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:
- Enterprise Product Catalogue (EPC): A sophisticated product modelling tool that supports versioning, attribute-based configuration, multilingual product definitions, and product lifecycle management all far beyond a standard Salesforce product object.
- CPQ Cart: A shopping-cart interface built for agents, allowing them to build, modify, and submit complex orders in a single unified flow rather than switching between separate quote and order screens.
- MACD support (Move, Add, Change, Delete): The ability to modify a customer’s existing services by changing a plan, adding a data package, or cancelling a feature without disrupting the underlying order or asset record. This is a non-negotiable capability for telecoms and utilities businesses.
- Guided selling via OmniScripts: Step-by-step interactive flows that walk agents through product selection, eligibility checks, and order capture powered by Salesforce OmniStudio.
- Order Management integration: Industries CPQ connects directly to Salesforce Industries Order Management, decomposing complex orders and routing them for fulfilment across downstream systems.
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:
- Your sales process follows a standard opportunity-to-quote-to-order path
- Your products are configurable but do not require lifecycle or version management
- You need to go live quickly and see measurable results within a quarter
- Your team is already on Sales Cloud and you want a natural extension of it
Choose Industries CPQ if:
- You operate in telecommunications, utilities, energy, media, or complex insurance
- Your customers modify, upgrade, or change their services regularly post-sale
- You need agents guided through product selection with embedded business logic
- Your product catalogue runs into hundreds of SKUs with attributes, dependencies, and pricing tiers
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 you choose matters as much as the product you select.
How 9to9Clouds Approaches Both
We work with both Salesforce CPQ and Industries CPQ and that breadth shapes how we advise clients. Before we recommend a solution, we look at your product catalogue, your sales model, your industry, and the volume and lifecycle of your customer orders.
Our Salesforce CPQ implementation services cover product and pricing rule configuration, bundle setup, discount workflows, approval processes, and quote document automation. Our OmniStudio development practice spanning OmniScripts, FlexCards, DataRaptors, and Integration Procedures means we are equally equipped when Industries CPQ is the right answer.
If you are at the decision stage and want a clear recommendation based on your specific situation, get in touch. We are happy to assess your environment and tell you plainly which path makes sense and why.
Final Thoughts
The right CPQ solution is not the most technically impressive one. It is the one that fits how your business actually sells. Salesforce CPQ is a mature, robust tool that accelerates quoting for the majority of businesses. Industries CPQ is a purpose-built platform for sectors where product complexity and customer lifecycle management are genuinely different in nature.
Know your industry. Know your order model. Then make the call accordingly or let someone with experience in both help you get there faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Salesforce CPQ and Industries CPQ?
Salesforce CPQ is a horizontal quoting tool designed for all industries, while Industries CPQ (formerly Vlocity CPQ) is built specifically for sectors like telecom, utilities, and energy, with native support for asset-based ordering, MACD, and the Enterprise Product Catalogue.
Is Vlocity CPQ the same as Industry CPQ?
Yes. Vlocity was acquired by Salesforce in 2020 and rebranded as Salesforce Industries. Vlocity CPQ is now known as Salesforce Industries CPQ. The product capabilities remain largely consistent with the original Vlocity offering.
Which industries should use Salesforce Industries CPQ?
Industry CPQ is most suitable for telecommunications, media, energy and utilities, and complex areas of financial services and healthcare sectors that require MACD support, guided agent flows, and lifecycle-driven product management.
Can a business use both Salesforce CPQ and Industries CPQ?
In most cases, organisations choose one based on their operational model. However, large enterprises with multiple business units operating in different sectors occasionally run both. This is uncommon and requires careful architectural planning.
How long does a Salesforce CPQ implementation take?
A standard Salesforce CPQ implementation typically takes four to eight weeks. Industry CPQ projects take longer due to Enterprise Product Catalogue configuration, OmniStudio component development, and the complexity of industry-specific workflows.