CPQ

Your sales team is spending too much time building quotes by hand. You already know CPQ will solve that  but now you are facing a different problem. Salesforce offers two CPQ solutions that look similar on the surface, carry the same brand name, and yet serve very different purposes. One is built to work for any business, in any sector. The other is engineered specifically for industries where product complexity, subscription lifecycles, and high-volume ordering are simply part of everyday operations. Getting this decision wrong is expensive  both in implementation cost and lost time. This guide will help you understand the genuine differences between Salesforce CPQ and Industries CPQ (formerly Vlocity CPQ), and point you clearly toward the right solution for your business. What Is Salesforce CPQ? Salesforce CPQ  originally built by SteelBrick and acquired by Salesforce in 2015  is a configure-price-quote application that sits directly on top of Sales Cloud. It is designed to work across industries, which is precisely what makes it so versatile. At its core, Salesforce CPQ helps sales teams do three things faster and with fewer errors: configure the right products, apply accurate pricing, and generate professional quotes. It handles product bundles, discount management, approval workflows, and renewal automation  all within the familiar Salesforce interface your team already knows. It connects naturally to the Opportunities, Accounts, and Contacts your team works with daily. When you add Salesforce Billing to the mix, the combined offering becomes Revenue Cloud, extending the tool all the way from quoting through to invoicing and revenue recognition. Salesforce CPQ is the right conversation to have if your business sells across technology, manufacturing, professional services, or retail  sectors where product complexity is real but does not require an industry-specific data architecture underneath it. For a practical look at how CPQ handles product setup, our guide on configuring products in Salesforce CPQ and creating product bundles walk through the hands-on detail. What Is Industry CPQ (Vlocity CPQ)? Industry CPQ, built originally by Vlocity in 2014 and acquired by Salesforce in 2020 is a fundamentally different product. It was purpose-built for sectors where the sales process is not just complex, it is structurally different from standard B2B selling. Telecommunications, energy and utilities, media, financial services, and healthcare are its natural homes. In these industries, a customer does not simply buy a product once. They subscribe, modify their service mid-contract, add or remove features, and expect their provider to manage all of that without interruption. Standard CPQ tools were never designed for this model. Industries CPQ addresses this through several capabilities that Salesforce CPQ does not offer out of the box: If you work with OmniStudio components in your day-to-day Salesforce environment  OmniScripts, FlexCards, DataRaptors, Integration Procedures  you are already operating within the Industries CPQ ecosystem. Our OmniStudio development services are built around exactly this kind of architecture. The Real Differences Between the Two Both tools configure products, apply pricing logic, and produce quotes or orders. Beyond that, their architectures diverge significantly. Salesforce CPQ Industries CPQ (Vlocity) Industry scope All industries Telecom, energy, media, FS, health Data model Standard Salesforce objects Vertical-specific data models Product modelling Standard product catalogue Enterprise Product Catalogue (EPC) Order flow Quote → separate order process Cart + quote + order unified Asset-based ordering Requires custom development Native, out of the box Guided selling Basic OmniScript-driven flows MACD support Not standard Full native support Implementation speed Typically 4–8 weeks Longer; EPC config is substantial Best fit SMB to mid-market, cross-industry Mid-market to enterprise, vertical-specific The most common misunderstanding is treating these as two versions of the same product. They are not. Salesforce CPQ and Industries CPQ share a platform  they do not share an architecture. Choosing Industries CPQ for a business that simply wants to speed up its quoting process is like purchasing a freight lorry when you need a company car. It will technically do the job, but the overhead is unnecessary. Which Industries Suit Which Tool? Telecommunications and media businesses almost always belong to Industries CPQ. The combination of asset-based ordering, carrier-grade product modelling, and MACD workflows is foundational to how these businesses operate, not an optional extra. Energy and utilities companies similarly benefit from Industries CPQ’s order management integration and support for regulatory and compliance-driven product structures. Financial services and insurance businesses sit in the middle. If your sales process revolves around highly configurable product offerings, complex insurance bundles, tiered investment products, Industries CPQ gives you the structure to manage them. If your sales model is more advisory and relationship-driven, Salesforce CPQ is the faster, leaner choice. Healthcare and life sciences organisations with subscription-based service lines or medical device configurations lean toward Industries CPQ. Those with simpler procurement workflows typically do well with Salesforce CPQ. Manufacturing, technology, retail, and professional services are well-served by Salesforce CPQ. These sectors need accurate quoting, bundle management, and renewal automation  all of which Salesforce CPQ delivers without the implementation complexity of an industry cloud. For a broader view of how the right Salesforce stack benefits sales organisations, our piece on the 12 benefits of Salesforce CRM for sales teams provides useful context. A Straightforward Decision Framework If you are still weighing both options, consider these questions honestly. Choose Salesforce CPQ if: Choose Industries CPQ if: Three Misconceptions Worth Clearing Up “Vlocity CPQ and Salesforce CPQ are the same product with a different name.” They are not. Vlocity CPQ is now called Salesforce Industries CPQ following the 2020 acquisition  but it remains a separate product with a distinct data model, implementation approach, and licensing structure. “Industries CPQ is automatically the more powerful choice.” Power without fit creates complexity without value. A poorly-matched Industries CPQ deployment is harder to maintain, more expensive to customize, and slower to deliver ROI than a well-implemented Salesforce CPQ solution. “Any Salesforce partner can implement either.” Industry CPQ requires genuine OmniStudio expertise and hands-on experience with OmniScripts, DataRaptors, FlexCards, and Integration Procedures. Many generalist Salesforce partners have never worked with the EPC or the CPQ Cart. The partner