Salesforce.

com Cloud Alliance Partner Program

Guide
A go-to resource for salesforce.coms consulting partners
February 2014
Version 5

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

What is the Cloud Alliance Partner Program?

The Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program is designed for consulting firms of all sizes who are
inspired to lead the social revolution as a salesforce.com partner. The program offers a robust set of
resources and tools, enabling partners to develop Salesforce expertise, effectively collaborate on customer
engagements, and profitably grow their cloud computing practice. Unlike programs developed by
traditional software providers, the Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program was built exclusively
for the cloud and is designed to leverage the clouds new customer engagement models, economics, and
potential for innovation to capitalize on the markets explosive growth.
As a member of the program, youve joined a select group of top innovators helping companies tap into
the power of social and mobile cloud technologies to revolutionize the way they connect with their
customers, partners and employees. The program gives you the support you need to:
Deliver customer success The cloud has increased the focus on customer adoption and satisfaction,
requiring ongoing engagement and tight collaboration between
vendors and their implementation partners. Based on a
A program designed for your
collaborative partnering model, the Salesforce.com Cloud
success
Alliance Partner Program promotes team selling and joint
services delivery with a focus on building customer trust and
The Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance
driving successful business outcomes.
Partner Program offers the support
you need to:
Develop specialized expertise As cloud computing matures,
professional services providers need to offer a combination of
Deliver customer success
strategic vision, deep technical skills, and specific expertise to
Develop specialized expertise
differentiate and grow their practices. The Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance
Program
offers a
GrowPartner
a thriving
practice
range of programs including sales and technical enablement, role-based product training, and a
portfolio of certifications to help you master Salesforce technologies and develop specialized skills
around specific Salesforce products, industries, or geographies.
Grow a thriving practice The Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program is designed to
capitalize on the immense opportunity of cloud computing with a disciplined go-to-market approach to
help our partners generate demand for their Salesforce business and build a profitable practice.

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

How does the Cloud Alliance Partner Program work?

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program requirements

The program offers three partnership tiers based on your commitment and the maturation of your
salesforce.com business: Global Strategic, Platinum, Gold, and Silver. All partners are enrolled in the
Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program at the level that corresponds to their current standing
with the program criteria. All partners who do not achieve the minimum program criteria will be
classified as Registered until they reach a tier status:

Level

Requirement
Global Strategic Level represents strategic partners with global presence and top
account influence (by invitation only)

Global Strategic Tier

Agreement to a global or best in country strategy that includes:

Platinum Tier

Demonstrated proficiency in Enterprise SFDC implementations

Certifications and revenue commitments

Customer satisfaction score

Ensure Customer Success

Agreement to a niche or regional strategy that includes:

Gold Tier

Demonstrated proficiency in SFDC regional or niche implementations

Certifications and revenue commitments

Customer satisfaction score

Ensure Customer Success

Agreement to a regional strategy that includes:

Silver Tier

Certifications and revenue commitments

Customer satisfaction score

Partners are those who have not agreed to a tier strategy

Registered

Key program features and value

Program
Features
1.

2.

3.

Enablement

Sales support

Marketing
support

4.

Infrastructure

Value

Foster the development of specialized capabilities

Support technical skills development

Ensure successful customer deployments

Accelerate the sales cycle

Increase win rates

Increase deal size

Generate demand

Build practice awareness with salesforce.com and customer audiences

Ensure messaging alignment

Provide clear terms of engagement

Improve business planning productivity

Reduce administrative resource requirements

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

Benefits overview
Each level of the Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program offers unique benefits designed to help grow your
business. As a member of the program, you have immediate access to a wide range of benefits in your country based
on your partner level.

General

Access to the partner portal

Program Benefits
Registered Silver Tier

Gold Tier

Platinum &
Global Strategic
Tier

Partner management

Executive Partner Advisory Council

Enablement
Cloud implementation knowledge
base
Two free SFDC licenses for internal
use
Partner Basic & Premier Support

Product roadmap briefings

Training & Certification offerings

( Premier Support available on request

for an additional fee)

Access to expert services

Marketing
General Marketing Support

Demand-generation tools

MDF
PR Promotion

Sales
Referral Incentives

Joint customer account planning

Joint go-to-market planning

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

Program criteria

Participation in the Global Strategic tier is by invite-only.

Platinum Partner Targets

US

JP

UK

AU

CA

DE

FR

NL

Sourced ACV1

3M

2M

1.5M

500K

500K

750K

750K

500K

Influenced ACV

9M

6M

4.5M

1.5M

1.5M

2M

2M

1.5M

Certified Individuals2

100

50

45

20

20

20

20

20

Technical Architects
CSAT

8.4

Customer Stories

10

Gold Partner Targets

US

JP

UK

AU

CA

DE

FR

NL

G2

G3

Sourced ACV1,3

1M

500K

300K

200K

300k

300K

300K

200K

100K

100K

Influenced ACV3

3M

1.5M

900K

600K

900K

900K

900K

600K

300K

300K

Certified Individuals2

50

25

15

15

15

15

15

15

10

10

8.4

CSAT

Customer Stories

Silver Partner Targets

Sourced ACV1,3
Certified Individuals2
CSAT

United States

Other Countries

75K

50K

10

5
8.4

1. Sourced Revenue commitments vary by Region and are subject to change.2. Platinum and Gold partners can meet country
certification requirement by applying certifications attained by offshore resources to any country if they meet the following
qualifications:

Must have over 150 total certified individuals

20% of requirement must be in country

3. Gold Partners can meet the revenue requirement by achieving the Sourced ACV target OR the Influenced ACV target.

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

Program criteria definitions

Criteria

Definition

Sourced Revenue

Any previously unknown opportunity referred by a partner as a lead submitted through

the partner portal and accepted by the SFDC sales team, resulting in new end user
purchase of original services, purchase of additional services, or upgrade to existing
services.

(NEW) Influenced Revenue

Number of certified
individuals

Technical Architect

CSAT
Customer Stories

Partner brings previously unknown intelligence to an existing SFDC opportunity or is

brought in by the AE to support close of an existing SFDC opportunity.
A certified individual who holds one (or more) SFDC certifications that can include
Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Developer, and Advanced Developer.
A certified Technical Architect who can demonstrate his knowledge, skills, and
capabilities in assessing customer architecture; design secure, high performance
technical solutions on the Force.com platform; communicate technical solutions and
design tradeoffs effectively to business stakeholders; and provide a delivery
framework that ensures quality and success.
Through the registration and closure of projects in our partner portal, customers
complete a survey that generates a Customer Satisfaction Score.
Referenceable information on a salesforce.com customer project.

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

Program advancement
Partners need to meet the criteria listed in each of the criteria categories for their region in their desired tier. We will
evaluate where partners sit against the criteria on a monthly basis throughout the year. If a partner reaches the
criteria for a higher tier, we will advance partners on a quarterly basis.
Administration of the Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program is at the full discretion of the salesforce.com
alliances leadership team.

NEW: The Salesforce Fullforce Program

The Salesforce Fullforce Program is part of the Salesforce Cloud Alliance Program and structured to recognize deep
expertise in a specific area or the development of a proven, Salesforce-based services offering.

Salesforce Fullforce Master Recognition of a Cloud Alliance Partner holding

Silver status or above that satisfies the Salesforce Fullforce Master Program criteria,
and has successfully passed the program application and review process for a
designated product or industry.
Salesforce Certified Fullforce Solution Recognition of a Cloud Alliance Partner
holding Silver status or above that has built an industry solution
satisfying the Salesforce Certified Fullforce Solution criteria, and has
successfully passed the program application and review process.
Initially, these designations will focus on the following clouds and industries:

Who Qualifies?

F ina ncia l
S erv ices

Com m s /
Media

In addition to requiring Cloud Alliance Silver status or above, the qualification criteria for a Fullforce Master or
Certified Fullforce Solution is focused on sales and delivery capabilities and demonstration of customer success. A
comprehensive list of criteria, as well as an assessment tools to verify your qualifications, can be found on the
Partner Portal.

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

What benefits do I get as a Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner?

Each tier of the Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program offers unique benefits designed to help
grow your business. As a member of the program, youll have access to a wide range of benefits based on
your partner level.
Resources to make you an expert

The first step to becoming a successful Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner is to learn our products.
Salesforce.com offers a variety of product training programs to help you deliver flawless customer
deployments. In fact, we believe certification is so indispensable to your customers success that we make
it a requirement of the program.
Salesforce.com Certification Salesforce.com offers the worlds first cloud-computing certification
program, supported by four role-based tracks: Administrators, Developers, Cloud-specific Consultants,
and Technical Architects. For each tier, candidates must follow a rigorous course of study as well as
pass a certification exam. Earning a credential from salesforce.com not only provides your team with
the skills and confidence to take full advantage of our technologies, but its used by customers and
salesforce.com alike to evaluate your teams experience.
Today, Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partners are required to have a minimum number of
certifications based on your membership tier. Details around the specific criteria by tier can be found
in the Requirements section of this document.

NEW: Technical Architect Vouchers Global Strategic and Platinum Partners will be provided
vouchers to support their attainment of salesforce.com Technical Architect Certification.

Volume discounts on certifications As the Salesforce product portfolio continues to expand, the
volume and scope of salesforce.com implementations are growing rapidly as well. To help partners
address this growing demand, the Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Program offers Gold, Platinum, and
Global Strategic partners a volume-based discount to alleviate the associated certification exam costs.
To access this benefit, please submit a case on the Partner Portal or contact your Partner Account
Manager.
Training delivery options From online to instructor-led, salesforce.com training delivery options
give you the flexibility to build a training plan that meets the specific learning needs of your
organization:

Online product training Your team members and new consultants can get up to speed
through our self-paced online courses, eliminating costly travel expenses and time away
from billable customer engagements. Courses are organized by role so your consultants
can easily locate the appropriate training for their individual needs.
To help you save money and administer training for your team, we offer subscriptionbased Premier Training, which gives your staff unlimited access to our large catalog of
self-paced online courses as well as discounts on instructor-led courses.

Public, instructor-led courses Offered in a classroom setting, these courses are led by
Salesforce experts who guide you through hands-on exercises, and share examples from a
wide range of successful implementation projects. You can start with the fundamentals
Administrative and Implementation Essentialsor jump to the coursework that best fits
your knowledge and experience. Instructor-led courses are offered throughout the year.
Find the current schedule on the online salesforce.com course catalog:
http://www.salesforce.com/services-training/training_certification/course_catalog.jsp

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

Private, instructor-led courses If you want to train a group of consultants or

developers together, you can save money and effort by having salesforce.com conduct a
private training course at your workplace. For more information and scheduling, contact
your alliance manager.

Salesforce University for Partners (Previously known as Partner Academy) Take up to a two-day
session combining presentations from Partner Productivity Managers, Solution Experts and local sales
teams. Practice development sessions are targeted for business development professionals focused on
Salesforce best practices, staff development, and sales effectiveness. The Technical Certification
Workshops focus on preparation for the cloud-specific certifications or the Technical Architect
certification.
Staying current with salesforce.com We provide three releases a year and as a result, our cloud app
is constantly evolving. New training is available free online with every release. Members of our partner
community can also participate in periodic product briefings. These training and briefing sessions cover
changes and enhancements being made to our entire product portfoliogiving you exclusive insights
that can be critical to your continued success as a salesforce.com partner.
Resources to foster collaboration

The cloud shifts the focus from installation to customer adoption and satisfaction, requiring ongoing
engagement and tight collaboration between the vendor and the partner. As a salesforce.com Cloud
Alliance Partner Program member, you have access to a range of tools, Salesforce insights, and best
practices to support you through the different phases of a customer project.
The Cloud Alliance Partner Resource Guide on the Partner Portal This guide directs you to all of
your partnership administration tools, as well as a rich set of technical reference materials and
implementation resources that help your team members deliver flawless customer deployments.
New: Check out the new and improved design and learn how to easily request your benefits with a
click of a button.
Monthly Sharing Success Webinar series Produced by our salesforce.com Productivity and
Partner Programs teams, this interactive series covers all aspects of implementation and partner selling
success.
NEW: Partner Welcome Kit - Available on the portal, the welcome kit offers a set of resources to
help partners get started with The Cloud Alliance Program.
NEW: Bi-weekly Program Office Hours - All partners are invited to attend bi-monthly office hour
sessions to get answers to questions on the partner program.
NEW: Partner Forum - Join Salesforce executives, product leaders, and other experts form the Cloud
Alliance Partner community for a full-day program designed to inspire customer transformation and
Salesforce innovation. (Participation limited to those individuals with at least one of the following
certifications: Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Advanced Developer)
NEW: Monthly Partner Onboarding Webinars - Partners can participate in monthly webinars to
help with the onboarding process. Learn how to navigate the partner portal, register a project, publish a
listing on Appexchange, and more!
Sales kits by product Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, the Platform, and Chatter. Youll find first-call
decks, demos, datasheets, whitepapers, FAQs, a list of top discovery questions, and much more in one
place.

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

Cloud Packages Global Strategic, Platinum, and Gold partners have access to a comprehensive set of
resources that span the entire life cycle of a project, from discovery to implementation. The packages
leverage assets initially developed for Salesforce Sales, Pre-Sales and Services teams. Content is
available in its original format for re-use under salesforce.com branding guidelines.
Contents may include:

First call deck for the cloud

Demo guidelines or best practices for demo configuration

Discovery documents

Objection handling documents

Scoping documents

Implementation guides

Templates for project management

Make a request through your Partner Account Manager or submit a case through the partner portal for
any of these Cloud Packages.
Developer Force Get started with Force.com, the leading cloud-computing platform for custom
application development. As Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner, you can join Developer Force and
gain access to a free Developer Edition environment plus self-guided tutorials, toolkits, and
downloadable reference books on Force.com fundamentals and advanced techniques.
Community discussion boards Discuss your concerns and connect with the community. We offer
technically oriented boards around Force.com development, including specific technologies such as
Force.com code (Apex), Force.com pages (Visualforce), Force.com sites, Java, .NET, and much more.
We also offer general boards that cover a wide range of topics to consultants, including Salesforce best
practices, desktop integration, and product discussions.
Test and demo orgs Test new technologies, create customized demos, and develop proofs of concept
for your prospects and customers. All editions are available from the partner portal.
Formal technical support Include Salesforce.com Basic Support as well as access to our new Partner
Premier Success Plan:

Basic Partner Support This free service includes:

Unlimited application and partner program-related support.

Online case submission with 2-day initial response time for all case types and
severities.

Proactive alerts and outage communication.

Partner Premier Success Plan Includes the above, plus:

Immediate access to our expert technical resources.

Continuous coverage: 24/7 toll-free phone support for Severity 1 cases

For Severity 1 cases, support is available 24/7 via phone and the Partner
Portal; Severity 1 response time is just 1 hour for cases logged via the
partner portal.

Fast response time within 1 hour for Severity 1 cases.

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

Assigned Partner Premier Support representative who serves as your single point
of contact and provides proactive case management and technical best practices.

Premier Developer Support, offering error-related troubleshooting and code

reviews plus best practices to help you build apps on the Force.com platform.

Notifications: advance notice of planned maintenance and downtimes.

Partner Premier Success review: a review of your cases, escalations, and resource
usage to make sure youre fully using your Partner Premier subscription.

For access to this Partner Premier Success Plan benefit and/or help with technical and partner
program issues, simply login to the Partner Portal and submit a case. And if youre onsite with a
premier customer, you can also log a case on your customers behalf.
Resources to grow your business

Building awareness for your firm, marketing your services, differentiating yourself from the competition,
and generating leads: these are the building blocks of every successful organization. Being a
Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner lets you position yourself as a consulting firm with strong cloudcomputing expertiseand the experience to back it up. We can help:
Joint Go-to-Market (GTM) Plans Global Strategic and Platinum partners will work directly with
their dedicated Partner Account Managers or GTM Directors to develop a set of key objectives that are
in line with each partners business needs and action plans to accomplish these objectives.
GTM plans are intended to be living documents that are co-developed, agreed upon, and reviewed
together on an ongoing basis. Key benefits of the GTM Plans include:

Common understanding of the salesforce.com partners business potential.

Clear expectations of the partnership, agreed success criteria and each others roles and
responsibilities across the value chain.

Expedient and rigorous assessments of which initiatives will provide the best return on
the resource investment.

Improved resource utilization that leverages the combined resources.

Analysis of the partners capabilities to determine the best partnering strategy.

Integration and coordination of activities to best promote the partnership internally to

salesforce.com Sales and Customers for Life organizations, as well as externally to
prospects and customers.

Alignment of partner and salesforce.com messaging and communications to existing and

potential customers.

To begin working on your GTM plan, please contact your Partner Account Manager or GTM
Director.
Joint Solution Offering Workshop - The partner will receive a one day Offering Definition
workshop (on premise or virtual) to discuss industry needed solutions and how the partnership can work
together to supply the ongoing demand.
Salesforce.com content syndication You provide a way for your website visitors to learn more about
salesforce.comand we repay you with qualified leads. Simply embed a salesforce.com free trial
button anywhere on your sitewe give you the code. When anyone coming from your site activates a

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

trial, well send you an email with a link to the new lead along with follow-up instructions on how to
qualify the lead for credit. Well even add the lead to your partner portal lead view.
This is a true win-win-win. Your prospective clients get valuable content from salesforce.com. In true
cloud-computing fashion, we manage the copy, images, and lead buttons. You can even choose from
multiple languages. With salesforce.com content syndication, you get the recognition of being a
salesforce.com partner, along with a list of qualified leads.
The AppExchange services and solutions marketplace As a Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance
Partner, you can market and deliver your services and solutions to the largest cloud-computing
customer audienceover 100,000 customers and counting. Listings include an overview and details of
your services, optional pricing, and customer reviews, including evaluation of quality, cost and meeting
the schedule; partner experience, number of salesforce.com certified professionals, and other experience
and satisfaction metrics; and a profilewhich you can use to augment your listing with demos, white
papers, and customer success stories.
Event sponsorships Sponsorships give you access to high-value, lead-generation opportunities and
more attention from our sales and marketing teams, the developer community, and press and analysts.
Youll find a central clearinghouse for reserving targeted sponsorships of conferences, gatherings, and
Web properties in the Go-to-Market section of the partner portal.
And more The Go-to-Market section offers a host of marketing tools and resources to help you
generate awareness and drive demand for your products and services. Youll also find PR templates,
logos, and usage guidelines that help you align with the salesforce.com brand and promote your
relationship with our company.
General resources to manage your business

Our account, lead, opportunities, and project management resources will not only help you stay
organized, but help give your organization hands-on experience with cloud-based CRM.
Executive Quarterly Business Reviews: Global Strategic, Platinum, and select Gold partners will
work closely with their Partner Account Manager or GTM Director to review the state of their
Salesforce practices and current objectives for the upcoming quarter.
Executive Partner Advisory Council Global Strategic and Platinum Partner Practice Leads will be
invited to participate in advisory councils to provide feedback to salesforce.com and the Salesforce.com
Cloud Alliance Partner Program.
Executive Briefing Conference Global Strategic and Platinum partners will be provided one
Executive Briefing Conference per year. The EBC program provides the latest information on
salesforce.com innovation and solutions, plus exclusive access to our company executives, product
leaders and industry and services experts. Contact your Partner Account Manager or GTM Director for
details.
Partner newsletter Receive regular updates on the latest program announcements, tips from
Salesforce experts, insights from your peers, info about networking events, and educational
opportunities. Keep your personal information up to date in the partner portal so that you can stay in the
know and dont miss a single edition of the salesforce.com Partner Newsflash.
Salesforce.com Certification management The certifications attained by your entire organization are
essential marketing tools to promote your skills and Salesforce expertise. Your individual team
members can easily link their completed certifications to your partner account through Webassessor,
our certification exam provider. The number of certified professionals on staff will be displayed to
prospects and customers via your AppExchange listings.

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

My Leads This feature lets you submit, view, and edit leads, and be eligible to earn a percentage of
the revenue for referred accounts.
My Opportunities Qualified leads are converted to new opportunities, which we tag as partnersourced and assign to an account executive, who will discuss the opportunity with you. My
Opportunities will keep you both on the same page: tracking current status, active account executive,
your role in the sale, and, once the opportunity is won, the dollar amount.
Customer Satisfaction Surveys Monitoring customer satisfaction lets you evaluate your projects
success and provides insight into your customers assessment of the value you delivered. As you
complete a customer project and enter the project end date in the portal, youre required to send out a
satisfaction survey. Your project status will not change to Completed until your customer returns the
survey. Survey results will appear within your AppExchange listings to help potential customers
evaluate your services. We also use this information internally to evaluate your performance during our
semi-annual partner reviews.

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

CLOUD ALLIANCE PARTNER PROGRAM FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What changes were made to the program in FY15?
A: 1) Introduction of Global Strategic Tier: As part of FY15 program enhancements, weve introduced a
new partner category to generate more market leverage from our global partners. This new Global
Strategic designation will be offered to a select group of Partners with a focus on:

Customer influence and delivery capacity globally

Strategic account and vertical market development

Technology innovation

2) Simplified Criteria Categories To highlight our core values, we have simplified our partner
program criteria. In FY15, we will focus on the following categories:

Sourced Revenue

Influenced Revenue (added influenced revenue targets for Gold)

Certified Individuals

Technical Architects (Platinum Only)

CSAT

Customer Stories

3)Enhanced Benefits For FY15, we enhanced our benefit offering to help you grow your business,
including Bi-Weekly Program Office Hours, Monthly Onboarding Webinars, and ongoing
Enablement Programs (i.e. Partner Forum Roadshow to our Top 8 countries).
Q: How can I qualify for Global Strategic?
A: Global Strategic is an invite-only tier and not available to all partners.
Q: How does a partner advance through the program tiers?
A: Partners need to meet the criteria listed in each of the criteria categories for their region in their desired
tier. At the beginning of each quarter, we will conduct the Partner Evaluation Period, during which we
will evaluate all partner standings for the previous quarter. We will advance partners to the appropriate
tiers based on criteria achievement.
Q: Do existing partners need to take any action to stay in the program for FY15?
A: We will be conducting the FY14 Partner Evaluation after fiscal year end. Partners who achieved the
FY14 criteria will automatically secure their position for the same tier for 6 months. By July 31, 2014,
Partners must meet 40% of the FY15 criteria to remain in their tier for the rest of the year.
Q: What if I dont achieve the 40% of the FY15 criteria by July 31st? Will I be moved down to a
lower tier?
A: We will be recalibrating partner tiering based on achievement of 40% of FY15 criteria during the first
half of the year. If a Partner did not achieve the targets for their desired tier, they will be moved down
during the H1 Partner Evaluation scheduled for the first week of August 2014.
Q: Can I advance to the next tier outside of the quarterly evaluation period?

Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner Program Guide

A: Partners can only advance during the partner evaluation period. If a partner achieves criteria for the
next tier at any point during the quarter, they will need to wait until the beginning of the next quarter for
their tier to be updated.
Q: How will I know if I qualified for advancement?
A: We will issue a Notification Welcome Letter to all partners who qualified for advancement shortly
after the Partner Evaluation Period has closed.
Q: If I was a Silver partner but didnt meet the Silver Criteria, will I be moved to Registered?
A: Yes, all Silver partners who did not achieve the Silver criteria for their specific country will move to
Registered.
Q: If I dont have a PAM, who can I contact if I have a question?
A: You can send an email to cloudalliance@salesforce.com or submit a case on the partner portal.
Q: Does Administrator Certification count towards the Certification target?
A: No. Only Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Developer/Advanced Developer count towards the
certification targets.
Q: If a partner only wants to focus on selling Salesforce licenses, will the Silver Tier need
certification?
A: Yes, certified individuals are required of Silver partners.
Q: Does the Cloud Alliance program include Nonprofits and Higher Education?
A: The Salesforce.com Foundation manages all Nonprofit and Higher Education opportunities. Please
contact: foundationpartners@salesforce.com.
Q: Which countries are included in Groups 1, 2 and 3?

Group 1 includes salesforce.com's top markets: United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia,
France, Germany, Canada, and Netherlands.
Group 2 includes countries in EMEA and APAC excluding those countries listed in Group 1.
Group 3 includes all remaining countries not included in Group 1 and 2.