Cost: $80K - $200K (depends on data volume and complexity)

Step 5: Integration Rebuild (4-6 Weeks)

Your integrations assume Salesforce. They need to be rebuilt or reconfigured.

Integration Types

1. Inbound Integrations (data flowing INTO Salesforce)

  • Marketing automation (Marketo, Pardot, HubSpot) → CRM
  • Customer support (Zendesk, Intercom) → CRM
  • E-commerce (Shopify, WooCommerce) → CRM

Solution: Reconfigure to point to target system API. If target has pre-built connectors, use those. Otherwise, build custom API middleware.

2. Outbound Integrations (data flowing OUT OF Salesforce)

  • CRM → ERP (NetSuite, SAP)
  • CRM → Data warehouse (Snowflake, BigQuery)
  • CRM → BI tools (Tableau, Looker)

Solution: Replace Salesforce API calls with target system API calls. May require schema transformation if data structures differ.

3. Bidirectional Integrations

  • CRM ↔ Accounting (QuickBooks, Xero)
  • CRM ↔ Marketing automation

Solution: Most complex. Requires conflict resolution logic if both systems can update the same records.

Timeline: 4-6 weeks (parallel with data migration)
Cost: $50K - $150K (depends on integration count and complexity)

Architect's Note: Integration rebuilds are where exits often fail. Salesforce architects recommend API contract testing—before decommissioning Salesforce, verify every integration endpoint responds correctly in the target system. The Well-Architected principle of Easy means integrations should be simple to understand and maintain. Avoid custom middleware if pre-built connectors exist—they're maintained by the vendor, reducing your operational burden.

Step 6: Cutover and Go-Live (1 Week)

This is the weekend everything switches over.

Cutover Checklist

Friday Evening (T-3 days):

  • Freeze user access in Salesforce (read-only mode)
  • Final incremental data sync (changes since last migration run)
  • Validation checkpoint #1 (record counts, relationship integrity)

Saturday Morning (T-2 days):

  • Load final data into target system
  • Run full validation suite (automated tests + manual spot-checks)
  • Configure integrations to point to target system

Saturday Afternoon (T-1.5 days):

  • User acceptance testing in target system (key users validate workflows)
  • Rollback decision point (Go or No-Go)

Sunday Evening (T-0.5 days):

  • Enable user access in target system
  • Disable Salesforce logins (except read-only admin access)
  • Monitor integrations for failures

Monday Morning (Go-Live):

  • Users log into target system
  • War room staffed for first 8 hours (engineers + support team)
  • Monitor for issues, resolve rapidly

Timeline: 3-day weekend
Cost: $20K - $40K (weekend engineering + support team)

Step 7: Decommission and Cleanup (2-4 Weeks)

Salesforce is now read-only. You're live on the target system. Time to clean up.

Decommission Tasks

  • Week 1-2: Hypercare
    • Monitor target system stability
    • Fix any post-migration issues discovered by users
    • Keep Salesforce accessible (read-only) as fallback reference
  • Week 3: Data Archive
    • Export final Salesforce data snapshot (for compliance/legal retention)
    • Store in immutable archive (S3 Glacier, Azure Archive Storage)
    • Document retention policy (7 years typical for financial/healthcare data)
  • Week 4: License Cancellation
    • Notify Salesforce of intent to cancel (may require 30-90 day notice per contract)
    • Confirm all data exported and archived
    • Cancel user licenses
    • Monitor final invoice for unexpected charges

Timeline: 2-4 weeks post go-live
Cost: Minimal (archive storage costs only)

Architect's Note: Decommissioning is legally complex. Salesforce architects recommend consulting legal/compliance teams before deleting data. Some industries (finance, healthcare) have strict data retention requirements—7 to 10 years typical. The Well-Architected principle of Trusted means maintaining audit trails even after exit. Store not just final data snapshot, but also migration logs, validation reports, and decommission approval documentation.

Real-World Exit: SaaS Company Case Study

Company: B2B SaaS, $45M ARR, 120 employees
Salesforce Spend: $420K/year (Sales Cloud + Service Cloud + Pardot + Data Cloud)
Reason for Exit: 70% of features unused, CPQ never implemented despite license cost, engineering team could build fit-for-purpose CRM for less

Their Exit Journey

Target System: Custom-built (PostgreSQL + FastAPI + React)
Timeline: 5 months (assessment to go-live)
Total Exit Cost: $385K

Cost Breakdown:

  • Assessment: $18K
  • Migration architecture: $32K
  • Custom CRM build: $180K (parallel effort)
  • Data migration: $95K
  • Integration rebuild: $45K
  • Cutover support: $15K

Annual Savings: $420K (Salesforce) - $80K (hosting + maintenance) = $340K/year

ROI: 13.7 months to break even. 5-year savings: $1.7M.

Their CTO: "Best decision we made. We're no longer paying for a platform built for Fortune 500 companies when we needed something 10x simpler. Our custom CRM does exactly what we need, nothing more."

When NOT to Exit

Exits aren't always the right move.

Don't exit if:

  • You're using advanced Salesforce features (CPQ, Field Service, Industries solutions) that would cost more to rebuild
  • Your data quality is terrible (40%+ duplicates, broken relationships)—fix that first
  • You don't have engineering capacity to build/maintain target system
  • License costs are reasonable relative to your revenue ($200K Salesforce spend for $50M company is fine)
  • You're in the middle of rapid growth—exits create temporary productivity loss

Consider alternatives:

  • Optimization: Remove unused licenses, archive old data, renegotiate contract
  • Consolidation: If you have multiple orgs, merge them instead of exiting
  • Hybrid: Keep Salesforce for core CRM, exit non-core functions (marketing automation, support)

The Bottom Line

Salesforce exits are predictable and achievable if you follow a structured methodology.

Typical timeline: 4-8 months
Typical cost: $300K - $800K (depending on complexity)
Typical annual savings: $400K - $2M (depending on current Salesforce spend)

The playbook works. We've executed it dozens of times across industries—SaaS, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofits.

If you're spending more on Salesforce than it's worth, you have options.

The question isn't "Can we exit?"

The question is "What's our exit ROI?" If it's positive, you should execute.

Ready to Evaluate Your Exit?

We offer free 30-minute exit feasibility consultations. We'll review your org size, complexity, and costs—and give you a ballpark timeline and budget. No sales pitch. Just experienced architects who've done this before.

Schedule Exit Consultation Email Tyler
← Previous: Multi-Org Sync Center Launch Back to Blog →