Case Study

Technology

How a World-Renowned U.S. Tech Company Saved Over $440,000 Through Salesforce Optimization

Salesforce is a powerful CRM platform, yet it comes at a high and steadily growing price. Licensing fees, storage limitations, API call caps, and the need for additional tools or consulting can quickly push annual costs well into six figures, becoming a major blocker to growth.

Moreover, the lack of ownership over business data and insufficient integration capabilities are limiting for enterprises expecting control and scaling flexibility from such tools.

A tablet with charts of Salesforce costs.

Facing these challenges, a leading U.S.-based tech company partnered with us to find a more sustainable solution.

During our collaboration, we migrated their Salesforce data to a scalable, cost-efficient AWS architecture, eliminating their dependency on Salesforce for analytics and reporting. As a result, we helped them save more than $440,000 through Salesforce optimization.

About the Client

Our client is one of the world’s most recognizable U.S.-based technology companies, known for its popular web browser, email client, open-source software, and contributions to web standards.

For one of its products, the company relied on Salesforce CRM. However, rising costs, missing key features, and limited control over business data made the platform increasingly unsustainable.

A Salesforce developer working with the Code.

To maintain business continuity while transitioning to a more efficient solution, the company turned to STX Next and our Salesforce Optimization Services.

That’s where the story begins.

I see companies start with 20GB in Salesforce, feel great about the $150/month storage. Three years later they're at 180GB paying $3,200/month, and their reports take forever to load. Our client achieved 40% cost reduction and faster reporting after we migrated their historical data to AWS. About 70% of most clients' data should cost $12/month in cloud storage, not $2,400 in Salesforce. But the migration has to maintain business continuity, which is where most companies get stuck.

Tomasz Jędrośka
Head of Data Engineering, STX Next

Client’s Challenges
& Pain Points

Limited data ownership and control.

Unscalable pricing structure and increasing maintenance costs.

Lack of required features, such as real-time data insights.

Difficult integration with other tools.

Lack of technical in-house team to address Salesforce configuration.

Optimize Salesforce to be more cost-effective and scalable in the long term.

Unify revenue, marketing, and customer insights into a structured data lake, supporting business intelligence and future growth.

Project Goals

Gain full control over business data.

Custom Salesforce configuration to obtain new features, such as real-time insights and tailor-made dashboards.

Cost Comparison

Custom AWS Solution vs Salesforce (Einstein 1)

The solution

Migrating Salesforce Data to a Scalable AWS Architecture

The STX Next team used a phased approach to rebuild critical Salesforce features using AWS-native tooling.

A big buildings in the centre of a city.

Core Capabilities

Centralized Data Lake

All revenue sources (donations, subscriptions, Google Play, Stripe, PayPal) stored in AWS for unified access.

Automated Data Ingestion

Salesforce data extracted, transformed, and stored with AWS Glue and S3.

Dashboards & Reporting

Recreate key reports in Amazon QuickSight, providing real-time insights.

Marketing & UTM Tracking

Enables attribution of campaigns to revenue performance.

Customer Case Management

Migrates donor support cases from Salesforce to Zendesk.

Security & Governance

Implements data policies, controlled access, and structured documentation.

Future Enhancements

Predictive Analytics

Machine learning models to forecast donation trends.

Automated Email Data Processing

NLP-based CRM data extraction.

Real-Time Analytics

Live dashboarding for fundraising and marketing activities.

Cross-Platform Data Integration

Correlation of revenue with product telemetry data.

Team Structure

For each project, we put together a dedicated team to maximize business value and optimize project costs and time. We are able to cover competencies holistically, from strategy, through infrastructure and development, to governance and design.

Data lake on AWS

We used AWS Glue to extract Salesforce data – covering deals, transactions, subscriptions, and payment provider records – and stored it in Amazon S3. The data was then transformed into analytics-friendly formats such as Apache Iceberg, making it easily queryable with Amazon Athena. In larger ecosystems, it can also be accessed via Amazon Redshift (including its serverless option) or Snowflake.

Automated reporting

Data control was one of our client's most important objectives. Our team rebuilt key financial and operational dashboards using Amazon QuickSight. With automated refresh pipelines, business teams always have access to up-to-date metrics without relying on Salesforce reporting.

CRM and case migration

We migrated donor support and CRM-related data to more cost-efficient tools like HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Zoho. These platforms offer strong integration and automation features with significantly lower recurring costs – delivering greater business value and ROI to our client.

Future-ready foundation

Our client needed a solution that was both cost-efficient and scalable for the long term. With that in mind, we designed an architecture that supports predictive analytics, real-time dashboards, and advanced attribution models without incurring additional licensing fees.

Custom AWS Solution vs. Salesforce in numbers

Key takeway:

Over five years, a custom AWS-based solution can save more than $440,000 compared to Salesforce, all while offering more control, flexibility, and future readiness.

A comparison between AWS Solution and Salesforce in numbers.

Business Impact of the Migration

At the beginning of our cooperation, the client approached us with very specific expectations. They needed a solution that would give them full control over their data, meet their aspirations for growth and scaling, and be cost-efficient in the long run. And we are proud to say that we helped them meet these goals.

A grahics of people walking in the office.

Benefits achieved through Salesforce optimization

Total Data Ownership

Full control over infrastructure, access policies, and data retention rules.

Custom Features

Tailor-made solutions designed to meet specific business needs and support real workflows

Reduced Vendor Lock-In

Open standards and modular architecture enable flexibility for future changes

Scalability Without Cost Surprises

AWS costs scale with actual usage (not per user), reducing Salesforce-related expenses by up to 80%.

Rethinking Salesforce costs?

If your organization is facing steep Salesforce bills and limited flexibility, now is the time to rethink the setup. Migrate from an expensive, license-based tool without losing business continuity or compromising performance.

At STX Next, we specialize in building efficient, modern data solutions that help companies grow without overspending. Let’s talk about your project!

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