In the final chapter of our leadership interview series (see part 1, part 2), Maksym Koval, Chief Delivery Officer at FortéNext, shares hard-earned lessons from the front lines of enterprise Salesforce delivery.
This installment focuses on turning execution into lasting impact - covering everything from rescuing off-track projects and managing global handoffs, to measuring success beyond timelines and budgets.
With clarity and candor, Maksym offers a forward-looking view on what enterprise clients truly need in 2025: resilience, transparency, and delivery teams that lead with business value, not just code.
There are plenty of examples, each with a different root cause. The simplest cases are related to underperformance. If we catch it early, which is where tracking metrics really helps, it becomes mostly a matter of math: how many hours were lost, how many need to be added, plus time to onboard a new team member.
In those cases, the company might take a hit on margin, but the path to recovery is clear. Much harder are cases where communication with the client just doesn’t click.
That’s when I need to dive deep, looking at how we exchange information, where things break down, and sometimes even how communication is structured within the client’s own team.
Fixing that takes time, patience, and a lot of context. But the most frustrating scenario, to be honest, is when there’s no real project sponsor on the client side; just someone who was assigned to “get it done.”
These projects tend to get stuck in bureaucracy and formalities, with endless time lost on calls and emails.
If we can’t connect with a real decision-maker, it becomes a painful process of overcommunication just to keep things moving.
Honestly, you could ask the same question about almost any platform - not just Salesforce. The biggest piece of advice I can give is: don’t expect the platform to solve your problems on its own.
Choosing the right technology is just the beginning. It’s like picking a great piece of land - it doesn’t mean the house that gets built there will automatically be the one you’ve always dreamed of.
Beyond the platform choice, you need someone inside your organization who truly owns the business process implementation - not just on paper, but someone who’s genuinely invested in making it work.
At some point, every company realizes that platforms like Salesforce come with their own best practices along with limitations. That’s when choosing the right consultancy partner becomes crucial.
Don’t think of it as “paying again to adjust our processes after we already paid for the platform.” Think of it as learning from the experience of thousands of companies, and using that insight to become better by adapting your processes to the platform’s strengths and industry standards.
And finally, the actual implementation and ongoing support. If you’ve done the first three steps well, this last part is the easiest one.
I have to say, onboarding and upskilling are absolutely critical to how we operate at FortéNext. The Salesforce talent market is much narrower than, say, the Java or Python markets.
Finding an engineer we can fully trust - someone we’d confidently put in front of a client - can take months. That’s why we invest heavily in growing talent from within.
As our engineers develop, they don’t just improve their technical skills, they also gain exposure to the specific needs and nuances of different industries we work with, like healthcare, manufacturing, fintech, and others. Over time, they adapt, influence internal processes, and truly embody the mindset and values of our company.
For us, training isn't just about staying up to date, it’s about building a team that understands the bigger picture and can deliver real business value across diverse client environments.
That’s actually a bit of a sensitive topic for us. The easier scenario is when a client moves directly into managed services right after the implementation phase. In those cases, we temporarily assign one or more team members from the original project to the managed services team. This helps with a smoother knowledge transfer and gives the client a sense of continuity by keeping familiar faces involved.
The more complex case is when there’s a gap between implementation and the start of managed services. Then we face the question: how much time and effort should we invest in knowledge transfer if there’s no signed support contract yet?
If the likelihood of moving into managed services is high, we initiate our extended internal knowledge handover framework. This includes a structured process with defined standards and documentation requirements to package the project properly and make sure nothing gets lost in transition.
If the likelihood is low we document and archive the project using a simplified flow.
I’d say we’re seeing broader client trends here, not necessarily Salesforce-specific. The current wave of AI adoption is definitely pushing both clients and service providers to rethink what's possible and to expand the scope of what's being asked from delivery teams.
At the same time, shifting geopolitical conditions are impacting certain markets, leading some clients to prioritize short-term ROI over longer-term, strategic initiatives that might offer higher payoff down the line. This changes how they frame projects and how risk is managed.
We’re also seeing a stronger shift toward using offshore talent instead of purely onshore or nearshore teams. That brings cost advantages, but also increases the need for service providers to manage distributed teams effectively - across time zones, cultures, and working styles.
All things considered, cost-effectiveness has clearly moved to the top of the priority list over the past couple of years, and that’s likely to stay a dominant factor going forward.
For us, true delivery success is first and foremost reflected in the client’s satisfaction, and in their willingness to continue working with us or recommend us to others.
We also look at how many mistakes we have made and were able to catch and fix, quite often even without the client becoming aware of them.
That includes not just code-level issues, but also process gaps, communication missteps, or missed expectations. Another important aspect is how much of what we’ve learned during the project can be reused in the future.
Great question. Honestly, I might borrow this one for interviews I do with project managers, if you don’t mind! If I had to choose just one principle, it would be this: I’ll never quietly move forward with something I believe won’t bring value, or worse, might cause harm - without first doing my best to clearly explain why.
Clients deserve to make fully informed decisions, especially when the stakes are high. Even if the final call isn’t mine, I see it as my responsibility to raise concerns, share context, and offer a well-reasoned perspective before any action is taken. That kind of honesty and transparency is a non-negotiable part of how I work.
