Salesforce Security & Compliance Negotiation

Salesforce Security & Compliance Negotiation Guide: Shield, Encryption, and Data Residency

Salesforce Security & Compliance Negotiation Guide Shield, Encryption, and Data Residency

Salesforce Security & Compliance Negotiation Guide

Security and compliance terms in your Salesforce deal are not “post-sale add-ons” – they are central to the value you get, the risks you avoid, and your total cost of ownership. In 2025, enterprises will face intense regulatory scrutiny and cross-border data restrictions, alongside new concerns regarding AI and data usage.

This means you must treat security features and data handling commitments as must-haves to negotiate up front, just like price and volume. By proactively negotiating security and compliance features, you ensure Salesforce meets your enterprise requirements at a reasonable cost, rather than accepting vendor defaults or expensive upsells later.

Today’s environment demands more than trust; it requires verification. Instead of assuming Salesforce’s standard terms will cover all your needs, address them in the contract.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to negotiate key areas – Salesforce Shield pricing, encryption options, data residency (Hyperforce), compliance certifications, and service level agreements – to align Salesforce’s offering with your company’s security and compliance objectives. The goal is to get the protection and assurances you need without paying more than necessary or leaving critical gaps.

Salesforce Shield & Security Add-Ons

Salesforce Shield is an umbrella package of security features that Salesforce often pitches to enterprise customers with compliance needs.

In plain English, Shield includes:

  • Platform Encryption – enhanced encryption of data at rest at the field level (beyond Salesforce’s standard background encryption).
  • Event Monitoring – detailed logs of user activity and system events, helpful for security analytics and incident response.
  • Field Audit Trail – extended data history retention (beyond the standard 18 months) to track changes for compliance or forensic needs.

These features are particularly valuable for regulated industries or those with strict internal policies. However, Salesforce typically treats Shield as an add-on product (the “Salesforce encryption add-on” and security bundle) rather than part of the base license.

The pricing models for Shield can vary. Often it’s presented as an organization-level cost calculated as a percentage of your total Salesforce spend (commonly around 20–30% of net license fees for the full Shield bundle).

In some cases, specific components might be available as per-user add-ons or included in higher-tier editions. For example, Salesforce might bundle certain security features into its top-tier “Unlimited” edition or large Customer 360 deals. Still, if you’re on a lower tier, they’ll quote Shield as a separate line item.

Negotiation strategies for Shield and security add-ons:

  • Bundle Shield in your deal: If you’re signing a new large agreement or expanding your Salesforce use, negotiate to include Shield as part of the package. Vendors are more flexible during big sales – you can often get Shield at a steep discount or effectively free by tying it to your core license purchase. Emphasize that security is a requirement, not a luxury, for your use case.
  • Position Shield as risk reduction: Frame the discussion around how Shield features reduce enterprise risk (e.g., preventing breaches, meeting regulatory mandates). This shifts it from a “nice-to-have” upsell to an essential element of the deal. Salesforce reps are more likely to concede discounts if they see it’s key to closing the deal and mitigating customer risk concerns.
  • Seek Data Mask for free: Don’t forget related security tools. Salesforce Data Mask (for sandbox data anonymization) is often a separate add-on that masks PII in dev/test environments. Storing real customer data in test sandboxes is a security risk. As part of your negotiation, ask for Data Mask licenses to be included at no or low cost. This is a reasonable ask to ensure you can safely use real data in non-production without compliance issues.
  • Lock pricing for the full term: If you do add Shield or any security add-on, negotiate a price lock for your entire subscription term. Salesforce’s list prices tend to rise annually, and discount promotions can evaporate at renewal. Insist that the Shield pricing or discount you agree on is fixed for, say, the next 3-5 years of your contract. Also negotiate a cap on any price uplift at renewal – for example, no more than a 5% increase – to avoid a surprise jump in cost once you’re dependent on these features.
  • Avoid short-term promos with steep renewals: Be wary of deals that make Shield look cheap in Year 1 but then balloon later. Always clarify what the renewal pricing will be. A good strategy is to incorporate multi-year pricing into the contract or, at the very least, pre-negotiate the renewal rate for Shield and related products.

By treating Shield and its components as negotiable, you can often bring the cost down to an acceptable level or have them included. The key is to start that conversation early in the deal process.

Next, we’ll dive deeper into encryption specifics and how to ensure you get the right encryption capabilities without unnecessary cost.

Encryption & Key Management

Encryption is a cornerstone of data security, and Salesforce knows it – which is why advanced encryption often comes at an added cost. Out of the box, Salesforce encrypts data at rest on its servers, but Salesforce manages the keys, and the encryption is largely transparent to customers (meeting basic industry standards). However, some organizations need a higher level of control.

This is where the Salesforce Shield Platform Encryption (the Salesforce encryption add-on) comes in. It allows you to encrypt specific fields and data at the application level using keys you control, adding an extra layer of security for sensitive data such as social security numbers, credit card information, or health records.

Native encryption vs Shield Platform Encryption in simple terms: The native encryption-at-rest protects data on disk but is managed entirely by Salesforce (you don’t see or touch the keys).

Shield Platform Encryption allows you to bring your own encryption key (BYOK) or use Salesforce-managed tenant secrets that you have more control over. With Shield, even if someone at Salesforce wanted to read your field data, they couldn’t without the key, because the data is encrypted at the field level in the app.

From a compliance perspective, BYOK is attractive: you can supply and control the keys, and even rotate or revoke them if needed. But this comes with operational overhead for your security team (SecOps). If you manage your own keys, you must have processes in place for key rotation (periodically changing keys to limit exposure) and possibly re-encryption of data.

You also need a plan for key loss or compromise – if a key is lost, any data encrypted with it could become permanently unreadable.

Additionally, using BYOK means certain support processes change: for example, Salesforce support might be limited in troubleshooting encrypted data issues since they don’t have your key.

Negotiation points for encryption and key management:

  • No charge for basic encryption: Make sure Salesforce isn’t charging you for what should be standard. Basic encryption at rest is a default expectation today – ensure any mention of encryption in the deal is truly about the enhanced Shield features, not something fundamental. If a compliance requirement calls for encryption that Salesforce can meet with native capabilities, push back on needing an add-on at all. In other words, don’t pay extra for baseline security.
  • BYOK support and pricing: If you require BYOK (which many financial, government, or healthcare organizations do), negotiate any enablement fees or support upfront. Sometimes, enabling BYOK might involve working with Salesforce services or support for initial setup (like integrating with a Hardware Security Module or key management service). Ask for preferential pricing or included hours for BYOK setup and ongoing support. For example, get Salesforce to include a few consulting hours to help generate and import keys, or to document a key rotation playbook with you. You want BYOK to be a smooth process, not an expensive consulting project.
  • Contractual clarity on key ownership: Ensure the contract explicitly states that encryption keys remain under your control and that Salesforce (and its subcontractors) will not access or use them beyond providing the service. Define the process if a key compromise or incident happens – e.g., Salesforce must promptly notify you if they detect any issue with the encryption service or suspect key material might be at risk. Having this in writing protects you and sets expectations on incident handling.
  • SLAs for encryption features: If you’re relying on Shield Platform Encryption for critical data, the uptime of that feature matters. Negotiate service level agreements (SLAs) specific to the encryption service and key management. For instance, if the encryption service were to fail or have latency (which could theoretically block you from accessing data), Salesforce should have an obligation to restore it quickly. Also, if you request a key rotation or revocation, ask for a defined timeframe in which that will be executed. These details ensure that the encryption layer doesn’t become a single point of failure for your operations.

In summary, treat encryption as a first-class element of the contract. Get the enhanced encryption you need, but pin down the costs and responsibilities. Next, we’ll look at data residency – a hot topic in the era of cloud sovereignty and Salesforce Hyperforce.

Data Residency and Hyperforce

With data privacy laws tightening globally, where your Salesforce data is stored and processed has become a top concern. Salesforce’s answer to these concerns is Hyperforce.

This architecture enables Salesforce instances to run on public cloud infrastructure in various regions (e.g., AWS, Azure), providing customers with more choice over data locality.

Suppose you operate in regions with strict data residency laws (like the EU, India, Australia, and more).

In that case, you’ll want to ensure Salesforce can host your org’s data in-country or in-region, and commit to keeping it there. This often involves both technical enablement (via Hyperforce deployment in the chosen region) and contractual agreements (to back that up legally).

Overview of Hyperforce negotiation:

As of 2025, Hyperforce is rolling out across many markets, but it might not be the default for every customer. If regional deployment is critical, you should proactively request it. Find out if Salesforce can deploy your instance on Hyperforce in your required geography (or migrate your existing org to a Hyperforce instance).

The negotiation here may involve timelines and assurances; for example, if Hyperforce in your region is “coming soon,” obtain a commitment on when and how your data will be moved once it becomes available.

Sometimes Salesforce might require certain contract commitments (like multi-year terms or minimum spend) to prioritize a Hyperforce deployment for you – treat that as part of the give-and-take in negotiation.

Key elements of a Salesforce data residency agreement to negotiate:

  • Region-specific hosting commitment: Insist on contract language that your Salesforce data will be stored and processed in [the specified country or region]. This should include primary storage and backups. For example, a European company might require all data to reside in EU data centers only. If Salesforce offers an “EU Operating Zone” or similar (where even support and processing are EU-only), make sure that’s codified in the agreement.
  • Limits on cross-border data transfer: Include clauses that limit data movement outside the agreed region. This can extend to how support is delivered – e.g., support personnel accessing your org should be based in-region or follow certain protocols if accessing from elsewhere. Also, scrutinize the list of sub-processors (vendors Salesforce uses, like cloud providers). You may add conditions that any sub-processor handling your data must also be within the chosen region or compliant with specific standards.
  • Change control for data location: Negotiate a strong change control clause. Salesforce should not move your data to another region or data center without your approval. If infrastructure changes are needed (say Salesforce wants to shift workloads to a new cloud provider or a different region), they must give you advance notice and obtain consent. This protects you from quietly being moved out of compliance due to Salesforce’s internal decisions. Ideally, you also want an out if they can no longer meet your residency requirements (for instance, the right to terminate or get a refund if they can’t provide a promised regional service).
  • Transparency and audit rights: For high-sensitivity scenarios, you may request the ability to verify the location of data. While Salesforce won’t let customers audit their data centers, they can provide architectural documentation or certifications that confirm data residency controls. Include a clause that Salesforce will, upon request, affirm that data remains in the agreed region and provide relevant audit artifacts (like ISO certifications for that region’s cloud, etc.).

Pricing and commitment angles for Hyperforce:

  • Regional pricing consistency: Be aware that deploying in certain regions could come with different cost structures. Negotiate to avoid a “region tax.” If Salesforce claims the infrastructure in your country costs more, push back unless clearly justified. Where possible, lock in your pricing such that moving to a regional cloud doesn’t spike your costs.
  • Migration support and timelines: If you’re moving an existing org to Hyperforce, negotiate the migration as part of the deal. Salesforce should ideally handle the migration without service charges or with minimal cost, since it’s mutually beneficial (they want customers on Hyperforce). Also pin down the timeline – e.g., “Salesforce will migrate our org to the [Country] Hyperforce environment by Q3 2025.” If they miss that, ensure there are some consequences or at least the ability to revisit terms.
  • Align with renewal/co-term: If your contract renewal is coming up, align the Hyperforce deployment with it. For example, agree that the new regional environment will be in place by the start of the next term, and that any specific terms for Hyperforce (like data residency clauses) kick in from day one. Co-terming any add-ons or migrations with your main contract can simplify management and give you leverage (you’re negotiating everything as one package, which Salesforce will want to get signed).

Data residency is a major negotiating lever because it’s often a deal-breaker for customers. Use that leverage: Salesforce will work with you to find a solution (they don’t want to lose a deal over this), which might mean price concessions or special arrangements to meet your needs.

Compliance Certifications & Uptime (SLA) Tie-In

Enterprises in regulated sectors or with strict internal policies will have a checklist of compliance certifications and controls that any SaaS provider must meet.

When spending big on Salesforce, you should not just assume “Salesforce is certified, so we’re fine.” You want those assurances written into your agreements and to have remedies if they fall short.

Typical security and compliance frameworks large organizations expect Salesforce to adhere to include: ISO 27001 (information security management), SOC 1 and SOC 2 (audit reports on controls relevant to financial reporting and security), and often industry or region-specific regimes.

For example, a U.S. government agency will require FedRAMP authorized services (Salesforce has a Government Cloud for this), healthcare companies need a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) if ePHI is stored, and European customers look at GDPR compliance (often via Data Processing Addenda) and perhaps things like EU Cloud Code of Conduct or national standards.

If your business has specific needs (PCI-DSS for credit card data, ISO 27017 for cloud security, etc.), lay them on the table early.

Negotiating compliance commitments:

  • Contractual inclusion of certifications: It’s wise to explicitly reference Salesforce’s key compliance certifications in your contract or an addendum. For instance, state that Salesforce shall maintain ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certification for the duration of the contract, and provide updated certificates or audit reports annually to your company. This gives you a legal foothold; if Salesforce were to lose a certification or fail an audit, it could be considered a breach of contract. While Salesforce maintains these, having it in writing ensures you’re covered.
  • Regulatory audit support: If your regulators ever ask you to prove Salesforce’s compliance, you may need more than just a certificate. Negotiate rights to request further information or even to have Salesforce participate in compliance inquiries. Some customers negotiate the right to audit Salesforce’s security controls relevant to them (usually this is a coordinated effort, not you walking into a data center – it might mean Salesforce agrees to a review meeting, or provides responses to a security questionnaire, etc.). At the very least, ensure Salesforce will promptly provide SOC reports, pen test summaries, or other documentation if you need them for your audits.
  • Notification of changes: Include a clause that Salesforce will notify you of significant security or compliance changes – for example, if they change a sub-processor, if they plan to move data centers (as covered earlier), or if a certification status changes. Timely notification (say, 30-60 days in advance for known changes, and immediately for incidents) allows you to manage your compliance obligations proactively.

Now, about uptime and service reliability: Salesforce typically offers a standard Service Level Agreement (SLA) for uptime (for example, a target like 99.9% availability per month, with some service credit if they fall short).

However, not all SLAs are equal, and if your use of Salesforce is mission-critical or tied to regulations, you may need to tighten those terms.

SLA negotiation tips:

  • Match your uptime needs: Determine if Salesforce’s default SLA meets your business and regulatory needs. If you run a critical service on Salesforce (say, a public customer portal for a bank), an outage could not only cost revenue but also put you out of compliance if uptime requirements aren’t met. You may be able to negotiate a higher uptime commitment or a more granular measurement. If Salesforce normally calculates over a month, you may need it to be calculated per week or for critical periods.
  • Meaningful service credits: Standard service credits for SaaS downtime are often small (a fraction of monthly fees) and might not adequately compensate for the business impact. While you won’t get Salesforce to pay your losses, you can push for higher-tier credits if availability falls below certain thresholds. For example, if an outage is severe (like below 99% uptime in a month), you could negotiate a credit that’s a larger percentage of fees, or a credit for each percentage point below target. The goal is to incentivize Salesforce to prioritize your uptime – if the penalty is bigger, it gets more attention internally.
  • Remedies for chronic issues: If you have a very low tolerance for downtime due to compliance or contractual obligations on your side, consider negotiating an exit clause or penalty for repeated SLA failures. For instance, “If Salesforce fails to meet the SLA for 3 consecutive months or 4 times in 12 months, Client may terminate the contract without penalty.” This is a strong clause and not always granted, but it puts real teeth into the SLA. At a minimum, it can prompt Salesforce to provide additional support or architectural guidance to prevent recurring issues.
  • Incident response commitments: Tie in security incident response times to the contract as well. Regulations like GDPR require that you (the data controller) notify authorities of a breach within 72 hours. You’ll need Salesforce to notify you immediately (or within 24 hours) of any breach or incident affecting your data so that you can meet your obligations. Ensure the contract includes provisions for quick notification, cooperation in forensic investigations, and regular updates until the incident is resolved. Having these spelled out ensures you’re not left waiting if something goes wrong.

By firming up compliance and SLA terms, you add accountability. Salesforce is a large, trustworthy provider, but when the stakes are high, trust must be complemented by verification – in writing.

Negotiation Tactics for Security: Value-Adds & Guardrails

When negotiating a Salesforce deal with security and compliance in mind, it’s not just about hammering the vendor on price. It’s also about obtaining value-added services to enhance your security posture and establishing guardrails to manage costs in the long term.

Here are tactics on both fronts:

Ask for security value-adds: Often, Salesforce (especially at the enterprise level) can provide extra services or benefits that aren’t advertised on the price list. If you’re making a significant investment, ask for things that will help your team get the most out of the security features.

For example:

  • Security Health Check and Architecture Review: Request a periodic security review of your Salesforce implementation. Salesforce has experts who can review your org’s security settings (password policies, network access controls, etc.) and advise on best practices. Similarly, an architecture review might help ensure your data sharing model or integration approach is secure. These are typically things Salesforce’s Customer Success or services teams can offer for strategic customers.
  • Event Monitoring onboarding support: If you purchase Event Monitoring (part of Shield), ask for help in setting up dashboards or alerts. Salesforce can provide guidance or even tools (like pre-built Splunk dashboards or Einstein Analytics templates) to make sense of the log data. Negotiate a workshop or enablement sessions so your security analysts can hit the ground running with those event logs.
  • Data protection workshops: For instance, if you are adopting Data Loss Prevention (DLP) features or Einstein Data Detect (for identifying sensitive data), request that a workshop or training be included. Salesforce might throw in a half-day session with a specialist to help your team configure data classification, masking rules, etc. Similarly, you could request an incident response tabletop exercise with Salesforce participation – basically a simulated security incident to test both sides’ processes. This helps uncover gaps and build relationships with Salesforce’s security team, which is invaluable in a crisis.

These value-adds often don’t cost Salesforce much (they have the expertise in-house), but can significantly increase the value you get. It also subtly shifts the relationship from vendor vs customer to partners tackling security challenges together.

Set cost guardrails for the long term: Negotiating the initial price is one thing, but savvy customers also plan for years two, three, and beyond. Security features, especially, can creep in cost as your usage grows or Salesforce’s pricing evolves.

Here’s how to keep costs in check:

  • Price-lock and term guarantees: As mentioned earlier, lock prices for all key security components (Shield, encryption, any compliance-related add-ons) for the duration of your contract. Also consider negotiating fixed pricing for additional quantities. For example, if you add 1,000 more users or a new division during the term, the rate per user for Shield remains the same as originally negotiated. This avoids the scenario where you expand usage and suddenly have to pay a higher unit price because that addition wasn’t covered.
  • Capped renewal uplifts: We’ve covered this but it’s worth emphasizing as a guardrail: set a maximum cap on renewal increase. Many customers aim for 0% increase for the first renewal and a single-digit percentage cap for the next. Even if your procurement policy expects some inflation, having it capped (e.g., 3-5% per year or tied to an inflation index) gives budget certainty. Make sure this cap applies to each component, so Salesforce doesn’t freeze your core price but double the add-on price later.
  • Pre-negotiate future add-ons: Think ahead about other security features you might need. Perhaps you can skip buying Security Center or a new compliance module today. Try to negotiate right-of-first-refusal or favored pricing if you decide to add them later. For instance, “Salesforce will provide Security Center licenses at a 50% discount if purchased within 2 years” – something along those lines, in a side letter or amendment. This way, you won’t be stuck paying full price should you need that feature mid-term.
  • Avoid forced bundle upgrades: A tricky cost trap is when certain security features are only available in higher editions or bundles. To avoid this, negotiate exceptions. If, say, you only need a particular security feature that normally comes with an “Unlimited” edition, ask Salesforce to enable it on your current edition as a condition of your deal. Or negotiate a smaller bundle that includes just what you need. The idea is to prevent a situation where you have to upgrade all your users or buy a mega-bundle just to get one or two critical features. Get those assurances now, or you’ll have no leverage later.

By combining value-add services with cost protections, you ensure that your Salesforce security posture is strong from day one and stays affordable over time. Now, let’s summarize a lot of these recommendations into a handy checklist matrix.

Security & Compliance Negotiation Checklist

Below is a checklist of areas to secure in your Salesforce negotiation, with what to focus on, levers to pull, red flags to watch out for, and the ideal outcomes to target. Use this as a worksheet when preparing for talks with Salesforce:

AreaWhat to SecureNegotiation LeversRed Flags to AvoidOutcome to Target
Shield pricingOrg-wide or per-user costs; term lockBundle with core deal; multi-year commit for discountShort-term promo with steep Year 2 increaseFull-term price lock; minimal renewal uplift (e.g. ≤5%)
Platform Encryption (BYOK)Key ownership and supportInclude BYOK enablement hours; define key rotation SLAs“Best-effort” or undefined key recovery supportCustomer-controlled keys with documented runbooks & guaranteed support SLAs
Data MaskSandbox data masking coverageAsk for free or discounted licenses covering all sandboxesPaying per sandbox with no volume reliefEnterprise-wide masking rights included for dev/test environments
Data residencyRegion pinning; support access localityContractual region commitment; customer approval for changesBroad data transfer exceptions or vague locality termsResidency clause (data stays in X region) with customer approval on any changes
SLAUptime targets; credits; remediesHigher service credits for downtime; remedies for chronic SLA missesToken credits (too low to matter); no exit rights for failuresStrong SLA with meaningful credits and exit options for repeated failures
ComplianceCertifications; audit and reportingAccess to audit reports; assistance with regulatory inquiries“Policy only” references (no binding commitment)Contract-backed controls (maintain certs, provide evidence, notify of issues)

Use this matrix to ensure you cover all bases during negotiation. If Salesforce pushes back on any item, ask yourself: is it a deal-breaker, a nice-to-have, or something you can trade off for another concession? Prioritize what matters most to your risk profile.

Five Best Practices for Security/Compliance Negotiations

Negotiating security and compliance terms can be a complex process.

Here are five best-practice tips to guide you:

  1. Start with risk, not price: Begin your negotiations by identifying your regulatory and security risks. Map these needs to specific contract clauses or features (e.g., data residency, encryption, certifications) before you talk about discounts. This ensures that cost discussions don’t sideline critical requirements. Sales teams respond when you clearly tie security needs to whether the deal can even happen.
  2. Bundle smartly: Leverage timing and volume. Plan to bundle security add-ons, such as Shield, encryption, and Data Masking, with larger purchases or renewals. When Salesforce sees a bigger deal on the table, they’re more likely to include or heavily discount these extras. Don’t buy them in isolation if you can fold them into a bigger negotiation moment.
  3. Lock in the future: Don’t just negotiate for year one. Cap your renewal increases and even pre-price future expansions. If you anticipate needing more users or additional products later, get those rates spelled out now. Also, “freeze” key terms – for instance, if you negotiate a data residency clause or a custom SLA, ensure it carries forward into renewals unless mutually changed.
  4. Demand transparency: Insist on clear, written commitments about how your data will be handled and protected. That means specifying data locations, listing subprocessors, setting breach notification timelines, and agreeing on support procedures. The more transparency you get, the fewer surprises later. A vendor’s verbal assurance is nice, but contract language is what truly holds weight.
  5. Pilot with proof: If you’re unsure of a security feature’s value, use a pilot to your advantage. For example, you could do a short-term pilot of Event Monitoring or Shield Platform Encryption for a subset of data. Negotiate this as a low-cost or free trial with an agreement on what the full-scale pricing will look like if you proceed. This approach allows you to validate the benefit and address any issues. Plus, it sets a precedent so that when you go enterprise-wide, you’re not starting from list price – you’ve already anchored a discounted rate from the pilot.

These best practices help you stay strategic. You’re not just haggling, you’re ensuring Salesforce becomes a true partner in your security and compliance journey, at a fair cost.

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FAQs

Q: Do we really need Salesforce Shield, or is the native encryption enough?
A: Native encryption-at-rest is built into Salesforce for baseline security. Shield adds extra capabilities (field-level encryption, event logging, audit trail) that are often required for sensitive data or strict compliance. If you handle regulated or high-risk data in Salesforce, Shield is usually worth negotiating into your deal.

Q: How do we ensure Salesforce won’t move our data out of country X?
A: Get it in writing. Negotiate a data residency clause that specifies your data stays in your chosen country/region. Include that any move or replication outside that region requires your approval. Also, use Salesforce’s Hyperforce or dedicated local cloud offerings to physically anchor data where you need it.

Q: What if Salesforce’s standard certifications aren’t enough for our regulators?
A: You can negotiate additional contractual commitments from Salesforce. For example, have them commit to specific security controls, provide you with audit reports or even accommodate audits, and agree to notification and remediation timelines. Essentially, fill the gap by writing your requirements into the contract rather than relying solely on their generic compliance statements.

Q: Can we negotiate BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) costs and support?
A: Absolutely. Treat BYOK enablement as part of the deal package. You can request that Salesforce include the setup help at no extra cost and ensure there’s no surcharge for using your own keys. Also, negotiate support expectations – if you run into an encryption issue, Salesforce should be ready to assist just as they would with any standard feature.

Q: How do we stop security features from exploding our TCO at renewal?
A: Lock them down upfront. Negotiate multi-year pricing for security add-ons and put a cap on any renewal increase (even 0% for the first renewal if you can). Also, monitor your usage – for example, don’t vastly increase user count or add features without revisiting your contract. If you need to expand, try to do it under the umbrella of your negotiated terms, or you might end up paying today’s list prices. Essentially, bake future needs into today’s contract where possible.

By following this guide, security and compliance leaders can approach Salesforce negotiations with confidence and expertise. The key is to be proactive: identify your must-haves, use your leverage at the bargaining table, and remember that everything is negotiable. Salesforce wants your business, and with the right strategy, you can get a deal that keeps your data safe, your regulators happy, and your budget under control. Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with a well-negotiated Salesforce agreement!

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Author

  • Fredrik Filipsson

    Fredrik Filipsson is the co-founder of Redress Compliance, a leading independent advisory firm specializing in Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, IBM, and Salesforce licensing. With over 20 years of experience in software licensing and contract negotiations, Fredrik has helped hundreds of organizations—including numerous Fortune 500 companies—optimize costs, avoid compliance risks, and secure favorable terms with major software vendors. Fredrik built his expertise over two decades working directly for IBM, SAP, and Oracle, where he gained in-depth knowledge of their licensing programs and sales practices. For the past 11 years, he has worked as a consultant, advising global enterprises on complex licensing challenges and large-scale contract negotiations.

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