In this second instalment of the FortéNext leadership series, Maksym Koval, CDO, offers a candid look at what it takes to scale Salesforce delivery operations across global teams while maintaining quality, consistency, and client trust.
He shares insights into how FortéNext structures its delivery models - balancing implementation projects with complex managed services - and the operational principles that support this flexibility.
From onboarding and mentoring new team members to navigating cross-time-zone collaboration and mitigating platform-related risks, Maksym outlines a delivery philosophy rooted in transparency, adaptability, and long-term partnership.
His reflections reveal how FortéNext brings enterprise discipline to every engagement - ensuring that technical execution always aligns with real business value.
When it comes to scaling, the most important thing is making sure that all delivery centers follow unified processes and share the same values. Those shared principles act as the glue that holds together teams from different countries and cultures. It may make hiring and onboarding a bit more demanding, but it pays off in the long run by keeping everyone aligned and working as one team.
For projects that involve people across multiple time zones, strong coordination between key roles - like the product owner, business analyst, and technical lead - is absolutely essential. Their ability to plan, communicate, and stay in sync often determines half the project’s success. That’s why we put a lot of focus on finding and developing strong talent for these roles when building out our delivery centers.
As for team distribution, we look at a mix of factors: client time zone preferences, labor cost differences across regions, and the availability of specific skill sets in local markets. In some countries, for example, it’s much harder to find certain types of specialists, so we adjust accordingly.
In our industry, people are the key to success. Hiring the right professionals who can truly integrate well into the team takes time and isn’t cheap. Certifications alone don’t tell the whole story - what really matters is how proactive, adaptable, and experienced someone is, and how well they can communicate with clients.
Salesforce expertise is still relatively niche compared to many other tech areas, which makes hiring even more challenging. That’s why having an internal training and development center is a must for us - it helps us stay competitive, grow talent from within, and reduce dependency on the external talent market.
Another risk is Salesforce’s product roadmap itself. It’s not always fully transparent, and sometimes you invest in building out a team around a particular Cloud, only to see that product slow down or get shelved a year later. That’s why we try to avoid over-specializing our teams. It might create some additional operational overhead, but it gives us more flexibility and resilience in the long term.
Great question! In many ways, managed services are like a “state within a state.” They operate with their own unique processes and delivery models - very different from traditional implementation or staff augmentation projects.
And just to clarify, I’m not talking about straightforward staff augmentation, which is usually more linear in terms of management. I’m referring to the wide variety of managed service offerings we provide - beyond simply selling a set number of hours from named specialists.
Some clients prefer ad hoc access to our team but still expect fast response times. Others go for a subscription-based model with a mix of hours across different roles.
Then there are clients who prefer working in small fixed-price iterations, focused on clearly defined task sets. Structuring resources and balancing the workload across these different models has become something of a specialty for us - it’s our own kind of know-how, built over years of refinement.
Talent selection for our managed services department is a whole separate topic. These team members need to be quick on their feet, comfortable with task-switching, and more motivated by challenge than stability. A higher-than-average level of stress resilience is also a must.
In contrast, for our implementation projects we built a matrix structure. We allocate resources by role from a shared pool, assigning the best available talent to the product owner based on project needs. During the project, the product owner is responsible for using those resources effectively and managing any necessary changes in allocation.
I don’t think I’ll say anything revolutionary here - and honestly, Salesforce as a platform doesn’t change the fundamentals. At the core, it all starts with building trust with the client.
Without that trust, they tend to worry more, micromanage, double- or even triple-check everything. Clients have all the rights to do so, but it also creates unnecessary tension and slows down the actual delivery of value.
We also make it clear early on that we genuinely care about the success of the project - not just for the sake of our own company, but because we see ourselves as a long-term partner. We value strong, trust-based relationships over short-term wins.
For me, the number one principle is transparency. From day one, the client sees that there are no hidden agendas, no fine print. Risks and opportunities are discussed openly, and we solve problems together.
When we push back on something, we do it with clear reasoning and propose an alternative solution. Our proposals are always backed by logic/statistics/expertise, etc.
And most importantly, we never leave the client alone with their challenges if there’s any way we can help - even when it goes beyond the formal scope of the project.
We use a pretty standard set of tools for our industry - nothing too secret or unusual there. What matters more to me is how we collect, analyze, and respond to feedback.
I firmly believe that no system, no matter how well-designed, will deliver real value unless it has a strong feedback loop built into it. That applies to everything - from technical implementation and documentation to project processes and team communication.
Client feedback isn’t just a formality for us - it’s something we treat as a critical input to improve delivery quality, team performance, and overall satisfaction. We measure it in a variety of ways - from formal feedback requests on the Salesforce Partner Portal to regular NPS surveys.
Every new team member at FortéNext is paired with a dedicated mentor who works closely with them for the first 2–3 months. The mentor plays a key role in helping the newcomer integrate into the team and get up to speed - both technically and culturally.
It’s hard for new hires to miss anything important, because we’ve built (and constantly refine) detailed onboarding checklists for each role. To reduce the burden on mentors and ensure consistency, we maintain up-to-date internal documentation covering everything from operational workflows and project processes to role-specific knowledge bases, best practices, and reusable assets.
Throughout the probation period, we collect regular feedback to identify any gaps and make real-time improvements to the onboarding experience.
We also pay special attention to assigning the right first projects. They’re carefully selected to match the person’s technical level while also encouraging gradual growth and development.
