3) Deep-Dive on Doc Gen
Document Generation Podcast Series
Episode 3 of 4: Deep-Dive on Document Generation Automation
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In this third chapter, your host, Preston Hurd, takes a closer look at the Document Generation Automation subcategory—focusing on the key considerations companies should keep in mind when selecting or replacing their Doc Gen solution. While this episode is a deeper dive, it’s designed to get straight to the point, spotlighting the most important factors in the automation space and zooming in on what truly matters. Then, in the final Doc Gen episode that follows, we’ll go even further, exploring specific features and capabilities in greater detail.
We’ve also created a complete Buyers Guide to Document Generation for Salesforce (here), available on our website for those who want to dig deeper.
In this episode, we’ll highlight real examples from leading platforms like Conga Composer, MergeUp, and S-Docs, comparing their strengths, weaknesses, and trade-offs between flexibility, security, and user experience. The discussion centers around three key evaluation areas:
First, the type of Salesforce integration—whether a tool is truly 100% Salesforce-native or only “fake native.”
Second, template capabilities, including dynamic content support and AI-assisted template creation.
And third, the out-of-the-box functionality, with vendor examples woven throughout to bring these differences to life.
So, let’s grind down the jargon, filter out the noise, and brew up some practical insights.
Starting with some of the potential issues that a user might encounter…
Yeah, that’s another good area for us to look at and talk about. If you’re a company exploring Doc Gen solutions, you probably have a sense of the different categories by now and may have heard some of the use cases, and the next question is: what are the real-world pros and cons? I wouldn’t necessarily call them “issues,” but rather strengths and weaknesses.
We’ve reviewed a variety of vendors across all the different subcategories, but here I really want to focus on Doc Gen Automation, since that’s the most directly relevant to what we’re discussing in this episode. I’ll break down where some of these vendors tend to be strongest and where they might fall short. That said, it’s important to remember that what one company considers a weakness might not matter at all to another—and the same goes for strengths. It all comes down to your organization’s specific needs and priorities.
But there's really, I think, 3 things that you gotta consider when you're looking at purchasing or replacing your current solution…
First and foremost, remember that we’re talking about Salesforce—so the first thing to evaluate is what kind of Salesforce integration a Doc Gen tool actually offers. Is it truly native? Fully native? Or what some might call “fake native”? Almost every vendor claims to be native to Salesforce, but the reality can vary quite a bit, and it’s important to understand what that means in practice.
The second key area to look at is template capabilities. There’s a lot that goes into this beyond just a basic Word document. Some solutions incorporate AI to help streamline template creation, while others allow for dynamic content pulled directly from Salesforce. These advanced features can make a big difference depending on how personalized or automated your documents need to be.
And finally, the third component to consider is out-of-the-box functionality—the features and capabilities that come standard with each vendor’s solution. Knowing what’s available right away versus what requires customization or add-ons will help you determine which platform best fits your company’s needs from the start.
Can you explain a bit more about the different Salesforce integrations?
First, there’s what I like to call 100% in Salesforce. These solutions never leave the Salesforce environment during the entire document generation process. Because everything happens inside Salesforce, this is the most secure approach — but it also comes with the most limitations. Those often include restrictions on file size, data access through complex queries, or the ability to handle highly customized templates and formatting. Still, for companies that prioritize security above all else, this option can be ideal.
Next, we have Salesforce Native solutions. These are built specifically for Salesforce, with setup and configuration done inside Salesforce using its records and metadata to define templates. However, the actual Doc Gen transactions are executed on an external server. These tend to be the most balanced solutions — offering a good mix of flexibility, security for metadata, and a seamless Salesforce user experience. You could think of this as the “happy medium” between security and versatility.
Finally, there’s what I call Fake Native. These tools store metadata and templates entirely outside of Salesforce, even though they appear to function within it. They often allow limited editing inside Salesforce, but the interface doesn’t really feel “Salesforcey” — that’s my made-up word for it. Technically, these solutions offer the most flexibility for companies that want to work outside of Salesforce, but that flexibility comes at a cost. Since metadata and templates live externally, developers lose some control within Salesforce automation itself. It’s a trade-off between external flexibility and internal cohesion.
So what does that mean for real companies?
I looked at several companies in the Document Generation space — both established leaders and newer, innovative players that are bringing AI into the mix. Let’s start with a few of them.
Conga Composer is the number one player in this space. Its Salesforce integration is natively connected to Salesforce objects and reports, but it does require an external account setup. Overall, it’s a bit more complex to configure than most of its competitors, even though it’s the most well-known solution.
Then there’s MergeUp, which is fully Salesforce native and built with a modern Lightning interface — an important distinction since that UI provides a much smoother and more intuitive experience for users.
Lastly, S-Docs is 100% built on Salesforce with no external servers involved. That design gives it a fast setup and very strong security. However, it’s based on older VisualForce technology, which makes its interface less modern compared to Lightning-based solutions.
So that’s a quick overview of the Salesforce integration side across these vendors. We’ll explore how each of them stacks up in other areas next.
That very much demonstrates how there's much more to this than simply downloading the app off of Salesforce... And how automation is very much a bigger topic than one would think. And our next topic - Doc Gen Features and Capabilities - is going to really expand on this even more.
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Filtered Brew Podcast. We hope you enjoyed the conversation and took away some insights that you can apply to your own digital strategy. Be sure to visit thefilteredbrew.com — it’s the place to go for tech consulting insights, and where you can find more episodes, resources, and updates from the team. If you liked what you heard, don’t forget to follow, rate, and share the show — it really helps us grow and reach more listeners like you.
This has been The Filtered Brew Podcast — where conversations are crafted, refined, and brewed to perfection. Until next time, stay curious and caffeinated. — and visit TheFilteredBrew.com
Podcast Transcript Chapters
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00:00 About Us (here)
[Music]
00:25 Introduction (here)
Hello. Get ready for some tech talk over coffee, where we filter through the latest digital tech, one sip at a time. Welcome to the Filtered Brew, a tech podcast all about software.
Your host is digital consultant Preston Herd. So, join us for a cup of coffee and let's get into what's brewing on today's menu.
In this third chapter, your host Preston Hurd takes a closer look at the document generation automation subcategory, focusing on the most important considerations companies face when selecting or replacing their Doc Gen solution.
And while this is a deep-dive, it cuts straight to what matters most, spotlighting the must know factors in the automation subcategory, zooming in on what's essential. And then in our final Doc Gen episode after this one, that's when we talk about the specific features and capabilities going even deeper yet.
Today we're going to be giving examples from leading platforms like Conga Composer, Merge Up, and Soc. And we'll compare strengths, weaknesses, and tradeoffs between flexibility, security, and user experience.
This discussion will cover what are the three most important evaluation areas. First, the type of Salesforce integration. Whether tool is 100% in Salesforce, Salesforce native or fake ative. Second, template capabilities including dynamic content and AI assisted template creation.
And third, the out ofthe-box functionality with a few different vendor examples woven in throughout. So, let's grind down the jargon, filter the noise, and brew up some practical insights.
02:29 Strengths & Weaknesses (here)
All right, for the Doc Automation subcategory, what do you think are some of the potential issues that a user might encounter?
Yeah, that's another good thing for us to look at and talk about. I think you know if you're a company you're looking to get a dock gen solution you kind of understand the categories now you've heard some use cases but what are the issues and I wouldn't even necessarily call them issues I'd say strengths and weaknesses we looked at a lot of different vendors in all these different categories
I'm going to really focus on the Doc Gen Automation category because like I said earlier that's really the closest thing to the subject matter for this particular podcast Doc Gen and automation.
I want to break down where some of these vendors that we looked at are strong and where they're weak.
That said, you know, a strength may not matter to your business or a weakness may not matter to your business. So, it's really all about what the company's needs are.
03:30 Top 3 Considerations (here)
But there's really, I think, three things that you got to consider when you're looking at purchasing or replacing your current solution. Number one is remember we're talking about Salesforce.
What kind of Salesforce Integration are we talking about here and what does that mean? Is it native?
Is it fully native? Is it fake native? You know what is it? Everybody says that they're native within Salesforce, but are they really? I think you also as a
Second thing that you got to look at got to consider template capabilities.
There's a lot that goes into templates.
There's AI, for example, that can streamline template creation if that's important to you. There's dynamic content that can go into templates from Salesforce. So, there's a lot of things beyond just like a Word doc template or something you might Google and find as a template online.
And then the the third component that I think you got to consider is just what's out of the box. What's the features, capabilities that are standard that come right out of the box for the different vendors?
04:51 Salesforce Integrations (here)
Can you explain a bit more about the different Salesforce integrations?
Sure. So, let's let's talk about the different types, different ways that you can integrate with Salesforce and then let's use some examples of some of the vendors that we looked at.
So first of all, I'd like to call it 100% in Salesforce. So these solutions never leave Salesforce and the whole docgen transaction and this is the most secure version of software.
But it also because of that security has the most limitations in usually you know these limitations are related to things like the file size, the ability to access data through different queries. any really ability to do anything complicated or really customized with templates and the document formatting.
So that's a drawback that goes with it. But for a company that's looking for high security, you know, maybe that's more important. Let's call the next category Salesforce native.
These solutions are built specifically for Salesforce. The setup process is done within Salesforce using Salesforce records and metadata in order to define templates and metadata related templates and the Doc Gen transactions are executed on an external server.
So these what are what I would consider would be the most balanced solutions that offer the most flexibility but also they do offer security for metadata and also the best Salesforce user experience. So that's kind of like the the happy medium if you will.
And then there's fake native. These solutions are built to store metadata and templates completely outside of Salesforce.
They still provide the ability to edit within Salesforce to some extent, but the UI really doesn't look “Salesforcey”. That's a word, “Salesforcey” that I made up.
These solutions work within Salesforce, but very little is actually done within the Salesforce automation. Think about like an I frame popping up within Salesforce or something along those lines.
Technically they're the most flexible for a company to do whatever they want outside of Salesforce, but it removes the flexibility from the developer since the metadata and templates are stored on these external data systems.
07:19 Vendor Options (here)
So what does that mean for real companies? So I looked at multiple companies and I looked at the leaders in the space. I looked at some new innovative cutting edge companies that are coming into the space with AI. And so let's look at a few of those. Conga Composer, the the number one player in this in the space.
Their Salesforce integration is natively integrated within Salesforce objects and reports, but it requires external account setup and it's more complex than the initial configuration of most of its competitors. So even though they're the biggest player in the space, that's my take on Conga.
Another one that I looked at has some really emerging AI technology, which we'll get into later, but let's look at their Salesforce integration, MergeUp. MergeUp is fully Salesforce native with modern Lightning interface, and that's important. Salesforce lightning interface.
And then S-Docs. cS-Docs is 100% built on Salesforce with no external servers.
And that's great and that it offers fast setup and strong security, but it's built on visual force tech. And it's less modern UI than like a lightning interface.
So that's the Salesforce integration side. I picked a few vendors. We'll talk more about them as it relates to the other things. So, let's dive into that next.
08:57 Conclusion (here)
Thanks, Preston. That very much demonstrates how there's much more to this than simply downloading the app off of Salesforce and how automation is very much a bigger topic than one would think.
And our next topic, Doc Gen Features and Capabilities, is going to really expand on this even more.
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Filtered Brew Podcast. We hope you enjoyed the conversation and took away some insights that you can apply to your own digital strategy.
Be sure to visit the filteredbrew.com. It's the place to go for tech consulting insights where you can find more episodes, resources, and updates from the team. If you liked what you heard, don't forget to follow, rate, and share the show. It really helps us grow, and reach more listeners like you.
This has been the Filtered Brew Podcast, where conversations are crafted, refined, and brewed to perfection.
Until next time, stay curious, and caffeinated, and visit thefilteredbrew.com.
