Have you ever worked for a company or with a client that has used Salesforce for years? Did you find yourself walking into the job on day 1 only to wish you hadn't--saying to yourself "what a mess" and wishing you could throw the entire system away? This might be caused by standards and fundamentals (or lack thereof) that can be an admin's best friend or worst foe.
This session will highlight some of the fundamental best practices that every admin should consider--whether a beginner or more advanced. Seemingly insignificant concepts can go a long way in terms of maintainability and scalability and should be considered by all. This not only impacts the upfront implementation cost but can carry forward into the ongoing total cost of ownership. And by adhering to your principles, the next admin who comes behind you will thank you and not call you out of your name.
Concepts may include but are not limited to:
- Detailed Descriptions (fields, flows, validations, everywhere)...what the heck does this do
- Standard Naming Conventions...how do I find something because it's all over the place
- Of course clicks before code but WAIT...what about enable before configure. Don't build if you don't have to.
- Know your data model and leverage standard features and capabilities. Learn the use cases.
- Understand similar capabilities and considerations for what to use when
- Use standardized templates or pre-built components as a starting point
- Beware of too many cross-object formulas...less is more
- How do I design person accounts...where do I create fields, how do I name record types, etc
- How to think about permissions...why does this person have so much access and where do I find it? Profiles or permission sets? How do I properly set up integration users?
- API, developer, and child names that make sense...especially when including api/integration/programmatic work
- Graceful error handling...and 'yes' build for the norm not the exception, but that doesn't mean don't think ahead. If we're always fighting fires, how can we think about truly enhancing and transforming.
- Take advantage of new features in each release...don't keep recreating the wheel
If adhered to, these and others will serve the organization well and give more peace of mind so an admin can focus on delivering the best value to the business...not undoing or redoing everything or taking "forever" anytime there's a change...and ultimately save on administrative overhead and costs.
