Customizing Salesforce. Part 1: from A to M

A few weeks ago we outlined the difference between Salesforce configuration and customization and defined the latter as extending of the native Salesforce functionality. In today’s article we’ll share our own ABC of must-know customization concepts.

Salesforce is widely recognized as quite a useful and powerful platform but let’s be  honest: standard functionality never seemed to be easy to work with and user-friendly enough.  The good news is that your SF ecosystem can be highly customizable! Throughout the years of work with multiple customers and implementing solutions of all the kinds starting from UI to adding AppExchange applications and other third-party solutions, our team has got word-perfect all the complicated notions of customization process. And today we are going to eliminate all the confusions caused by misunderstanding of them. To make even more clear, we arranged the basic notions in ABC order.

Salesforce Customization in ABC order

 

A – Apex

 The first word makes the basis of all the Salesforce coding work. Apex is a proprietary programming language created by Salesforce.com. Using Apex, developers access Salesforce.com’s back-end database and client-server interfaces to develop 3rd-party Software-as-a-Service applications.

B – Business applications 

When we talk about Salesforce business apps, the first thing that pops up in our minds is AppExchange. Installing them can be done by any non-developer Salesforce.com user, however, almost none of them are universal remedy to match your needs and often require developer interference.

C – Custom apps

The power of adding and customizing existing AppExchange shouldn’t be underestimated but there always can be something missing. In this situation custom applications come into play – whether you need to make your own call-center, emailing app, or training service – transforming your  user experience has never been so easy.

D – Dev-401 

This acronym is well-known for any customer striving for quality. Having Salesforce Developer certificate Dev-401 means that you know your way around Salesforce.com platform –  that’s why every year Syntegrico developers go through this complex quiz covering all twists and turns of Salesforce to prove their competence.

E – Environment

To put it simple, environment is the synonym of organization,  which is your Salesforce platform containing all the data and customizations you are making (Custom Database Objects & Fields, Apex Code, Visualforce, Workflow, etc.).

F – Force.com

If Force.com with Salesforce we are here for you to put the things straight – from the technical standpoint, they seem to mean the same thing -– Salesforce is built on the Force.com platform.  However, Force.com Edtiton applies to the codebase that makes the basis of the Salesforce solution itself, so it can do much than just a CRM.  

G – Governor limits

Salesforce.com governor limits is probably the main headache of Salesforce Developer and one of the main tasks is to work around them.  They are made to make sure that Apex code or related processes do not engross shared resources.

H – Heroku

To make it easy to connect with customer applications written in open languages and frameworks such as Ruby, Node.js, Java, Python, Clojure, Scala, Go and PHP, you can integrate your Salesforce solution with  Heroku – platform as a service that runs completely in Cloud

I –  Integration

CRM, ERP, HCM applications, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Outlook services, specific interfaces or security tools – to name a few, these solutions are not designed to work with Salesforce out of the box. Here comes the integration process, without which your users can suffer from unnecessary actions done outside the ecosystem.

J – Java

Java is a background for plenty of apps and stands for the global standard of app development and deployment. A world of applications built on Java seem to be endless and this world cannot but touch Salesforce users needs. 

K – Knowledge Base

If you are not sure about what exactly you need to customize. Salesforce came up with brilliant solution to help customers help themselves – Salesforce Knowledge is full of knowledge articles FAQs and moreover, you can connect with service agent to better understand your infrastructure and  lay down your  business needs.

L – Lightning Experience

While disputes around Salesforce interface usability seem to never end, Lightning Experience may start to change what seems to be overwhelming for non-developer eye. If you have a fancy for a intuitive design, go for it!

M – Migration

Eventually you decide to switch to Salesforce.com CRM but do you need to input your data from scratch? Of course you don’t. Migration tools allow you transferring the data with the preservation of its structure and minimum changes.

Do not forget that any customization needs involvement of the expert team of specialists. Syntegrico team of admins, developers and architects will partner with you to implement all the above-mentioned solutions, build and customize your applications in Sales, Service, Marketing Clouds, starting from data analysis to Salesforce quality assurance. The next article will feature N to Z alphabet of Salesforce customization. Follow us and discover more!