Salesforce Platform Governance Method cycle
As you know by now, those guys down at Bright Sound Guitars have really been put through the mill by their governance team. As part of the governance process, they have had to consider an awful lot of detail, such as general architecture concerns, sharing best practices, data architecture, and worries about integration. Let’s not even mention Apex and SOQL. The BSG team has really done a great job. And that’s exactly what we would like for you as well. Success!
Success is a big deal in the Salesforce ecosystem, and we want all Salesforce implementations to be a hit. Whether your organization is a first-time Salesforce consumer or you have been a Salesforce customer for many years, the governance process for all your projects should be completed in a similar way. But to reinforce your ability to successfully govern your Salesforce implementation, you need to have a good understanding of the platform’s capabilities at various levels. Therefore, the main objective of the resource base is to achieve exactly that: give you a leg up, provide you with a list of specifically chosen resources that will be informative and educational, and assist you in achieving the desired outcome for your Salesforce implementation. After all, these topics can be difficult and require a certain degree of expertise and a lot of consideration.
If by reading this book you can emerge from your governance process and Salesforce implementation far more knowledgeable and as a result able to have “tranquil dreams” with a huge smile on your face, and conversely not be in a “sea of despair,” then I think we have achieved what we intended.
How to Use the Resource Base
Ok, so let’s get into the resource base itself. How should it be used? What you will find is that each chapter in this resource base corresponds to a chapter in the method. For example, Chapter 2, “Application Architecture: Phase A,” will have a respective chapter in the resource base. In this case, Chapter 12, “Application Architecture (Phase A) Resource Base.” What you will find in each chapter will be an introduction to the topic, some words on best practices or general information, and then a list of resources that are pertinent to the content in the method.
Now, we have envisaged that you will use this book by considering the content by domain rather than by starting at the beginning and reading through to the end, although of course you are very welcome to do that if you so wish! However, if data architecture is your primary concern right now, then the corresponding data architecture resource base Chapter 13 should be read in unison so that while you are learning the method, you can also review the technical concepts as part of the same exercise. To this end, you may find some repetitive rhetoric as part of the introductory detail for each chapter in the resource base. That’s by design based on how we expect this book to be used. Let’s look at how the resource base chapters are structured.
The Resource Base Structure
Introduction – A few words on the topic in question
Guidelines and Best Practices – Contextual information regarding the resources provided; here you will find the link to the GitHub repository where you will find all the markdown files that contain all the URLs to the resources we’ve added.
Topic Introduction – This section will provide some explanatory notes on the topic and some important considerations for you to ponder. Remember, this book has not been written to provide you with an exhaustive description of every facet of the Salesforce platform.
The Resource Base Table – This is where the good stuff is. Here you will find reference details for all the resources, including a synopsis for each resource. Some of the information you find in these tables may be enough to answer a question or lead your thinking to a more appropriate area for research. That’s great and is also our intention. First, you will see the “Artifact.” This is the actual name of the resource online. Next is the “GitHub Ref” text. This text will directly correspond to the text provided in the GitHub repo markdown files. Therefore, you should be able to find the information you are looking for without any frustrating searching for the detail you need. Finally, the “Description.” This provides a short description of each resource that should be informative and help you to decide if this resource deserves further investigation, depending on the context of your interest. Table 11-1 is an example of the information that you will see.
Standards – This section of the resource base provides you with information that we consider to be important as it will either assist you as you navigate through the governance process or is considered best practice; for example, naming conventions for fields, Apex classes, flows, etc.
Checklist – Finally, as you review the method(s) you will see a logical breakup of the topic into succinct areas for the control and consideration of your governance process. To help you prepare and ensure that you are covering all bases, we have provided a checklist that can be used to ensure that you have considered all areas of the method.
Resource Table Example
Artifact | GitHub Ref | Description |
|---|---|---|
The official title for the resource For example: Integration Patterns and Practices | The searchable reference in the GitHub repo for the URL resource For example: Integrations Patterns | The synopsis for the resource in context For example: This Salesforce guide offers a detailed description of the patterns or strategies for many common integration scenarios. After reading this resource, you will be aware of approaches you could take using the pattern selection guide, and have a better understanding of the terms used that relate to integration. |
You do not need to use this resource base as a strict method or process. The idea is that this will give you a good indication of what you should be taking into consideration. The expectation is that you will use this as a guide and then build upon it as you navigate the Salesforce ecosystem.
The GitHub Repository
As explained earlier, we have created a GitHub repository that includes any code snippets, example material, and of course the markdown files for each chapter that contain the resource links for you to get to the details.
The URL for the repo is as follows: github.com/salesforceplatformgovernancemethod
We recommend you bookmark this link as the content will be maintained going forward as we aim to keep the content relevant and aligned to new products and updates as released by Salesforce as part of their three yearly product releases.
A Final Word
Before you begin your perusal of the resource chapters, a final word on the content that you will find. While we have tried to be thorough and provide you with as many resources as possible pertinent to the topic at hand, there are bound to be other resources across the internet that may also give you what you are looking for. That’s awesome and expected.
This book is not written to be a definitive technical guide for each platform configuration item across the entire spectrum of setup. Rather, the collection of resources we have assembled is there to be more of a springboard of discovery to help you to get a good grounding of knowledge so you can learn what you need or decide whether you need to further your understanding with additional research and study. Regardless, we wish you well on your Salesforce journey and hope these resources that you will review as part of your voyage of discovery will serve you well.