Implementation is a profession, even in the cloud

Three key implementation lessons

...because sometimes it goes wrong too

Cloud technology, such as Salesforce, is helping organizations tremendously to innovate the way they collaborate - internally and with customers and associates. I have never concealed my passion for this. But great technology alone is not enough... At g-company we often come across the consequences of a less than professional implementation.

Deceptive simplicity

Salesforce is easy to model to your business processes. People sometimes ask me, "What can't be done?" My answer is then, "Anything is possible." And after a few seconds of skeptical looks, I add, "The question is whether you should want it all."

That's what makes implementing a profession. Salesforce's powerful metadata model allows you to develop all sorts of things on top of standard functionality. Often with clicks, sometimes with code. So "Anything goes" is the truth... But a good implementation partner will always push for use of the standards. And those standards already offer so much, possibly supplemented by third-party apps, native to the platform.

Many organizations claim that their processes are unique. Then you fall into a rather difficult discussion. On the one hand you want to respect the uniqueness of your customer, on the other hand we know that uniqueness is not as bad as it seems. Sales processes always consist of the same basic components. Whether you have 3 or 15 opportunity stages doesn't change that. Neither does the number of quotation templates or the division of roles within your organisation. The same applies to customer service processes, marketing, project management and so on. The basic principles do not change and specific workflows are easy to configure.

Happy users through proper implementation

It is the responsibility of a good implementation partner to advise the customer against copying his existing processes 100% to a new environment. Let the platform work for you - that's what you're paying for, after all - even if it means slightly adapting your own processes. In this way you will make optimal use of all the global best practices that have been incorporated into Salesforce.

The consequences of an inadequate implementation are far-reaching. It leads to all sorts of problems: performance, bugs, non-functioning interfaces with other systems, and a lot of manual work. The users turn away from the environment. The cause is often: needlessly complex solutions - often self-coded - for things that Salesforce provides by default.

In such a case, we help customers to thoroughly simplify their Salesforce environment and largely reduce it to standard functionality. Result: the software supports the business processes even better and flawlessly and integrates smoothly with its environment. An additional important benefit is that users now experience the ease and enjoyment of this technology.

What to learn

There are a few lessons to be learned:

• Make the platform work for you. 
  Salesforce's price-performance ratio is excellent if you make maximum use of the CRM knowledge incorporated in the software, without wanting to invent the wheel yourself.
  
• Think about yourself three times before you start writing code.
  Often other solutions are possible through configuration, which more than adequately support your processes. And for the processes for which it is really necessary, the platform offers all necessary development possibilities.
• Don't blindly copy your current processes to the new environment. 
  Instead, consider it an opportunity to take another look at your processes and innovate.