Starting Early
Salesforce architects should always begin the project right early. Whatever direction one wants to take with their adoption, they must make sure that they involve the experts as early as possible. Depending on the complexity of the project, one should involve them as early as the planning process. This is because if they are involved from the start, it gets easier for them to identify problems in the implementation as things advance. This will help the business avoid the extra costs and inconveniences in the latter stages.
Remaining in Contact
The job of the Salesforce architect is first to validate the project and determine its suitability. After that, they determine the best technological approach one can use to implement the program. However, they should always remain in contact with the implementation team even after they finish their job. They remain valuable experts in case the implementation team experiences an issue. They resolve the problems in the implementation process and outside. The speed of resolving these problems and the extent of their knowledge ensures that there are no problems in the future.
Working for the Future
Technology is always changing, and the implementation of any new technology is always prone to changes with time. As things change, organizations will most likely have to change with them. The best technologies in the industry now are those that experts call future proof. Instead of using a point-to-point approach, that changes every time technology changes. Industry practice calls for the use of middleware to enable the integration of future programs. This might seem like an expensive approach to set up, but in the end, it gets cheaper. When systems are upgraded, there are no breaks.
Salesforce Architecture -Best Practices
Businesses, especially those that are just starting, can address their business needs in many ways. There are simple shortcut procedures, which address single problems called point-to-point solutions. These are generally frowned upon because they solve just a one simple problem. Salesforce architecture professionals know industry professionals and tie them down to a practical solution. These normally provide a base for future requirements in upgrades. The result of this is ease of maintenance in the long term, thus reducing the costs of ownership of the program.Managing Migration
Many businesses are now migrating from Siebel to the Salesforce platform. One notable hurdle they face is that of the records storage. When companies migrate, they tend to have millions of records in a single table. Some companies have as much as 30 million records in the same table. Managing volumes of data records is one of the major components of Salesforce architecture. The data model should be designed to find the right balance between batch processing and real time data loads. The way Salesforce is designed, it considers any table that has more than 3 million records suspect and worth investigating. If businesses ignore this report, they might find the end user experience unfavorable and risk being unable to run related reports.
Data Rules
Moving beyond the inefficiency and inconvenience of records storage, Salesforce data rules are there to protect the consumer from extra costs. They want to provide CRM services, but without the additional hosting service of hosting large files. When one uses them for hosting, say, large PowerPoint attachments of GB size, it might be a very costly experience. Experts in Salesforce Architecture will be available to advice on the external services one can use.
Challenges During Adoption
Many of the problems that arise during the user adoption stage after the technology has been rolled out can be solved by changing these simple steps before the rollout begins.
Companies moving to the force.com platform should always keep two things in mind
Choosing a Good Partner
Choosing a good partner helps the company determine the best way they can place both their data and their systems in a way that the platform will make most sense of. Granted, adopting a new system of doing things will often mean a change in the way the company runs its processes. The product should always be unique in its own way, finding the right balance between customer needs and those of the platform. It should not be too rigid that the customer gets what they need but the system becomes inefficient. In addition, the system should not be too conforming to Salesforce rules that it leaves the user struggling with adoption and usage.
Knowing Why
Change should not be just for the sake of it. Knowing the reasons why one is adopting a new system go a long way in designing it to meet future needs. Whatever one does, there should be another professional reviewing ways in which the process can be made easier, faster and smoother going into the future. Knowing how future staff will make use of Salesforce helps people make sense of changes it brings about, and often streamlines the process.
Plan and Prepare
The amount of planning and preparation that goes into the implementation process of a Salesforce CRM determines how well everything turns out. Since there are few certified professionals, involving them fully in the process can be difficult. They are usually available in a consultative role. In a company setting, the in-house team will determine the implementation process success. One needs an executive champion for the high-level support, system administrators, project managers and power users who will gauge the end user efficiency. This way, when one involves the Salesforce architecture expert; their work will not be too difficult.