AI, Midsize Business Partnerships Boost Salesforce in Germany, ISG Finds

Yahoo

07-05-2025

Recent collaborations and partnerships with German SMB backers are positioning Salesforce as a premier AI business partner, ISG Provider Lens™ report says
FRANKFURT, Germany, May 07, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Enterprises in Germany are increasingly looking to service providers in the Salesforce ecosystem to help them leverage generative AI (GenAI) and autonomous AI agents to reshape their business operations, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm.
The 2025 ISG Provider Lens™ Salesforce Ecosystem Partners report for Germany finds that as more enterprises embrace the transitional power of AI-powered, agentic services, data integration has become an emerging critical factor in determining their success.
"Simply implementing the Salesforce CRM platform is no longer sufficient," said Dr. Matthias Paletta, director and technology modernization solution lead, ISG EMEA. "Businesses must leverage integrated data to drive intelligent automation, deliver personalized experiences and streamline operations."
The companies that thrive in this new era, the report says, will be the ones that manage to synthesize disparate data points into actionable intelligence and help companies transform not just their businesses, but the overall business landscape.
The report notes that approximately one-third of German midsize enterprises (Mittelstand) are already significantly leveraging AI in their business operations. Salesforce's recently formed partnership with Deutscher Mittelstands-Bund (the German Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses) underscores the platform provider's strategy to position itself as a key partner for German SMBs, particularly in implementing AI- and data-driven solutions.
One potential hindrance to this growth plan is a suddenly sluggish economy. Economic uncertainty and cautious IT spending among German enterprises could dampen momentum, leading to a more subdued demand environment as well as potential setbacks for Salesforce in its continued competition for the CRM space against SAP and Microsoft.
With a skills shortage already impacting German enterprises, companies of all sizes may find it more challenging to navigate the complexities of adopting advanced AI and automation tools, the report notes. Service providers in the Salesforce ecosystem should see this situation as an opportunity.
"Enterprises are tired of finding themselves confined to any single vendor's ecosystem, preferring instead to choose best-of-breed tools that do what they need them to do," said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. "This gives rise to the need for hybrid platforms in multicloud environments, which paves the way for partnerships and open ecosystems."