Category: Salesforce Blog

If executed well, Salesforce implementation can be one of the best decisions taken by your organization. The CRM platform helps you manage your customer database with the help of a centralized and automated platform, allowing your team to provide personalized services to your customers. For more than twenty years, Salesforce has been catering to organizations operating in all major industries around the world. However, despite being in the market for so long, organizations confuse themselves when it comes to Salesforce Admin vs Consultant.

 

The roles of a Salesforce Administrator and a Salesforce Consultant often confuse businesses when it comes to hiring them. Especially if new companies are willing to implement the CRM platform, they often find themselves in a fix between hiring administrators and consultants.

 

To make Salesforce Admin vs Consultant clearer, let us start by understanding who is a Salesforce administrator, an accidental (in-house) Salesforce administrator, and a Salesforce consultant.

 

Who Is A Salesforce Consultant?

In simple words, a Salesforce consultant is a professional who helps an organization implement and optimizes Salesforce. They are often the first points of contact when Salesforce users are in a fix and the organization needs help in matters regarding the implementation of Salesforce in the best way possible.

 

The scope of a Salesforce consultant is fairly vast as it may cater to the entire implementation process – right from ideation to user adoption. Salesforce consultants often act as bouncing boards for their clients’ ideas and help make the most of the CRM platform. This involves helping them allocate their budgets, identifying KPIs, defining their objectives, creating an implementation plan, and much more.

 

In most cases, companies prefer engaging with external Salesforce consulting partners on a contractual basis. This prevents them from letting any bias hamper the implementation process and ensures smooth and effective use of the CRM platform. Salesforce consultants can also be hired for a long-term basis if the scope of the project is larger and requires more dedication from the concerned Salesforce professional.

 

Salesforce consultancy services can be provided by an individual as well as a dedicated company. Although they are not associated with Salesforce in any way, Salesforce consultants are the “Jacks of all trades” and are aware of a range of functionalities pertaining to the CRM platform.

 

Now that we are clear about the role of a Salesforce consultant, let us understand who an accidental Salesforce Admin is.

 

Who Is An Accidental Salesforce Administrator?

As the name suggests, an accidental Salesforce administrator is a professional who has become an Admin by chance. These in-house professionals are commonly found in the IT industry. A lot of organizations end up appointing their skilled and capable Salesforce professionals as Salesforce administrators if they are looking for a change in their roles. Also, professionals having experience in managing CRM platforms in the past are often made Admins by small and growing organizations.

 

In the case of an accidental Salesforce administrator, the burden of responsibilities lies on the management’s shoulders to ensure that the right person is chosen for the right job. If you are appointing an in-house Salesforce administrator, always make sure that it is not simply a cost-effective decision and the concerned professional is well-versed with the duties of a Salesforce Admin.

 

In most cases, accidental Salesforce administrators are appointed by organizations that do not require managing complicated databases and workflows. One of the best ways to solidify the eligibility of an in-house employee of becoming a Salesforce administrator is to get them certified. This would provide them with an official stamp of approval from Salesforce regarding their skills and capabilities as an Admin.

 

Who Is A Salesforce Administrator?

In general, a Salesforce administrator is a professional who knows the CRM platform inside out. They are well-versed with the nitty-gritty details about the platform and are familiar with its core essence. A Salesforce administrator often takes on multiple roles and performs different tasks, including project management, employee training, business analysis, and general administration.

 

If companies are looking for dedicated Salesforce administrators to manage their CRM, they can either hire full-time administrators or work with Salesforce contractors. As opposed to accidental administrators, a dedicated Salesforce Admin can be shouldered with the responsibility of managing complicated business processes, handling complex workflows, and overlooking efficient data management on a regular basis.

 

The Difference Between A Salesforce Admin And Consultant

Now that we have understood the roles of a Salesforce consultant, an accidental administrator, and a dedicated Salesforce administrator, we can dive a little deeper into Salesforce Admin vs Consultant.

 

Here are some of the major parameters that can be used to understand the differences between the two professions:

 

Time Spent On Salesforce Projects

When it comes to the time spent by Salesforce professionals on specific projects, the focus on time is more in the case of a Salesforce consultant as compared to a Salesforce administrator.

 

A Salesforce Consultant is judged (and billed) on the basis of the time they spent on a specific project. This is also a common trend as most businesses hire Salesforce consultants on a contract basis. On the other hand, the job of a Salesforce administrator is largely ongoing and they are not judged (or billed) by the hours they spend on a project. Their work is more managerial in nature and their services are availed of as and when the need arises.

 

Duration Of Business Relationships

As compared to the relationship between an organization and a Salesforce consultant, the relationship between an organization and a Salesforce administrator lasts longer. As mentioned in the previous point, the job of a Salesforce Admin is largely ongoing, making them stick around with their clients for a longer period of time.

 

On the other hand, especially in the case of consultants responsible for Salesforce implementation, their job is finished once the implementation project is completed. Unless an organization is specifically looking to stay associated with a Salesforce consultant for a longer period of time, its relationship with them is short-lived. This provides greater flexibility to Salesforce contractors providing consulting services to multiple organizations.

 

Knowledge About The CRM Platform

As opposed to a Salesforce consultant,  Salesforce administrator often has more knowledge about the CRM platform. This is essentially because the job of an administrator is more specific than a consultant.

 

A Salesforce consultant largely plays the role of an advisory for their clients. This may or may not require in-depth knowledge about different Salesforce offerings, features, and tools. Also, based on the specific expertise possessed by consultants, they can be hired for implementing different Salesforce offerings.

 

On the other hand, a Salesforce administrator is expected to have a way deeper and more specific knowledge about Salesforce as a whole. While consultants can gain expertise in one or more aspects of the CRM platform, administrators often do not have the liberty to do so.

 

Midway Change Of Scope

Salesforce implementation and operation are dynamic processes and there may be several changes along the way. Although both administrators and consultants encounter changes in the scope midway, Salesforce administrators are more likely to afford the changes as compared to consultants.

 

This is essentially because of the time-bound nature of  Salesforce consultancy services. Especially in the case of implementing the CRM platform, Salesforce consultants strictly follow the project timeline and can rarely afford to take a detour. In case there is a midway change of scope, they may not always be up for it.

 

On the other hand, Salesforce administrators can accommodate such changes as their services are not so bound by the hours they spend. Even if it takes longer for them to get the work done, administrators can afford to adapt to changing scope during the execution of a Salesforce project.

 

Important Questions To Ask Before Hiring A Consultant Or An Admin

Before you go ahead with hiring a Salesforce Consultant or an Admin, it is important to be well-versed with your objectives, vision, and purpose of Salesforce implementation. Clearly defining your business needs and objectives would help you get the right professionals on board.

 

Here are some of the most important questions you should ask yourself before hiring either a Salesforce Admin or a Salesforce consultant:

 

1. How many Salesforce licenses does your organization have?

2. How many Salesforce licenses are currently in use? Is your company running out?

3. Do you need to migrate to Salesforce Lightning?

4. Have you migrated from an alternate CRM platform to Salesforce?

5. What is the complexity of your business processes?

6. Which departments are you willing to cater to through Salesforce implementation?

7. Is there a need for custom coding?

8. Are the KPIs of your organization run out of Salesforce?

9. Do you need to integrate Salesforce with a suitable third-party application?

10. Are you aiming at scaling up your business?

 

The Final Word

These were some of the most important aspects to consider for understanding Salesforce Admin vs consultant. Irrespective of the professional you hire for helping you manage your CRM platform, make sure that your decisions are in sync with the inherent objectives to be achieved by your organization.

 

By the time you are done reading this article; salesforce has already acquired some new company. The Salesforce ecosystem cannot be stopped; it seems it is growing every day. In this digital piece, you will get to know about the top 7 salesforce acquisitions that it has carried out to date. Here you will get to learn:

 

1.Top 7 salesforce acquisitions

2.Changes in salesforce after salesforce acquisitions

3.Why people are only talking of slack acquisitions

4.Most asked questions after salesforce acquisitions

5.Parting tips

6. Tableau

 

Reason for its purchase: Salesforce always tries to buy the best in the industry. Who beats tableau in terms of analytics? No one. Though Salesforce has its own analytics system called salesforce Einstein, still they acquired tableau. This kind of purchase raised eyebrows in the technology industry. People could understand why a competitor would make this move.

 

According to us, salesforce purchase tableau at $15.7 billion because it wanted to fulfil its vision by having 360-degree control. Salesforce 360 custom vision is an idea where a customer would get a full overview of its cycle, indicating that a customer would only need salesforce to fulfil all their needs. They need not go to different companies for different requirements.

 

 

1. Demandware

Reason for purchase: We all know salesforce is unbeatable when it comes to businesses business marketing, but what about the business to customer marketing? This is the aspect where salesforce lacked. With the help of Demandware, it combined e-commerce marketing with front end operations.

 

See Demandware already served enterprises worth millions. Since the customer associated with the company always got the best, and there was no decline in what customers expected. Salesforce bought Dreamware and applied the 1:1 marketing rule, and made Demandware follow the same vision.

 

So now customers of Demandware will get associated with salesforce and get the best-engineered products that have not been witnessed elsewhere. Demandware was brought at $2.8b

 

2. Mulesoft

Reason for purchase: This move struck the technical industry like lightning. The reason? As Demandware was already brought for an improved customer experience, why was Mulesoft double the amount? Practically both of the companies have to provide the same thing.

 

According to us, this was a great move by salesforce. See Mulesoft dominated the on-premise legacy systems. That means IT infrastructure that was not based on the cloud was controlled by Mulesoft Companies in the older versions of information technology always went to Mulesoft for their issues and services. Salesforce wanted nothing to stand between them. Hence this move was made. Now the customers of the legacy system would get converted to cloud technology with salesforce.

 

3. Slack

Reason for purchase: See slack was a business tool that lets your work from anywhere in the world. With the coming of the pandemic, salesforce rivals got on to the same move by allowing people to work from home.

 

This is the reason why salesforce did not waste time in purchasing slack. With slack in the team, salesforce made work from home a seamless experience. Salesforce acquires slack at $27.7 billion.

 

4. Exact target

Reason for purchase: If you have followed the above information closely, you have already witnessed how salesforce made a smart move to capture the service and sales. Now it was time when salesforce moved pre-sales direction. This is where the precise target comes into the scenario.

 

The exact target was operating in the industry for the last 13 years, so naturally, it had a large base of customers. In addition, salesforce was looking for a company that would act like a shield in the marketing domain. The precise target seemed to be the perfect fit.

 

Realize this; the precise target was a company that had already acquired Pardot six months back. So the same target was perfect that could combine both businesses to business marketing and business to customer marketing. So salesforce brought the target at the price of 2.5 B, and we think it was a well-planned move

 

5. Krux

Reason for purchase: In 2016, most of the online media reported that programmed digital advertising would grow massively over the coming years. This means digital advertising would be the future. When October approached, salesforce bought the company for $800 million. This would help salesforce to create smart campaigns that would bring in more customers.

 

6. Click

Reason for purchase: Click masters in real-time interaction. Also, it was one of the masters in developing the salesforce lightning component. The question with this salesforce acquisition was not why? But when? With the help of click, salesforce continuous in their lightning framework. Salesforce has just updated its scheduling feature in their lightning architecture, which means click is already improving the salesforce ecosystem.

 

Some salesforce acquisition that needs your attention other than these 7

In this section, we are going to talk about two major salesforce acquisitions other than the salesforce acquisition list that is presented above. This is because the article would have been completed without these two. We are talking about salesforce subsidiaries called buddy media and quip

 

Salesforce knows that every people are not welcoming to change. So they required a company that would combine the old age technology with the modern-day rule.

 

People need to be enlightened and then made aware of how new-age technology could improve business. Once they get to know these, they would happily change into a new platform. Quick is a company that would make that happen. Hence salesforce opted for this collaboration

 

The next salesforce acquisition that we are going to talk about is that of buddy media. This is a social media company that brings business to customers by marketing over digital media channels. This is the reason salesforce wanted to purchase the best in the industry by collaborating with them. Buddy Media was bought for $649 million.

 

So from the above information, we have let you know about the top 7 salesforce acquisitions carried out with the company. It could be concluded that salesforce identified all the gaps that it lacked and filled with the best in the market

 

Changes after salesforce acquisitions

In this section of this article, you would know how to perform salesforce login. With the coming of all these salesforce acquisitions, it is evident that salesforce login would no longer stay similar, so it’s very important to let you know about these

 

It is has been notified by salesforce users that the new login page of marketing would look very similar to the traditional log-in page. Okay, dot worry, all your credentials of the marketing cloud will stay the same, so please breathe a sigh of relief.

 

Earlier, when you used to forget your password, you required to contact a marketing cloud administrator to resolve the problem. Now you can easily reset your password with a forget password link. So if you are someone who is thinking that I need to change some login credentials, then the answer is a resounding no.

 

The only change you are going to witness is in security codes. When you connect with forgot your password link email, it’s evident that a user can make mistakes in entering the security code.

 

Only after ten wrong codes, salesforce will hold your account. A request needs to be made with the marketing administrator. In addition, there may be times when you forget the security questions that you have answered. No need to worry, you just need to get in touch with the marketing cloud administrator, and you would be given a new temporary password to work with After analyzing all the salesforce acquisitions over the years, a leading research company called Gartner provided some interesting announcements in the favour of the platform.

 

1. Salesforce has been given the award for the best CRM 8 times in a row

2. Salesforce plans to purchase velocity, and the deal will be made final by June

3. Salesforce has implemented work from home program in order to protect the health of its employees

4. The front line workers have received great help from salesforce, and 50 million protective kits were delivered to them

5. Log in time of salesforce customer reached 5 million hours

6. In order to meet the growing hurdles in the in offices, salesforce launched work.com

 

Why so many people are only talking about the slack acquisition.

Everyone is stating that salesforce and slack as a couple of the IT world.  According to the recent reports, it has been found that 23 million users use Slack as their daily driver and the number of business that uses slack is 142,000.  Remember chatter did not work with salesforce, so basically, the CEO wanted to give it another try with slack. We believe slack is nothing but chatter 2.0 that salesforce always dreamed of.

 

FAQs

 

1. Why was salesforce so determined to buy tableau?

Salesforce is a company that always believed in smarter decision making. This is the reason they were so determined to buy tableau. Now with Tableau in their team, it’s now predicted that salesforce would get hold of more customer insights that take their functionality to new heights

 

2. Till now can you name how many total salesforce acquisitions have been made?

Till now, the salesforce acquisition count comes to 60.

 

3. Is salesforce fully determined to purchase velocity or it’s just a rumor?

Salesforce has full intention to buy velocity. This is because salesforce management has confirmed it.

 

4. Who is the owner of the Salesforce ecosystem?

The owner of the salesforce ecosystem is Marc Benioff. This man is worth 8 million dollars currently

 

5. Is there a competition for salesforce?

The answer is a resounding yes. There are three rival competitors of the salesforce in the current scenario and they are adobe, Sap, and oracle

 

6.What is the programming language that salesforce uses?

There are two programming languages that salesforce uses. One is called the apex and the other is called the visual force. Apex is like working on a javascript, while visual force is a language where you are given the provision to create your own code. The working model of HTML bears resemblance to HTML

 

7.Are there more than a million customers for salesforce?

Nope. The customer count or salesforce at present is 150,000+

 

8.Why is salesforce always in trend?

This is due to two things one is a constant update and the other is features. The platform changes every day, so every day a salesforce professional gets to learn something new.  Salesforce has some features that no other CRM provides like collaboration tools, tracking opportunities, and mobile app feature

 

9.Which one is salesforce Pass or SaaS?

Salesforce can be called pass or better known as “platform as service”. This is because a customer van with no technical background can create palliation in a matter of minutes and by taking the advantage of the cloud.

 

10. How is hyperforce related to salesforce?

Salesforce has recently launched a new technology called the hyper force. Here you would have the provision to store data anywhere in the country and then use it from anywhere in the world

 

For example, you are an operator in India and you choose to store your data in a specific region. Now you are on vacation but you need your data to send immediately. With the help of hyperforce you can do that.  This shows that hyperforce is scalable

 

Now salesforce claims that hyper force would the one of the most reliable clouds.  This is because it has a structure of security that has not been witnessed anywhere else

This tells us, that with hyper force security is always first priority.  When you have your data protected then you can focus on more important things like innovation and customer retention.

 

Parting tips

Hope this information that is made available has informed you a lot on salesforce and how salesforce acquisitions changed the history of the IT industry. Further, this digital piece addresses FAQ and hyper force so that you can keep updated with the salesforce ecosystem, too. If you liked what was presented here, please follow us for the latest salesforce updates.

 

The Workflow in Salesforce is not a small topic to cover rather it has gigantic proportions in Salesforce. In a simple sense, we can understand that workflow is one of the strategies that help in increasing the pace of the manual and reduce time while handling the intensive processes.

 

In an ideal manner, if your clients and customers are happy with your services and deliveries, then it is sure that you are successful in managing your Workflows in Salesforce.

 

You must be having some queries related to the management of workflows and how to handle the criteria and other actions. We aim to answer all your queries in the single guide where you will learn about Workflow in Salesforce, the associated benefits, and its implementation.

 

The following digital piece is going to cover-

 

1. What is workflow in Salesforce?

2. Rules and guidelines of workflow in Salesforce

3. The distinct components of workflow in Salesforce

4. The configuration of criteria of workflow Rule in Salesforce

5. Parting tips

6. FAQs

 

What is workflow in Salesforce?

Workflow is an indispensable segment under Salesforce that helps in building the guidelines and rules for the transformation into actions. These actions can sometimes be the Supplementary actions where the entire workflow revolves around. The major advantage is that the actions can be easily implemented with the aid of salesforce functions provided that the setup is correctly done.

 

You can enjoy several advantages that include efficiency and consumption of less time, etc. The workflow in Salesforce deals with the standard internal procedures and various intensive processes that help in reducing the wastage of time across your business forms. It often acts as a logical engine that helps in automating several actions that have a rigid base. If you are able to meet each and every criterion all the actions get successfully implemented. In case the criteria process fails down, there will be no execution of actions but the record will automatically get saved.

 

Rules and guidelines of workflow in Salesforce

The workflow rules in Salesforce suggest that there are some orders and functions automatically created by a user of salesforce that works in favor of performing the automated actions after the execution of certain conditions. It is addressed that these actions majorly happen instantaneously and, in some cases, they can be scheduled for operation after a fixed interval of time.

 

In Salesforce workflow, there are two terms workflow and workflow rules. Majorly, they are used interchangeably however, you should be clear that they are not similar. These workflow rules are the logical statements or conditions which are responsible for or the execution of automated actions.

 

The organizations and the stakeholders are busy confirming the tasks and their execution processes and these workflow rules support the sales team in the easy implementation. As soon as the conditions are properly met, the series of conditions and actions execute instantly or can be adjusted with the help of triggers to occur at a specific time. So, these are some dependent actions and immediate actions under the rules of the workflow.

 

The distinct components of workflow in Salesforce

 

You should be well versed in the various components of workflow in Salesforce that have many applications under automation of the actions. Broadly there are 2 components-

 

1. Criteria– these statements are some specific conditions that are designed to perform or text a particular record. For instance, if you belong to a technical background, the action of this component is similar to the if statement in the if/then statement condition.

 

2. Actions– these are the procedures that are implemented after the successful execution of a series of conditions meeting all the criteria. It is also similar to the then statement in the if/then statement condition.

 

As we have discussed that there are two kinds of actions embedded in workflow rules in Salesforce, their description is as follows.

 

1. Immediate actions- the deal with the execution of the actions instantly after the creation of a record database.

 

2. Time-dependent actions– these actions are often implemented after a fixed interval of time or on a specific date. After this particular time passes, the revaluation process of the records occurs in the workflow rules in Salesforce to ensure that every criterion is properly met. After the confirmation, the required actions are executed.

 

Also, there are some specific steps while dealing with the creation or editing of a record. They help in the execution of the workflow rules so as to evaluate the object based on particular criteria. So, there are two options-

 

1. True- in this case, all the actions are implemented within the workflow rule.

2. False- there is no execution of any kind of action but the process of saving the records gets completed.

 

The configuration of criteria of workflow Rule in Salesforce

 

Now we shall discuss the steps to configure the workflow Salesforce criteria. The very first step is to log in to the Salesforce account.

 

1. A man you will be visible on the left side where you have to scroll down and find out press automation. Now you are asked to go through the workflow rules and click on the same.

 

2. Make a click on the new rule for the creation of new rules of a workflow. You have to make a selection of an object from the dropdown menu and for example, you can make a selection of Lead as an arbitrary object.

 

3. You have to proceed with the configuration of the workflow rules and for that, you have to feed some details related to the name of the rule and selecting the evaluation criteria.

 

4. Selection of criteria is met from the drop-down menu. Now you can see the field section where you have to make the selection of the field criteria. You can explore any number of options available.

 

5. Proceed with adding the workflow action from the drop-down and finally click on Done.

 

6. Now you have to make the creation of an email alert and enter the details. These details include the description where you have to specify the subject of the email. Another box is the unique name that automatically appears in the same way the description box had appeared.

 

7. Now proceed with creating the template of an email as per your choice or you can make a selection of the default options. For that, you can click on the magnifying icon provided by the side of the textbox. Also, you need to make the selection of the recipient for specifying the address to whom you have to send the email.

 

8. After successfully entering the details you have to click on the Save button.

 

9. After that click on done for saving the current process. For the successful activation of the workflow rules, you have to click on the Activate button. Make a click on the plus button and choose the name of the object that you have already created from the list.

 

10. For the creation of a record click on the New button and specify all the required details. Terminate the process after clicking the Save button.

 

11. You will receive a confirmation mail. Now the following steps will be executed as per the time-dependent workflow actions.

 

12. You can add time Triggers by following the workflow rule page and make the necessary edits using the Edit option. Now you have to deactivate the rule and press the Edit button.

 

13. The next step is to make a click on the Add Time Trigger button. Make a selection of the required number of days, months, etc. Finally, click on save for the execution of the workflow rule.

 

14. You need to create the email alert in the same had created the previous time and finally, click on the Activate button for the successful creation of the workflow rule.

 

Parting tips

This digital peace has guided you in all the respects about the semantics of workforce in Salesforce, the rules and, the various tasks undertaken in a dynamic environment. Hope the explanation is conveyed in an understandable manner. In case you have queries, you can definitely fix the consultation with our Salesforce Consultant to proceed ahead with the process evenly.

 

FAQs

 

1. How to make the activation of workflow in Salesforce?

The first step is to activate the detail page of the rule of the workflow. Press the deactivate button for the prevention of the workflow rule from getting triggered. You can also proceed with editing the time-dependent enter the necessary details.

 

The deactivation process can be conducted at any time after following a deactivate rule. The rule comprises of the pending actions where the fair competition is arranged under sales force that continues till the time the record that triggers the workflow rules is not completely updated.

 

2. What important things are to be kept in mind while maintaining the Workflow action and configuration in Salesforce?

 

1. You have no right to delete the rule of the workflow in Salesforce which is arranged in the queue and has some pending actions.

 

2. The time depends flow actions cannot be added for the activation of the workflow rules. You need to first deactivate the rule and proceed with adding the time-dependent which can come into the role only after the reactivation process.

 

3. In spite of using workflow rules in Salesforce, you can use the process builder for automating the if/then statements.

 

4. The multiple numbers of rules can also be associated with pending or existing actions.

 

 

Salesforce has been ruling the CRM market for more than two decades. It is widely used by businesses of all sizes and belonging to almost every industry for handling their customer database.

 

The CRM platform allows you to make sense of seemingly complicated data and use the same in providing personalized services to your customers and clients. It is built to carry out a variety of business processes by using different features and tools.

 

To understand how Salesforce helps users in recording, storing, tracking, and assessing different data, it is important to understand the Salesforce architecture.

 

So, what is Salesforce architecture?

 

What Is Salesforce Architecture?

Just like the architecture of a building, Salesforce architecture is the design that goes into developing the CRM platform as we know it. It includes the different layers that go into the development of Salesforce and give rise to the different tools and features employed for carrying out specific processes.

 

It is important to learn at least the basics of Salesforce architecture for every Salesforce user as it helps them in utilizing the platform in an effective and optimum manner.

 

It is a commonly-known fact that Salesforce is a multi-tenant cloud-based platform. When we say that Salesforce is a multitenant platform, it means that a single software platform with a single user interface can be used by different users independently.

 

By implementing the application, different users can work on the same database on different devices with their own set of access permissions and restrictions. Here, the data of every tenant (user) is isolated and is not visible to the other tenants.

 

Applications Within The Platform

Salesforce hosts a variety of applications that sit on the CRM platform. Users can either work on pre-built applications that are implemented with Salesforce or create a new application within the Salesforce environment.

 

Some of the most commonly used pre-built Salesforce applications include Salesforce Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, and many more. All these Salesforce Clouds are developed to serve specific purposes based on the needs of the organization.

 

To fully understand the Salesforce architecture, it is important to understand two different aspects of the same – the core Salesforce architecture and the layers of Salesforce architecture.

 

The Core Salesforce Architecture

The core Salesforce architecture can be best understood by looking at the platform as a series of three different layers. A simple Salesforce architecture diagram can be illustrated as shown below:

 

 

For understanding the core architecture of Salesforce, it is important to understand a few basic terminologies related to the same, discussed as follows:

 

Instance

In simple words, a Salesforce instance is the configuration of UI you see on logging into your Salesforce account. A Salesforce instance is indicative of a specific Salesforce org on which it is located.

 

One server can host multiple Salesforce instances based on the location of the users. Owing to this location-based nature of Salesforce instance, it changes according to the region a user belongs to.

 

App

The Salesforce application is the key interface that you see while using the platform of Salesforce CRM. It is a combination of different data and metadata elements that help users in recording, tracking, and assessing valuable data.

 

The Salesforce app contains data stored in specific tablets of information called Salesforce objects. These objects contain further details stored within different Salesforce fields, which in turn are made up of different records.

 

It is these objects, fields, and records that allow users to perform a variety of processes within their Salesforce instance according to the needs of the organization.

 

It is important to note that all the data and metadata elements are independent of the Salesforce app. The application acts as a cluster of all relevant information presented to you in an organized and understandable manner.

 

Superpod

Superpod is an arrangement of frameworks supporting different Salesforce instances. It contains different stack balancers, including system and capacity foundations, outbound intermediary servers, mail servers, SAN texture, and other relevant frameworks.

 

Org

A Salesforce org or organization simply refers to a consumer of the Salesforce application. All the business processes, integrations, and other relevant activities are carried out within an org.

 

A new Salesforce org is developed after every trial beginning on www.salesforce.com or developer.force.com. Every Salesforce organization has its own set of security settings with different permissions and restrictions.

 

Also, every Salesforce org has an adjustable user interface, triggers, work processes, custom articles, custom fields, and custom APIs (application programming interface).

 

Sandbox

A Sandbox is a copy of the original production environment of Salesforce. Sandboxes are created for testing and training purposes. Whenever new features or tools are to be added to your Salesforce org, changes are made within the Sandbox to leave the data in the production environment unharmed.

 

A Sandbox copies all the data and metadata from the production environment as it is. It is most commonly used for conducting data experiments and a variety of tests before making specific changes to the production environment.

 

Also, Sandboxes are used when a new employee is to be trained for performing specific processes on a Salesforce instance without affecting the main production environment.

 

Depending on the capacity of copying and retaining data, there are four major types of Sandboxes in Salesforce:

 

1. Full Sandbox – It is a completely identical copy of your production environment as it copies all data and metadata. It has a refresh interval of 29 days with the option of Sandbox template available.

 

2. Partial Sandbox – This Sandbox comes with a data storage of 5 GB and file storage similar to the production org. It allows you to copy metadata and sample data for working on the same with a refresh interval of 5 days.

 

3. Developer Sandbox – This Sandbox allows you to copy only metadata from the production org with data and file storage of 200 MB. It comes with a refresh interval of 1 day.

 

4. Developer Pro Sandbox – This Sandbox is similar to Developer Sandbox with increased capacity. It allows you to copy metadata and comes with data and file storage limit of 1 GB. It has a refresh interval of 1 day.

 

The Layers Of Salesforce Architecture

Now that we have understood the core Salesforce architecture and different terminologies pertaining to the same, let us look into the different layers of Salesforce architecture.

 

There are three major layers of Salesforce architecture – namely multi-tenant, metadata, and API.

 

1. Multi-tenant

As mentioned earlier, Salesforce is a multi-tenant platform. A single software application having a single database can be used by multiple users/tenants spread over different geographic locations.

Such a nature of the CRM platform makes it more economical for the users to work as lesser resources are used and a single database is needed for multiple users. Also, the changes made by a single user onto the platform are reflected in the database of all users.

 

Another key advantage of the multi-tenant nature of the platform is that you need to pay only once for the implementation of the software platform. Once the infrastructure is developed, it can be used by all the users, irrespective of their location, and device used.

 

Any update made to the software platform would update the applications of all the users, bringing everyone on the same page.

 

2. Metadata

The development model of Salesforce architecture is driven by metadata. In simple words, metadata is a more detailed version of data, containing an in-depth version of information stored within your database.

 

This solves most security issues as all data sets are stored on different levels, storing “data on data”. Here, all the data is stored in shared databases, and metadata points to a single client’s data in this database.

 

The metadata-driven approach to Salesforce makes the job of developers easier and more focused. It makes them concentrate only on building and deploying applications. The functionalities of all the apps developed on Salesforce are defined in the form of metadata within the database.

 

3. Application Programming Interface (API)

Salesforce provides powerful APIs to users for developing strong and customizable applications. APIs help you in extracting data from your database and use the same in building integrated applications within the Salesforce environment.

 

It is these APIs that provide the users with a centralized platform offering the tools and features of different platforms. They ensure that the applications created are easy to use and serve all the needs of the users effectively. These APIs make Salesforce a highly customizable platform readily integrated with third-party applications and servers.

 

Salesforce was not developed as a fluke from conducting trial-and-error experiments. Every feature and tool of the CRM platform is developed and placed carefully within the Salesforce architecture to make it highly organized and efficient for users, developers, and administrators.

 

It is necessary to have the basic knowledge about the architecture of Salesforce for every directly or indirectly associated with the CRM platform. It not only helps you understand the way it works but also helps you utilize all its tools, features, and applications in an optimum way.

 

One of the biggest and most commonly used features of Salesforce is that it is effectively integrated with a variety of applications.

 

The Prominence Of Salesforce Integrations

Salesforce integrations have gained immense importance over the last few years. It provides users with a centralized platform with unified data that can be used for performing specific activities.

 

The primary purpose of any integration is to provide a blend of features provided by Salesforce and the concerned third-party platform. It allows users to work seamlessly without having to change platforms for carrying out different processes.

 

Salesforce has always been integrating with applications and other relevant platforms that complement the tools and features of the CRM platform. It not only makes the job of users easier and faster but also leverages the overall functionality of Salesforce.

 

All data integrations have specific science behind them, involving the effective sharing of data between the platforms getting integrated. This is where Salesforce API comes into the picture.

 

What Is Salesforce API?

API stands for “Application Program Interface.” In simple words, API is a computing interface that allows an application (or the code in an application) to access data of the platform it is integrating with.

 

When a Salesforce Developer integrates the CRM platform with a third-party application, Salesforce API allows the said application to access Salesforce data and use the same in carrying out the integration.

 

Salesforce APIs play an important role in making users work on a unified platform and utilize data from both the platforms on a single entity, resulting in ease of operations and increased efficiency.

 

It is easy to understand the role of Salesforce API as a door to allow the flow of data from Salesforce to the integrated platform. Also, if you are using applications like Dataloadeer for data migration and management, they take data from your Salesforce org with the help of the API.

 

How To Enable API Access On Salesforce?

For an application to extract data from your Salesforce instance, you need to enable API access on your Salesforce, which can be done in two major ways – by Profile and by Permission Set.

 

It is important to note that these processes are at the disposal of a Salesforce Admin unless they give permission to anyone for doing the same.

 

Enabling API Access On Salesforce By Profile

 

If you want to enable Salesforce API access within your Salesforce org by Profile, follow these simple steps:

 

1.Go to Setup

2.Click on the option of “Manage Users”

3.Click on “Profiles” on the dropdown menu

4.Select the Profile you want to update and click on “Edit”

5.Go to Administrative Permissions and check the box of “API Enabled”

6.Click on Save to complete the process

 

Enabling API Access On Salesforce By Permission Set

 

If you want to enable Salesforce API access within your Salesforce org by Permission Set, follow these simple steps:

 

1.Go to Setup

2.Click on the option of “Manage Users”

3.Click on “Permission Sets” on the dropdown menu

4.Select the Permission Set that you want to update

5.Go to System followed by clicking on “System Permissions”

6.Click on Edit

7.Check the box that reads “API Enabled”

8.Click on Save to complete the process

 

Types Of Salesforce APIs

Depending on the functions performed and purposes solved, there are different APIs used by a Salesforce Developer commonly.

 

SOAP API

SOAP stands for “Simple Object Access Protocol.” It is a fairly old protocol that is still very relevant and actively used by organizations to exchange messages between different platforms.

SOAP has a standardized protocol structure that uses XML and HTTP for sending data across platforms. Before Salesforce made Apex available to the users, Salesforce SOAP API was commonly used for integrating Salesforce with multiple platforms.

 

When To Use SOAP API?

SOAP API is commonly used for creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting records within your Salesforce database. It can also be used for making searches in any language that supports web services.

 

 REST API

REST stands for “Representational State Transfer”. It is a relatively simpler and more dynamic API as compared to SOAP. Salesforce REST API does not need you to create WSDL files for connecting the client with the provider.

However, this can also be considered as a shortcoming as not generating WSDL files will result in the developer needing to generate the “plumbing” code by themselves.

 

When To Use REST API?

Owing to the easer and efficiency of operation, Salesforce REST API can ideally be used for mobile apps and web projects.

Different REST APIs can be used for carrying out different processes. User Interface API should be used for building UI to create, update, read, and delete specific records. Chatter REST API can be used for building the UI for Chatter, recommendations, and communities.

 

MetaData API

As the name suggests, this is the Salesforce API that is used for updating metadata. It is generally used for Visualforce pages, Apex classes, and Apex triggers. Metadata API is a fairly old API used for Salesforce and is based on SOAP.

 

When To Use Metadata API?

Metadata API can be used if you are willing to retrieve, delete, update, deploy, or create customizations for your Salesforce org. They are most widely used for the purpose of transferring data from a Sandbox or test environment to the main production environment.

 

The best way of using MetaData API is through Salesforce extensions for Ant Migration Tool or Visual Studio Code. These tools are built on top of the API and make use of standard tools for simplified working.

 

The Salesforce extensions for Visual Studio Code facilitate development on the Salesforce platform in the VS Code Editor. The tools used by this extension are ideal for working with development orgs, Aura components, Apex, and Visualforce.

 

However, if you use a script or a command line for the movement of MetaData between a local directory and your Salesforce org, it is advisable to use the Ant Migration tool.

 

Tooling API

Tooling API offers the endpoints of both REST and SOAP API. It was developed for the purpose of software development, making the maintenance and deployment of software platforms easier. This API is widely used by The Developer Console and the Force.com IDE.

 

When To Use Tooling API?

You can use Tooling API for integrating Salesforce MetaData with third-party platforms or systems. You can also use the Salesforce API for building custom development tools for Force.com applications, set checkpoints or heap dump markers, access login and code coverage information, and execute anonymous Apex.

 

Streaming API

Streaming API is used for improving the overall performance of the concerned platform and minimizing the API limitations on the same. It involves sending messages to a specific topic which can be listened to by your code pertaining to data changes.

 

When To Use Streaming API?

You can use Streaming API if you want to receive near real-time data streams pertaining to changes in the Salesforce records or custom payloads.

For changes in Salesforce records, Salesforce will publish notifications when the concerned changes are made. You can publish event messages for sending custom notifications. Also, clients can subscribe to specific events using Apex triggers or Process Builder and Flow Builder.

 

Bulk API

As the name suggests, Bulk API is used for transferring large volumes of data in a single batch across different platforms. Being a REST API, Bulk API facilitates asynchronous processing of records in different batches.

 

When To Use Bulk API

You can use Bulk API to query, queryAll, upsert, insert, update, or delete large sets of records in an asynchronous many in different batches. The simplest way of using this Salesforce API is by enabling it for processing records in Data Loader by using CSV files.

 

API Limits

Salesforce limits the number of API calls for every org to maintain its health and efficiency. There are two major types of API limits – concurrent limits and total limits.

 

Concurrent limits restrict the number of long-running API calls (20 seconds or more) running simultaneously. On the other hand, total limits restrict the calls made in a period of 24 hours.

 

Concurrent API limits are different for different org types. While a Trailhead Playground has a limit of 5 long-running calls going on simultaneously, the limit is 25 simultaneous long-running calls for a Sandbox org.

 

Total API limits are different for different org editions, license types, and expansion packs purchased by the user. For example, the Salesforce Enterprise edition has a limit of 1,000 API calls per license and 200 API calls for the Partner Community license.

 

On purchasing the Additional API Calls pack, the limit of 1,000 calls is extended and the user is provided with additional 4,000 calls.

It is important for every Salesforce user (especially a developer) to be well-versed with the API limits before going ahead with their usage based on the specific org needs. APIs form the base of every Salesforce integrations and should be deployed with utmost precision for best results.

 

Salesforce makes special considerations for its users when it comes to providing them with complete support and assistance. Salesforce support is widely known for its efficiency and tactfulness as the company is bent on improving the overall user experience.

Every Salesforce user gets the basic Salesforce support that helps them get their issues resolved and carry on with their work smoothly. However, if you are in need of additional and specialized assistance, you can avail of Salesforce Premier Support.

 

What Is Salesforce Premier Support?

Salesforce Premier Support or Salesforce Premier Success Support is specialized assistance provided by Salesforce to its users. It takes the basic Salesforce support a notch higher, making sure that all problems faced by the users are solved in a personalized manner.

The Premier Success Plans are developed for users who require extra and more specific help from the Salesforce experts in operating the CRM platform and carrying out distinct processes.

 

With Premier Support, you can improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of your work as you have certified Salesforce professionals and experts backing you every step of the way.

Such exclusive Salesforce support includes one-on-one mentoring sessions, round the clock assistance, and tips provided by the best in the industry. It is really hard to go wrong with a virtual support system as strong as this.

 

Driving User Adoption

Getting everyone in your team to switch to Salesforce is often one of the toughest and most important aspects of Salesforce implementation. Systematic user adoption is a must if you are looking at a long run of Salesforce within your organization.

 

For effective user adoption, you can choose from a variety of Salesforce support options where your team gets end-to-end guidance on carrying our different processes and understanding the different aspects of the rather complicated CRM platform.

 

Reliable Technical Support

Salesforce Premier Support allows you to have access to technical mentoring sessions by the experts where all your “How to” questions can be answered.

 

Whether you are looking for troubleshooting a code, managing your database, or solving any technical hiccups that come with Salesforce implementation, the Premier Support Plans help you in getting past every hurdle.

 

Boost Your Productivity

You will be able to achieve all your goals and reach all your targets only when your entire team is working at its full potential. On availing of the Salesforce Premier Success Plans, you can prepare your team the way you want to.

 

Salesforce support makes sure that your progress never slows down and you are not stuck at a point for too long. If you find yourself in a fix, you can seek quick and reliable assistance from the Salesforce experts and get going without any hassle.

 

As the experts help you in making the best use of the platform and use all its tools and features in an optimum manner. With such support, you can maximize your ROI and reach out to your customers/clients in the best way possible.

 

Admin Assist

As the name suggests, Admin Assist is an add-on to Salesforce Premier Support for helping the Salesforce Admins do their work efficiently.

 

Through Admin Assist, you can get wholesome assistance by experienced and Salesforce-certified Administrators who are well–versed with all the tricks of the trade.

 

Some of the processes made easier by this option add on include:

 

1. Building workflows

2. Developing reports and dashboards

3. Setting up and/or customizing roles and profiles

4. Setting duplicate management rules

5. Managing (importing/updating/deleting) Salesforce data

6. Creating custom formula fields

 

Success Guidance

Sales Premier Support comes with a plethora of advice and guidance pertaining to specific aspects of the CRM platform to help the users make the most of it.

 

The automated and optimized system of Salesforce support allows you to connect with the right expert at the right time. No matter what your problem is, you can rest assured that your case will be directed to the best in the concerned field of expertise.

 

Developer Support

As the name suggests, Developer Support is built for assisting the Salesforce Developers in carrying out the technical processes in a seamless manner.

 

Here, the experts and certified developers help you in troubleshooting, analyzing, and debugging pertaining to:

1. API Integrations,

2. Apex,

3. AMPscript, and

4. Visualforce code

 

Get Coached With Premier Accelerators

If you are willing to be mentored by the best in the industry, you can opt for Premier Accelerators, a very important part of Premier Success Plans.

 

Accelerators are specialized and exclusive coaching resources that are designed for helping you understand the basic and advanced aspects of Salesforce.

 

No matter which Salesforce Cloud you want help with, you can choose accelerators for that specific Cloud and go ahead with the mentoring sessions with the masters.

There are three major ways in which you can make use of this feature and obtain valuable knowledge pertaining to Salesforce – Accelerator Webinars, On-demand Videos, and One-to-one Sessions.

 

Accelerator Webinars

Based on the area you want to master and the topic you want to learn, you can opt for live or on-demand Accelerator Webinars. Here, Salesforce experts conduct a session on the topic of your choice that helps you in using the platform better.

 

On-demand Videos

This is as good as watching YouTube videos created by Salesforce professionals. You can demand hour-long videos that can be watched as per your convenience and speed, making learning more flexible.

 

One-to-one Sessions

These are the sessions you can have with the experts where you can interact with the experts directly. Here, the professionals help you in real-time and guide you in solving problems, minimizing errors, and employing the right tools in the right direction.

 

Major Topics Covered In Premier Accelerators

 

Salesforce Sales Cloud

1. Campaign Management

2. Admin Fast Start

3. Sales Cloud Einstein

4. How To Manage Leads

5. How To Manage Opportunities

6. Console Design

7. How To Set Up Gmail Integration

8. Designing Reports And Dashboards

9. Setting Up myTrailhead

10. How To Prevent Duplicate Records

11. How To Get The Most Out Of Forecasting

12. Setting Up Path In Lightning

 

Salesforce Service Cloud

 

1. Chat For Lightning

2. Agent Productivity Features

3. Digital Engagement

4. Dashboard Design

5. Dashboard Fast Start

6. How To Automate Case Management

7. How To Deploy Chat

8. How To Automate Work Distribution With Omni-channel

9. Lightning Transition Readiness

 

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

 

1. Advertising Studio

2. Admin + Deliverability

3. Email Studio

4. Building, Testing, And Sending Emails

5. Journey Builder

6. How To Automate Data Imports

7. How To Use Einstein Engagement Scoring

8. How To Use Marketing Cloud Connect

9. Email Reporting And Tracking

 

Salesforce Commerce Cloud (B2B and B2C)

 

1. On-site Research (B2C)

2. Products And Catalogs (B2C)

3. Einstein Product Recommendations (B2C)

4. Metrics And Analysis (B2C)

5. Multi-factor Authentication (B2C)

6. Search Engine Optimization (B2C)

7. Sorting Rules (B2C)

8. How To Organize Teams (B2B)

9. Feature Adoption Checklist (B2C)

10. Page Designer (B2C)

 

Salesforce Pardot

 

1. Google Organic Basics

2. Switching To Pardot Lightning App

3. New Admin Onboarding

4. B2B Marketing Analytics

5. Reporting

6. Global Marketing Strategy

7. Preparing For Implementation

8. Email Marketing Strategy

9. How To Use Automation Tools

10. How To Use Forms And Automation Tools

11. How To Use Salesforce Engage

12. How To Send List Emails

13. How To use Salesforce Campaigns

14. Database Hygiene Assessment

15. Optimize Your Pardot And Salesforce Integration

 

Salesforce Communities

 

1. Lightning Customer Community Fast Start

2. Lightning Partner Community Fast Start

3. How To Build Your Lightning Customer Community

4. How To Create A Public Knowledge Base

5. How To build Your Lightning Partner Community

6. How To Plan Your Chatter Adoption

 

Einstein Analytics

1. Event Monitoring

2. Einstein Discovery

3. Einstein Prediction Builder

4. Sales Analytics: Fast Start

5. Service Analytics: Fast Start

6. How To Load Data

7. Einstein Analytics: Health Check

 

Salesforce Premier Support Cost

The Salesforce Premier Support cost you need to pay depends on your specific requirements. Broadly, there are distinct editions that you can choose from – Standard, Premier, and Premier Plus

 

Standard (Included In All Licenses)

This is the most basic edition of Salesforce support and is available with every license you purchase. With this edition, you get specific assistance by learning the required concepts on Trailhead and Salesforce Community.

 

Premier (20% Of Net License Cost)

Along with all the features of the Standard edition, the Premier edition provides you with different Accelerators, exclusive phone support, developer support, and Success Guidance by Salesforce experts.

 

Premier Plus (30% Of Net License Cost)

This is the most advanced version of Salesforce Premier Support and provides you with Admin Assist (as discussed above) along with all the features provided by the preceding editions.

 

People often believe that learning and operating Salesforce is extremely difficult. That is not always the case. Taking one thing at a time, you can master the CRM platform with precision. At the end of the day, it is all a matter of finding the right support system.

 

Salesforce is a pretty vast platform that involves several features and tools for performing specific processes. Almost every Salesforce process revolves around creating, recording, tracking, and assessing valuable information in some form or the other.

 

Among these pieces of information, Salesforce metadata assumes a key position and helps users in carrying out different business processes in a quick, efficient, and automated manner.

 

So, what is Salesforce metadata?

 

What Is Salesforce Metadata?

Salesforce metadata is an essential element of the Salesforce architecture. It involves different fields, code, configurations, logic, and page layouts used for building the key information architecture of your Salesforce org, making your Salesforce instance look the way it does.

 

There are three major ways in which metadata can be used in Salesforce Apex for carrying out the required processes – importing the metadata into Salesforce, manipulating the metadata with the help of Salesforce metadata API, or modifying the same in the product interface.

 

Types Of Salesforce Metadata

Based on the purpose they solve and the manner in which they help you customize a function in Salesforce, Salesforce metadata can be divided into different types.

 

Three of the most common categories in which you can put such metadata include:

 

1. Data

This is the most fundamental and important aspect of Salesforce. Almost every business process is carried out in your Salesforce instance with the help of different data sets and structures.

 

These sets store specific information about your organization in general, your team in specific, your customers, your partners, or any entity connected to your business organization.

 

It is the data structures on which most customizations are built, tested, and deployed. Common examples of the same include Custom Salesforce Object s, Value Sets, Custom Applications, etc.

 

2. Programmability

This refers to the custom code built on top of the CRM platform for developing applications, carrying out integrations, or performing different processes as per the org’s needs. Common examples of metadata falling under this category include Apex Classes, Apex Triggers, and Apex Page.

 

An Apex class is a template used by developers for creating Apex objects. Further, Apex Classes often include other classes, variables, user-defined methods, static initialization code, and exception types.

 

Apex Triggers are the metadata types that allow Salesforce users to perform customized actions to the records before or after specific events. You can define Triggers for key standard objects like Accounts and Contacts and custom objects.

 

An Apex page is any standard Visualforce page created using the required data and metadata from the org. All such pages should be wrapped within a single page component tag.

 

3. Presentation

The metadata types falling under this category are concerned with the way in which users interact with the CRM platform. Common examples of these Salesforce metadata types include reports, dashboards, components, page layouts, etc.

 

What Is The Need For Salesforce Metadata?

Gone are the days when businesses used to operate on hard-coded applications for performing different processes. We have successfully entered the age of digitization where people are used to working on flexible apps that can be easily customized.

Also, the need for personalization is considerably high in recent times and it does not seem to slow down any time soon. Developers can no longer build an app that can be used by most business organizations.

 

Businesses require applications whose functionality can be altered according to their specific needs and metadata allows them to do so in a seamless manner.

 

Salesforce metadata allows you to create a Salesforce application tailored according to your preferences without the need for complicated and high-level programming.

It is Salesforce metadata that makes Salesforce a dynamic platform and more than a mere database of valuable information. You need it now more than ever to be in sync with the technological advancements and developing wholesome applications.

 

The Difference Between Data And Metadata

One of the most common mistakes committed by new programmers is getting confused between data and metadata.

Although both the entities have a lot in common, there are certain very clear differences between the two that are important for every software user and developer to understand.

 

Data can be defined as a collection of specific information such as facts, observations, measurements, or descriptions of specific entities. Data sets help you in finding patterns, keeping a track of them, and discovering trends pertaining to the information provided to you by the said data.

 

On the other hand, metadata simply refers to the details pertaining to different data sets. This is why metadata is often called “data on data”. Here, you take a specific data set and get into its depth, talking about aspects like file type, origin, date, etc.

This is where the key difference lies between data and metadata. If you are provided with a set of information giving you a precise measurement, description, or observable facts, you are dealing with data.

 

However, if you are provided with further information on the content mentioned above, you are dealing with metadata.

One final aspect to consider about the difference between data and metadata is the fact that while all data may or may not always be informative, metadata is always informative for the purpose it serves.

 

Why Is Salesforce Metadata Backup Important?

Salesforce users often make the mistake of assuming that metadata is not as important as data, making them be less and less alert about metadata safety and backup.

 

However, it is important to understand that it is the metadata that builds your Salesforce architecture and makes it more than a mere collection of data. It helps you control the behavior of your Salesforce environment and perform a range of processes effectively.

 

Backing up metadata holds special importance for any Salesforce user. Here are the three key reasons why Salesforce metadata backup is important:

 

1. Keeping Your Customizations Safe

Salesforce is a highly customizable platform. Several customizations are made on a regular basis by adding or removing Salesforce metadata according to the specific needs of the organization.

 

If you lose your metadata, rebuilding the same can be a highly complicated and costly process, especially if your Salesforce org has become bigger with more complex processes. Keeping a backup helps you in retrieving all metadata whenever required.

 

2. Safeguarding Data Relationships

Keeping relationships between your Salesforce objects intact can be difficult if you have not backed up your Salesforce metadata. For example, if any of your objects is corrupted or lost, you will not have any replacement for the same. This is why it is important to back up object metadata just the way you back up all your object data.

 

3. Reduce The Implications Of Data Loss Or Error

Although Salesforce is a highly secure platform, you should always be prepared for situations the data and metadata within your database get corrupted or lost.

In such situations, having a metadata backup helps you in recovering your database faster and better. On the other hand, not having any backup is likely to make you lose all your data, making the recovering process tedious.

 

Things To Consider While Backing Up Your Salesforce Metadata

It is important for every Salesforce users to take these aspects into consideration while backing up their Salesforce metadata:

 

1. Weekly Export

Always remember that Salesforce Data Export is limited to backing up all your data files on a weekly or a monthly basis. It does not generate a backup for your metadata. For generating metadata backup, you will need to make use of weekly export to export all your metadata to a reliable backup source.

 

2. Export Using Salesforce APIs

Salesforce users can create their own metadata backup solution with the help of Salesforce APIs. However, you need to make sure that the export scripts are in sync with the API changes.

 

3. Package Manager

You can resort to the manual process of backing up your metadata by creating an unmanaged package on Salesforce. However, this is not always a preferred way of generating Salesforce metadata backup.

Not all unmanaged packages support all metadata types. Also, you will need to create a new package version on a regular basis because of the constant changes in your metadata.

 

Custom Metadata

Custom metadata is a unique type of Salesforce application metadata that can be customized, deployed, packaged, and upgraded according to the needs of your organization.

 

Custom metadata types are used for the following key purposes:

 

1. Creating connections between different Salesforce objects by appropriate object mapping

2. Combining configuration records with custom functionality by using Apex code

3. Creating and managing lists for better use of database

4. Storing important information like API keys within your protected custom metadata types in a package

 

The scope of Salesforce metadata is vast and often overlooked by Salesforce users. No matter what your designation is, it is important to understand the difference between data and metadata.

 

Your metadata holds valuable information pertaining to your Salesforce org and helps you carry out a variety of business processes on a daily basis. It should, therefore, be managed with precision.

 

Handling customers is never an easy task for a business. Right from reaching out to the prospects and encouraging them to engage with the business to making a sale and following up with the same, CRM activities can get really tedious and complicated.

 

This is where CRM platforms like Salesforce jump in as saviors, helping businesses pertaining to all scales and industries in handling their customer database in an automated, effective, and faster manner.

 

Salesforce allows you to keep a thorough record of the smallest details pertaining to your active, potential, and past customers. You can choose from multiple editions and platforms based on Salesforce pricing and the needs of your organization.

 

Salesforce helps you in handling the entire journey of your customers – from acquisition to final follow-up. During this journey, Salesforce objects play an important role in tending to your customers and keeping a track of every deal you strike.

 

What Is A Salesforce Object?

Salesforce objects are nothing but tablets of information that store data pertaining to a specific aspect of your database. Every Salesforce object has a record of information pertaining to a fixed group of people, businesses, or activities performed by your team.

 

There are two major types of Salesforce objects – standard objects and custom objects. Standard Salesforce objects are already built within your Salesforce instance as you get it implemented.

 

On the other hand, custom objects can be created by users based on their specific needs for being added to their database. Some of the common standard Salesforce objects include leads, contacts, cases, accounts, opportunities, and many more. Here, we are going to discuss opportunities in Salesforce in detail.

 

So, what is a Salesforce opportunity?

 

What Is A Salesforce Opportunity?

In simple words, a Salesforce opportunity refers to a deal that is still ongoing. This often refers to the stage where a prospect is approached and they have shown interest in engaging with your business. However, they are yet to fully engage with you and the deal is not yet closed.

 

This is precisely why this Salesforce object is called “opportunity”. It contains all the deals that provide you with the opportunity of earning a customer/client which can go either way.

 

There is always an element of uncertainty when it comes to Salesforce opportunity, which makes it important for a user to manage the object regularly and precisely.

 

By monitoring your opportunities, you can keep a track of all your deals that are ongoing and take necessary steps to ensure that the maximum amount of deals close successfully.

 

The Importance Of Salesforce Opportunities

Salesforce opportunities provide you with all necessary details about an active deal at one place, including the estimated closing date, name of the potential customer, date of acquisition, activities performed, amount to be paid, and many more.

 

Also, Salesforce allows you to highlight specific changes in your opportunities to let your team members know about the same. You can make use of different colors and arrows in the opportunities list view to denote changes in the amount, estimated date of closing, and other important details.

 

Tips For Handling Salesforce Opportunities

A Salesforce opportunity is an important stepping stone that leads you to a client and helps you convert a prospect into a customer. It is important for every user to do their best to utilize every opportunity and prepare for closing more deals.

 

Here are some of the most basic tips to keep in mind as you move closer towards making your proposal to the prospect and going ahead with your deal:

 

1. Add products to your catalog for reference

2. Add contracts, datasheets, and other relevant documents

3. Log all the calls you make pertaining to a specific opportunity to keep a track of the same

4. Use the feature of Notes to keep a note of everything important said and heard during a client meeting

5. Create different tasks for yourself and your team for servicing the prospects and getting them to close a deal

6. Create calendar events for making your work more organized

7. Send emails to your prospects (or the person capable of closing your deals) for all the opportunities generated

8. Keep a track of all the emails and follow-ups sent and the responses received

 

How To Create A Salesforce Opportunity?

 

You can create a Salesforce opportunity by following these simple steps:

 

1. Log into your Salesforce account

2. Go to the Opportunity tab and click on “opportunities”

3. Enter the necessary fields, including the name of the opportunity, close date, stage, and other relevant fields

4. Click on Save to save the details

5. You will now be directed to a different page to review the opportunity you created

6. Review the opportunity you created and edit the same if you feel the need to do so

 

Important Considerations For Creating And Updating Salesforce Opportunities

Here are some of the most important aspects a user should consider while creating or updating a Salesforce opportunity:

 

Contact and Contact Roles

It is important for a user to have Read access to the concerned Salesforce account or contact for relating an opportunity to the same.

 

Divisions

If a Salesforce Admin has enabled divisions, the division of a Salesforce opportunity is set to the division of the related account.

 

Forecasts

In all Salesforce editions (except Salesforce Essentials), the opportunities that you create are given a forecast category corresponding to the opportunity stage defined by you while creating it.

If an opportunity is supposed to close in a specific period as mentioned by you in the Close Date field, the opportunity is added to the forecast of that period.

 

Editing On Mobile

If you are using the Salesforce mobile app, you are allowed to edit only one opportunity at a time.

 

Multiple Currencies

If a Salesforce Admin has enabled the option of multiple currencies, the users will be able to see the opportunity amounts initially in their personal currency.

 

Territory Management

If your Salesforce Admin has enabled the feature of original territory management, the opportunities you create are automatically assigned to a territory where the following conditions are met:

 

1. You belong to the same territory as the account on the opportunity or have edit privileges on the same.

2. You have no other territories in common with the account on the opportunity.

 

Considerations For Sharing A Salesforce Opportunity

If you are sharing a Salesforce opportunity, you are allowing one or more users to have a look into your sales pipeline and access to the concerned opportunity.

You can share an opportunity if you feel a specific user(s) is helpful for closing the concerned deal.

Here are a few important aspects to consider while sharing an opportunity:

 

The Sharing Model

Always remember that your Salesforce Admin holds the power to determine the default access levels across your Salesforce org (including the opportunity access levels for territories).

 

Access Limitations

You can always increase the access you provide to users to the opportunities created by you. However, you cannot restrict access beyond the limit set by your Salesforce Admin.

 

Sharing Details Page

The Sharing Details page contains the list of users, roles, groups, and territories having access to the concerned Salesforce opportunity.

 

Considerations For Cloning Salesforce Opportunities

Here are a few major considerations to keep in mind if you are willing to clone Salesforce opportunities for having different users work on the same:

 

Restricted Fields

If a specific record in the opportunity you are willing to clone has a field you do not have access to, the field in the cloned record will be blank.

 

Fields With Read-only Access

If the record you are willing to clone contains a field to which you have read-only access, the field in the record of the clone will be blank.

However, if you have read-only access to a related record of the opportunity, the record of the clone will have the original field value.

 

Custom Fields With Unique Values

If a related record in the opportunity contains a custom field that is configured to contain a unique value, you will need to delete the value before you clone the opportunity.

 

Related Records Limit

Always make sure that the total of the related contact role, product, and product schedule records should not cross 999.

 

Validation Rules, Apex Triggers, and Workflow

All related records in an opportunity are clones in batches of not more than 200. The validation rules, Apex triggers, and workflow are applied separately to every batch when an opportunity is cloned.

 

For example, if you are planning to clone an opportunity having 500 related records, the process occurs in three different batches with the above-mentioned rules being applied to every batch.

 

Salesforce opportunities are the indicators of the chances you stand of converting your prospects and closing your deals. Ultimately, it is in the hands of your sales reps to service every opportunity well and get the prospects to engage with your business to get the desired results.

 

There is literally nothing that Salesforce cannot do! The CRM platform is known across the globe for undertaking powerful integrations and acquisitions to leverage the functionality of the platform. Salesforce is developed as a pretty customizable platform that can be integrated with a variety of third-party platforms to provide a unified experience to the users.

 

The latest Salesforce integration has been announced as an acquisition of Acumen Solutions by the CRM giant to provide professional services to organizations in the private and public sectors. Before going to the details pertaining to the Salesforce Acumen integration, let us briefly know more about this new partner of Salesforce.

 

What Is Acumen Solutions?

Acumen Solutions is a provider of global professional services to businesses and government organizations, helping them achieve their goals and create their niche in the market.

 

It helps organizations in building powerful industry solutions that help them in driving more sales, increasing employee productivity, and improving customer engagement. It provides professional help and guidance necessary for businesses to utilize their resources in the best way possible and staying in sync with the dynamic market trends.

 

Its range of services includes:

 

1. Effortless customer service

2. Sales acceleration

3. Engagement marketing

4. On-demand analytics

5. Digital Transformation

6. Financial analysis

7. Digital commerce

 

Perks Of Salesforce Professional Services

The Salesforce Acumen integration will pave the way for Salesforce to provide extensive and effective professional services to its wide range of customers. Salesforce has been in the market for more than two decades and has created a name for itself that is not going to fade away anytime soon. Salesforce has gained enough experience in its fairly long run to ace the professional services sector where it can help its clients in making it big in their respective industries.

 

The proficiency of Salesforce in providing expert guidance can be seen in the Salesforce support services provided by the professionals. Salesforce users can vouch for the fact that the support services provided by the platform are unlike any other CRM platform in the market.

 

Focus On Digitalization

We live in an age where digitization is an important part of anything and everything we do. Today, it is essential for every small and big business to go digital in their services to survive in the market for a long time.

 

Moreover, the world is struggling with a global pandemic and most businesses are having a hard time surviving the uninvited wave of economic crisis. This has forced organizations to go virtual and adopt digital processes right from listing their products to accepting payments.

 

As Salesforce joins hands with Acumen solutions, the focus of the acquisition would be more on making businesses go the digital way. Government and private enterprises who are struggling to digitize all or a part of their processes will receive a much-needed helping hand in the form of Salesforce professional services.

 

Improving The Buying Experience

An important aspect of the services provided by Acumen Solutions is that of helping businesses to create improved buying experiences for their customers using suitable digital platforms.

 

Salesforce has mastered the art of providing personalized customer services and being an important part of the entire buying journey of the customers. This conglomeration of services will help online sellers and businesses in setting up powerful storefronts and utilizing them in an optimum manner.

 

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is dedicated to improving the buying journey of the customers for businesses following the B2C model and catering to other businesses for the ones following the B2B model. In simple terms, the Salesforce offering helps you in utilizing your customer database in tailoring your services according to their needs and preferences.

 

The Salesforce Acumen integration will allow businesses to keep a track of the activities of their customers and their specific needs for designing their services and setting up their storefronts on various digital platforms. Salesforce professional services will assist businesses to always be there for their customers at every stage of their buying journey and stay with them until the final deal is made.

 

Improved Marketing And Sales

The Salesforce Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud have helped thousands of sales reps in utilizing their customer database in the best way possible. These Salesforce offerings have allowed users to record, track, and analyze customer data for improving their services and getting a better ROI.

 

When Salesforce integrates with Acumen Solutions, the effectiveness of these services will increase manifolds. Through Salesforce professional services, businesses can avail the required guidance in creating powerful marketing campaigns and designing personalized communication strategies.

 

Over time, customers have become increasingly demanding and ask for personalized services from every business they engage with. With Salesforce professional services, brands will be able to market their products/services well by sending the right messages to the right target audience at the right time through the right media platform(s).

 

Moreover, Salesforce has been helping sales reps in generating more revenue by providing them with an automated sales pipeline. This integration will help businesses in improving their ROI by efficient scoring of leads, prioritizing them based on their behavior, and nurturing them in a way that a deal is effectively closed.

 

This way, the Salesforce Acumen integration is bound to provide businesses with a wholesome approach to marketing and sales.

 

Improved Financial Services

The finance sector is an important arm of the services provided by Acumen Solutions. It helps businesses in analyzing their financial statements and helps finance-based organizations provide improved services to their customers. Similarly, the Salesforce Financial Services Cloud is designed for helping financial lenders and other finance-based organizations establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with their clients.

 

The amalgamation of these two platforms will be a cherry on the cake for financial enterprises as Salesforce professional services will help them maximize their revenue and utilize the valuable customer data for providing improved client services.

 

Importance Of The Acquisition During The Covid Situation

We are all struggling with a global pandemic that has worsened the case of several businesses. Employees and management are having a tough time coordinating with each other. The revenue for several businesses has gone for a toss as customers are not ready for physical buying. In such a scenario, an integration like this will prove to be absolutely helpful for businesses to take to digital platforms. This will help businesses to connect to their customers, suppliers, and partners virtually.

 

The Salesforce professional services will make sure that none of the processes normally carried out by an organization are affected by the lack of physical communication.

 

Salesforce is a completely cloud-based platform and all of its offerings allow users to work flexibly from anywhere at any time. As it integrates with services like those of Acumen Solutions, it will facilitate several businesses in using automated tools and getting on digital platforms for carrying out their business processes.

 

Summing up, the Salesforce Acumen integration is a win-win solution for both the companies as each of them would benefit from the other. Along with the companies benefiting from this agreement, it also helps the users of both the platforms in availing of quality services in building robust solutions, especially at a time when they are needed the most.