A book like this cannot be accomplished without the support and compromise made by my family. My beautiful and amazing wife, Junko Maki, who has spent the last 9 years of her life unconditionally loving me and selflessly supporting my ambitions. She is my best friend, philosopher, coach, and therapist. The last part is probably something I need a lot of. Her understanding and compromise to allow me to spend several nights and weekends in my office room by myself is an equal contribution made by her in completing this book, as it has been for me. Thank you for all you do for me and the kids every single day, in addition to your real estate career. I could not have been where I am without you in my life.

I am also the proud father of two teenage sons, Kazuya Jyoti and Ouji Jyoti, who were the first reviewers of the initial chapters of this book. My efforts were already paid in full the day they both read the first chapter of this book and said they really want to become cloud architects. Their persistent request to write more chapters so they could learn more about Salesforce kept me going with a relentless motivation to research and write each chapter with love and dedication.

Giving back to the community is something I learned at a young age by simply observing my mother, Arati Jyoti, who is a Reiki Grandmaster and a volunteer at Mother Teresa’s order of missionaries and St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Mumbai, India. She dedicated the last 30 years of her life to offering Reiki treatments to people with various physical, emotional, and mental illnesses. In addition to this, she volunteers her remaining time to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. My father, Haran Jyoti, who has selflessly dedicated his life to meeting his family’s every need and raising his only son with the belief that everything is achievable as long as you don’t give up. He was the person to tell me “you can do it” when I said I wanted to write a book on Salesforce architecture.

I am truly blessed to have my friend and co-author, James Hutcherson, partnering with me on this book, without whom this book could not have been completed. Thanks for trusting me and diving in with all your dedication. Your collaboration and contribution has been truly invaluable.

I want to thank Matt Francis for his constant support and feedback on this book. Matt is a Salesforce veteran and a Salesforce Certified Technical Architect (CTA), who has not only been a Salesforce mentor to me but has been an unstoppable force in my success with my Salesforce career. His nonstop encouragement and endless motivation each day at work has led my Salesforce journey to be where it is today.

A book is only as good as its reviewer, for which I want to thank Kal Chintala. His invaluable knowledge in Salesforce in general and as a Salesforce Certified Technical Architect (CTA) has helped us tremendously in correcting many parts of this book and getting new perspectives on our content.

Similarly, a great contribution was made by the Salesforce Generations CTA group that reviewed our book and provided their unbiased review for our material. The Salesforce Generations CTA group is a weekly CTA study group that includes Sudhir Durvasula, Waruna Buwaneka, Chetan Devraj, Brock Elgart, Jim Hutcherson, and Julia Kantarovsky, in addition to James and me. We dedicated several of our study group sessions to reviewing each chapter line by line and getting collective feedback from the group.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank Rita Fernando and Susan McDermott from Apress for believing in me and giving me an opportunity to write this book for Apress. I still remember the day I contacted both of you, and never in a thousand years could I have imagined what this journey was going to be. Thanks for your patience and continuous support throughout the entire process.

—Dipanker “DJ” Jyoti

I would like to thank my adorable wife, Sherry Hutcherson, for her loving support along this journey. She is my best friend and has been my champion for more than 40 years. She allowed me to accomplish more than I ever could have done without her giving me advice and inspiration. Her encouragement made my contribution to this book a reality. Thank you, Sherry, for everything you do and for allowing me to have and obtain the “big dreams.”

I am honored that Dipanker “DJ” Jyoti invited me to join in this endeavor. Without all the hard work you invested from start to finish, it would still just be a thought in my head. Your hard work getting this book approved and supported by Apress made it a reality. Thank you for letting me join your effort to write this book.

I would like to thank the members of the Salesforce Generations weekly CTA study group including DJ, Sudhir Durvasula, Waruna Buwaneka, Chetan Devraj, Brock Elgart, Jim Hutcherson (my son), and Julia Kantarovsky. They have provided thought leadership and assistance for both studying for the CTA exam and allowing DJ and me to ask hard questions and test topics with seasoned professionals in the field.

I am grateful to my family for the words of encouragement and the support over the years. My son, Jim Hutcherson, has shown me that even an old dog like me can still learn new tricks. You are an amazing Salesforce architect. But more importantly, you are the best son I could have ever asked for. You are an exemplary father, husband, and role model for everyone you meet. Maureen Hutcherson, thank you for the love, support, and fun you bring to the family. Dave and Vickie Magill, Kathy Bevec, and Patty and Ronnie Eamich, thank you for accepting me even when I’m “preoccupied” and still providing assistance and encouragement at just the right times. Thank you to Renee and Richard Abell and Chis and Jim Sabo for cheering me on over the years. You helped more than you will ever know.

I would not have co-written this book without the opportunities, challenges, and successes I gained from the amazing organizations I have worked with over the years, including Capgemini, Adnubis, Apollo Education, Net Direct, Advizex, Agilysys/Pioneer-Standard, NCR, Anderson Jacobson, and the US Navy. My architectural knowledge evolved and matured from each of you allowing me to try, succeed, and sometimes fail. I would like to make a shout-out to Capgemini Government Solutions for investing actively in my career and the larger Salesforce ecosystem. Thank you.

I would like to offer a special thank you to Kal Chintala for his tireless support and guidance as the technical reviewer for this book. Your comments and ideas truly helped make it more valuable to our readers. Thank you for the effort and your friendship. It is greatly appreciated.

Finally, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to Rita Fernando, Susan McDermott, and the staff at Apress who saw the value of this material and partnered with DJ and me in its publication. You have consistently provided the highest level of support, directions, and patience throughout the entire writing process, and for that you have my greatest appreciation.

—James A. Hutcherson