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Since 2019, Salesforce Architects have found a home at Dreamforce, participating in never-before-seen custom-tailored sessions and workshops just for architects that have boosted their knowledge and command over Salesforce. The role of a Salesforce Architect has gained a lot of traction lately, leading to an ever-increasing number of trailblazers choosing this path.
Historically, Salesforce has focused a lot of attention on both Administrators and Developers, but architects were always left behind to fend for themselves.
What is a Salesforce Architect?
Just like you have architects that design homes, office buildings, and the bridges that we drive on every day, there are architects that help to build secure, scalable Salesforce implementations driving value for their customers.
Just like you would want the architect that designs the bridge that you drive on to have years of experience and deep knowledge of all aspects of building a bridge, you would want a Salesforce architect to have the same as well.
A Salesforce architect typically has deep experience in the Salesforce platform and has many years of experience working in various roles building engaging customer experiences on Salesforce and other technologies.
An architect is the bridge between the business and the technical teams, ensuring that Salesforce best practices are met, while helping to meet business stakeholder needs, without sacrificing the integrity of the solution.
On an Island of Their Own
Salesforce Administrators and Developers always had a lot of resources and people that they could leverage and lean on when they needed help, but this was not typically true for the Salesforce architect.
The Salesforce architect many times was the person that everyone looked to for guidance and direction, but what if the Salesforce architect needed direction? Who could they look to?
Well sadly, many times architects just had to figure things out for themselves, or if they were lucky enough to have built their own network, they could reach out to their personal colleagues for help.
Also, since there were not many formalized Salesforce design standards out there, and too many informal standards, with many people having their own opinions regarding how things should be done, it was almost like the wild wild west in many cases, with everyone doing their own thing.
Boy was it tough to be an architect!
Then Salesforce came to the Rescue in Dreamforce 2019 and announced the Salesforce Well-Architected Framework; a framework that would revolutionize how architects worked, giving them the direction and the support they truly needed.
Salesforce Well-Architected Explained
The Salesforce Well-Architected framework is centered on building healthy solutions, or improving the health of existing solutions, helping architects to better prioritize where they should be spending their time road-mapping and designing solutions on the Customer 360 Platform.
The framework provides Salesforce Architects with prescriptive guidance and much needed examples of anti-patterns and patterns that can be followed while designing solutions. These patterns are based on the knowledge from implementation experts and product teams working together throughout the Salesforce ecosystem.
As a customizable platform, Salesforce is essential for architects to emphasize the right direction. With this approach, “Well-Architected” is centered around three pillars of what Salesforce solutions should be.
- Trusted: Trust is one of the core values of Salesforce. Customers should be able to trust that the data stored within Salesforce is secure and that the solution is compliant with regulations and security guidelines for every implementation.
- Easy: Solutions should be able to quickly deliver value. They should be intentional and easy to maintain. They should be automated with clear logic, aligned to drive business value, while adhering to data integrity. They should be engaging, streamlined, and helpful to end users.
- Adaptable: As every business keeps evolving with changing needs and trends, implemented Salesforce solutions must be able to keep up. The solution should be able to evolve as the business evolves over time.
The Salesforce Well-Architected framework emphasizes helping professionals through “how to think like an architect” to build safe, scalable, and healthy solutions.
The fundamental flexibility of Salesforce has been one of the challenges architects face while creating Salesforce solutions. You might be able to extend a pre-built solution for one solution, but for another poorly designed solution, you might need to wipe the slate clean and build a completely new customized application.
What specific choices of technology you’ll make will entirely depend upon the unique business needs. So, while working with all those distinct features and technologies, it can be tough to evaluate what will contribute to building the long-term health of the Salesforce solution.
To overcome this challenge, “Well-Architected” provides guidance and insights from experienced Salesforce architects, product managers, and evangelists, so you can use their recommendations and opinions to validate your ideas. The framework allows you to get the right guidance from experts, thus helping you build Trusted, Easy, and Adaptable solutions.
Conclusion
The introduction of the Salesforce Well-Architected framework has brought about a profound transformation in the role of Salesforce Architects, equipping them with the essential guidance and support necessary to architect secure and scalable solutions.
By placing a strong emphasis on the pillars of Trusted, Easy, and Adaptable solutions, this framework empowers architects to prioritize critical aspects such as data security, expedited value delivery, and adaptability to evolving business requirements.
With the framework, Salesforce Architects can effectively build healthy solutions that inspire trust, are user-friendly, and evolve alongside the changing demands of businesses.
To learn more about the Salesforce Well-Architected framework, visit this link here.
Concerned about the security of your data and users in Salesforce? Book a free Well-Architected Security Assessment to see if you are at risk today!
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