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Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.031861
I note you seek access to the following information:
I'm looking to understand what your organisation is spending on Salesforce products between the dates 1 August 2019 to 1 August 2023. This includes all quotes (preferably in PDF format) with associated costs, units and discounts relating to Salesforce products (which could include) -
1. Salesforce Sales Cloud
2. Salesforce Service Cloud
3. Salesforce Revenue Cloud
4. Salesforce Marketing Cloud
5. Pardot
6. Salesforce Experience Cloud
7. Commerce Cloud
8. Salesforce Analytics Cloud
9. Salesforce Apps Cloud
10. Salesforce IoT Cloud
11. Tableau
12. MuleSoft
(these will likely be billed together)
I am investigating your organisation's Salesforce costs against other organisations in assessing if you are getting value for money from Salesforce.
I would like to inform you that I will disclose the overall spend on Salesforce products. This answer will be detailed under the section titled Disclosure. However, I will not disclose ‘all quotes (preferably in PDF format) with associated costs, units and discounts relating to Salesforce products’.
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 43(2) - Commercial Interests
Reason for decision
Section 43(2) allows public authorities to withhold information if it is likely to or would prejudice the commercial interests of the public authority. A commercial interest relates to a public authorities ability to participate competitively in a commercial activity.
Negotiating position - The data requested has been used as part of commercial competition and discussions, making this data commercially sensitive. To release all of the requested data into the public domain would prejudice and thus damage the MPS’ bargaining and negotiating power with suppliers in relation to future competition for this contract. The ICO states that ‘revealing information such as a pricing mechanism can be detrimental to your negotiations on other contracts and procurements’. It is therefore relevant to consider that if an individual or organisation knows how much the MPS pay for an item or service they could use the winning suppliers bid and pricing to their advantage.
In addition to this, the release of the requested data could harm relationships with existing suppliers. The National Police Chiefs Council argues that ‘companies compete by offering something different from their rivals. The difference will often be reflected in their price and may also relate to the quality or specification of the product or service they offer’. The release of the requested data would indeed supply the specifics of the service offered, and provide an advantage to one company over another.
Evaluation - It is worth noting that information that is made available under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is published by the MPS via the publication scheme, making it readily available to the public, and not just the individual making the request. This is significant, as even if there is a public interest that would be satisfied by the release of all of the requested data this must be balanced against any identified risk. I have identified that the release of all of the requested data would illuminate two areas, firstly it provides a better understanding of the decision making process and secondly, it provides a better understanding of how public funds are spent. These are two important factors favouring disclosure.
Conversely, I have found that the release of the requested data would damage the MPS’ negotiating power with suppliers in future. One of the strong public interest arguments against disclosure is to ensure a competitive process with no commercial bias. Ultimately, the MPS would not want to provide data that would have a negative impact upon the MPS’s ability to achieve best value in future procurement processes in this area. I find this to be the significant factor in refusing to disclose this part of your request.
Disclosure
Q1 - I'm looking to understand what your organisation is spending on Salesforce products between the dates 1 August 2019 to 1 August 2023.
Between £600k and £700k