It’s that time of year again: Gearset’s State of Salesforce DevOps 2024 report has just landed! Over a thousand Salesforce professionals had their say on all things DevOps, revealing the current state of play in the ecosystem.
For some folks in the Salesforce ecosystem, version control is a new (and slightly scary) concept. For others, Git is familiar — but working out how best to use it for Salesforce development isn’t completely straightforward. In this article, we’ll build up from the basics and point out some pathways for version control adoption.
TrailblazerDX is almost upon us! In just a few weeks, thousands of us will descend on San Francisco to soak up all that Salesforce’s flagship conference for those building on the platform has to offer. As a first time attendee, or a new member of this awesome ecosystem, coming along can seem daunting. So, here are a few top tips to get the most out of your experience (and maybe a reminder or two for the old hands!).
Salesforce teams are constantly thinking about structures — the structure of our solutions, orgs, CI/CD pipeline, and our data — but how often do we really take a step back and consider the structure of our Salesforce teams themselves?
Ever find yourself grappling with unexpected errors in your Apex code? Well you’re in good company, so let’s tackle this head-on. We’re diving into advanced Apex error-handling techniques that promise to transform your Salesforce apps from just working to wonderfully resilient. Ready to level up your error-handling game? Let’s jump in!
With more Salesforce staff, orgs, and data to manage, it’s unsurprising that large enterprises need to pay close attention to the processes and tools they’re utilizing to ensure they’re operating as planned. Plus, to continue seeing real ROI from Salesforce as teams continue to scale, looking after and motivating the people behind those processes and tools is key.
Whether you're just starting to grow your DevOps team, or have an established team trying to optimize your release process, one of the most difficult parts can be establishing a strong foundation that works not just today, but also for years to come.
Salesforce development teams have more options than ever for delivering changes between environments. While manual deployments still work, they quickly become cumbersome at scale. This is where packaging comes in – providing a way to bundle customizations into modular units. But with multiple package types available, which is the best fit for your needs?
DevOps has become the accepted way to develop on Salesforce, and Salesforce professionals across the globe are recognising the importance of adding it to their skillset. The DevOps Launchpad survey provides a fascinating glimpse into the habits and preferences of more than 100 Salesforce professionals, shedding light on their training preferences, challenges, and areas of interest. In this blog post, we'll delve into the key findings and explore what they mean for those looking to excel in Salesforce DevOps.
Mistakes are inevitable. The question is whether or not we learn from them. In this Halloween post, we’ll look at 10 common mistakes made by teams building on the Salesforce platform, and how to turn these tricks into treats. Don’t feel too spooked if you realize you’re making most or all of these errors — you’re not alone! Identifying missteps is necessary for getting back on track.
Salesforce DX is a powerful set of developer tools, APIs and features aimed at streamlining the development lifecycle for building apps on the Salesforce platform. With Salesforce DX, it becomes much easier for Salesforce teams to adopt DevOps. DevOps makes it easier to manage code, gives greater confidence that your changes will work when deployed, and helps you get apps to market faster using industry-standard models.
Every team is different, and each organization using Salesforce has unique requirements. Routes into Salesforce aren’t always straightforward, but many skills learned in other industries are highly transferable, and it’s one of the reasons that the ecosystem is so diverse. Salesforce attracts individuals from many different backgrounds, and gives opportunities for progression along a wide range of paths. But with so much variety, how do you make sure that you get the best out of people when looking at implementing new Salesforce development processes — like DevOps — in your company?
Documentation is the lifeblood of any successful software project, but it often gets deprioritized. Writing comprehensive docs can feel like a thankless task when you're heads down coding new features. But putting in the effort upfront does pay dividends down the line when your future self or teammates need to understand the rationale and inner workings of your Salesforce org.
Salesforce professionals can feel like they’re living in a Catch 22: developing and testing in production risks disrupting your live environment, but developer orgs aren’t an accurate representation of how changes may actually affect production. It can feel like a lose-lose situation!
DevOps is rapidly becoming the standard way to develop on Salesforce, with more teams abandoning change sets in favor of a faster, more reliable way to develop. If you’re in a Salesforce admin role, you might have explored the idea of implementing DevOps. When on this journey, it’s helpful to know what other Salesforce admins think about adopting Salesforce DevOps. The State of Salesforce DevOps 2023 report offers valuable insight into the world of Salesforce DevOps from different perspectives. Find out what admins think about Salesforce DevOps, what benefits they get from it, and what challenges they face.
We’re excited to announce that the Gearset Academy is now available on DevOps Launchpad! DevOps Launchpad is designed to help anyone in the Salesforce ecosystem upskill, with free courses and certifications available in a wide range of Salesforce DevOps topics. In addition to this vast vendor-neutral offering, the Gearset Academy has now been released to help Salesforce professionals get the most out of Gearset, with modules covering all of the platform’s key features.
Version controlling your Salesforce code is a bit of a no-brainer these days. But with so many options out there for DevOps tools, how do you pick the right version control tool that meets all the needs of your organization? Here are some factors that you should consider when you’re getting started with version control.
The Salesforce world is full of acronyms. Whether you’re an admin, developer, or completely new to the ecosystem, CPQ is another one to add to your ever-expanding list of Salesforce vocabulary. But what exactly is Salesforce CPQ, and why should you learn more about it? Read on to find out more.
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the latest edition of Forcelandia in the enchantingly eccentric city of Portland, Oregon. For those not familiar, Forcelandia is an annual event focusing on the Salesforce Community, specifically its developers and architects. The unique concoction of tech-savvy people, mind-bending sessions, and inspiring keynotes truly exemplifies the spirit of the Salesforce Ohana (family).
More and more Salesforce teams are being inspired to implement Salesforce DevOps into their process — perhaps trying their hands at the recently released Salesforce DevOps Center in order to rid themselves of the cumbersome process that change sets offers, or skilling up with essential DevOps knowledge to be more competitive in a tough job market. But how exactly do Salesforce developers view Salesforce DevOps? And what’s making Salesforce DevOps easier — or harder — for them? Keep reading to get the lowdown.
More and more Salesforce teams are realizing the benefits of DevOps adoption. But whilst it’s easy to get caught up in the technical side of implementing DevOps, the human side of DevOps can’t be underestimated. It’s a common misconception that technology alone — whether that’s adopting a new platform or tool, or changing a process -– will magically result in a successful workflow. That’s just not the case.
The largest survey of Salesforce professionals has revealed some interesting insights into how regular training benefits DevOps teams — and the impact goes deeper than you might expect. Read on to find out what the State of Salesforce DevOps 2023 report unveiled when it comes to the importance of DevOps team training, and why you should be looking at implementing more frequent training for your team.
Nia sat down with two of Gearset’s DevOps Architects, Amrut Patil and Sam Crossland, to discuss their career journeys. They also share key insights for Salesforce Architects looking to get into DevOps, and the challenges they may face on the way.
With 83% of teams in a recent survey prioritizing CI/CD as the key to unlocking their DevOps investment, it's important to understand the basics of this key DevOps principle. From grasping the important terminology to knowing when your team is ready to adopt, ensuring you’re familiar with all the concepts of CI/CD can be overwhelming. We’re here to help you break down the fundamentals:
Even for experienced admins and developers, Apex errors can be difficult to unpick. The messages tend to be vague and give little indication as to their cause or a suitable fix. To save you time on Stack Exchange or Trailhead forums the next time you run into an Apex error message, we’ve compiled the best practices for handling Apex error messages and how to fix the most common ones!
The curtains have closed on another fantastic DevOps Dreamin’ experience! Last week, over 200 Salesforce professionals came together to be inspired at the largest community conference dedicated to Salesforce delivery teams. It was the largest DevOps Dreamin’ yet, and by attending the community were able to raise $14,650 for Feeding America and the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, with proceeds from ticket sales split between the two causes.
Salesforce is the world's leading customer relationship management (CRM) software, and obtaining a certification in this domain can unlock a wealth of opportunities for your Salesforce career growth. In this blog post, we'll be sharing some top study tips and tricks to help you prepare for and ace those Salesforce qualifications.
The demand for DevOps engineers in the Salesforce ecosystem is increasing, and more and more Salesforce professionals are interested in furthering their career in this role or transferring to it. As Salesforce DevOps engineering differs both from DevOps engineering on other platforms and traditional Salesforce development roles, it can be hard to know what to expect from an interview for the role.
Well, maybe. Apex definitely looks like Java. But if you’re coming from something like a Java or C# background, you might find that Apex doesn’t always behave in the ways you’d expect. In this post, I’m going to walk you through a few of the pitfalls I came across as an experienced developer picking up Apex.
The terms ‘release management’ and ‘DevOps’ are often used interchangeably, especially in the Salesforce world. But they’re not really synonymous. So what’s the difference?
We’re excited to announce that a brand new Salesforce DevOps certificate is now available on DevOps Launchpad! The Salesforce DevOps Leadership Certificate is designed to help those in, or aspiring to be in, a position where they’re responsible for DevOps implementation, optimization or management in their organization.
Your team or organisation might have heard about the great benefits of Salesforce DevOps, and you might even be ready to adopt it for yourselves. There's a common misconception that simply having a DevOps process in place quickly means you’ll start reaping the rewards — but here at DevOps Launchpad, we know that any high calibre DevOps process takes the form of a marathon, not a sprint.
With the recent news of Salesforce layoffs and hiring freezes, it’s fair to say that there’s some anxiety amongst Salesforce professionals seeking a new position. However, upskilling and implementing DevOps is still proving important. Back in 2021, 85% of Salesforce teams had implemented or were planning to implement DevOps, according to Gearset’s State of Salesforce DevOps report — and that number is only growing.
CI/CD pipelines have become a hot topic in the Salesforce ecosystem, with 82% of Salesforce teams working to implement them, according to the 2022 State of Salesforce DevOps report. What’s spoken about less often, though, is a clear definition of both ‘CI’ and ‘CD’ and an explanation of how they differ — don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Certification isn’t new to the Salesforce community — it’s long been the best way to demonstrate your skills and experience, and certifications can be key to a successful Salesforce career. Whether you’re working towards your first official certification, or you’re a die-hard Trailblazer, they prove that you have the hands-on experience and knowledge companies are looking for in their Salesforce teams. But with so many different certifications on offer, why should you consider Salesforce DevOps certification?
With General Availability of DevOps Center, DevOps continues to take the Salesforce world by storm. Many Salesforce teams have been enjoying the benefits of DevOps for some time, but DevOps Center shows that DevOps has become the de facto approach to Salesforce development across the ecosystem. But it can be daunting to change the way your team works, so in this post we take a look at some of the key challenges facing Salesforce teams looking to adopt DevOps, and how you can avoid these common pitfalls.
DevOps has never been more central to the Salesforce ecosystem, underpinned by the recent General Availability (GA) of Salesforce DevOps Center. As the community embraces DevOps as the preferred approach for Salesforce development and release management, teams have a renewed focus on improving the experience of moving changes between environments — all with greater accuracy and smoother delivery than change sets alone can provide.
DevOps Advocate Rob Cowell shares insights from his career journey, and the benefits of Salesforce DevOps for developers that he’s seen first hand.
Admins are at the center of any Salesforce org, managing its users, data and experience. But, as well as being responsible for so many critical aspects of Salesforce, wouldn’t it be awesome to have greater control of your data and orgs? With DevOps you can gain more control over your Salesforce processes and, in turn, your career.
Salesforce orgs can be hugely complex, needing a skilled team of admins, developers and release managers to keep them on track. When developing custom Salesforce features, it can be difficult to balance demands and resources within your team, hit release targets, and maintain a positive and productive culture — but DevOps can help. Changing your approach to releases can be daunting, but there are good reasons for you and your team to adopt DevOps practices.
Salesforce DevOps is here to stay, and it’s never been more important to make sure you have the skills you need to be successful in a fast-changing world. That’s why we’re so excited to announce that our first certification track is now live on DevOps Launchpad! The Salesforce DevOps Fundamentals Certificate is the first certification program of its kind, providing a comprehensive, vendor-neutral foundation of Salesforce DevOps knowledge – and all at no charge.
Tl;dr — Both terms are valid, but there are good reasons why ‘version control’ is used more often in the Salesforce world. Do you ever wonder which term you should use: ‘source control’ or ‘version control’? You might come across both, and they’re often used interchangeably. But are they the same thing? Is one more ‘correct’ than the other? Does it depend on the context?
DevOps is part of an important cultural shift in working life, where work-life balance is the nirvana that many of us are chasing. Taking genuine time out has been proven to improve both mental health and general wellbeing. For some, that might mean a full lunch break with time to go for a walk, for others it could be meditation, time for hobbies or having ‘downtime’ to spend with friends and family away from work or screens.
It’s no secret that there’s a worldwide shortage of software developers. We’ve increasingly come to shop, bank, work, and play online: an effective online presence has become essential for the majority of businesses. This has accelerated in recent years, as more companies work and serve their customers online.
Everyone’s talking about how DevOps can take the pain out of Salesforce deployments and supercharge your release pipelines. Many teams using change sets spend hours — or even days — on each deployment, limiting their release cadence.
Dreamforce 2022 marked my return to the biggest Salesforce event, after my first visit in 2011. If you saw my earlier article, you’ll know that this time I went far better prepared to maximize my experience. Here are some of my highlights over ten years later.
If you’re starting to explore DevOps, you might have come across the view that it’s something that’s only for Agile developers in code-based development environments. But, who says you can't learn to be lean and keen yourself, whatever environment you’re working in?
Dreamforce is almost upon us! For those lucky enough to be attending, by now you’re probably familiar with the feeling that comes with choosing which sessions to catch. Endless possibilities and deliberation, the excitement to learn about new features, or hear customer stories.
Whether you’re entirely new to DevOps, or are familiar with the concept but haven’t yet applied it to Salesforce development, DevOps Launchpad is here to help! At its simplest, 'DevOps' is a set of practices that merge the previously siloed areas of software development (Dev) and operations (Ops). DevOps helps teams build, integrate, test and deploy faster and more collaboratively than ever before.
I attended my first Dreamforce back in 2011. At that point, I’d only been in the Salesforce world for a little over a year and it was just a portion of my job role. I’d been to a few Salesforce User Groups—long before they were called Trailblazer Community Groups—but I didn’t know much about Dreamforce and I didn’t know many folks in the community.
Salesforce DevOps is increasingly the solution for today’s Salesforce developments challenges. The State of Salesforce DevOps 2022 survey found that 66% of companies use source control while 85% of teams say DevOps has boosted their Salesforce ROI.
Salesforce DevOps adoption continues to increase globally, with teams seeing impact across efficiency, improved return on investment (ROI) and easier, more frequent releases. So what are the key components that help drive successful adoption of DevOps processes and principles in these high-performing teams?
Most of us are seeking that elusive work/life balance, which is why more control over both the way we work and our career development is very attractive. So instead of trying to set a distant career resolution, how about joining a revolution?
Matt Pieper, Director of Business Systems Engineering at CareRev joined DevOps Advocate Jack McCurdy for a conversation exploring his team’s journey towards CI/CD.
Depending where you work, it can be hard to believe that less than twenty years ago, most software development organisations worked with a structured hierarchy of decision makers – typically senior developers, business analysts and technical architects.
The journey to learning Salesforce DevOps is an exciting one — gaining skills is a gamechanger no matter where you are in your career. But committing to learning new terminology and getting the hang of new processes can be a little daunting.
One of the biggest advantages to learning more about Salesforce DevOps is the variety of skills anyone and everyone can pick up on their learning journey.
An ever-increasing number of Salesforce’s 150,000 customers worldwide are adopting DevOps best practices to improve business processes. They know that DevOps unlocks efficiencies within release cycles and sharpens the customer experience.
Community and support from people you trust are key whatever the learning journey you’re on. Seeing people that you relate to going through the same challenges and enjoying the same success provides an emotional lift that would benefit anyone.
One great advantage of using Salesforce is that new features are regularly released which benefit the user and unlock higher business performance.
Whether you’re planning to take on some new Salesforce responsibilities, or you're setting out on a totally new trajectory as a Salesforce administrator or developer, becoming a DevOps master will have an enormous impact on your professional prospects.
What do seasoned release managers, Salesforce developers and admins just getting their teeth into Salesforce all have in common? The fact that Salesforce DevOps skills are hugely valuable and practical — whatever their role and no matter what stage they’re at in their careers.