Revitalizing a Complex Salesforce Environment with Effective Release Manage

About the Customer

Our customer is a multinational corporation with extensive operations across various regions and industries. They have been using Salesforce for several years, with numerous teams from different Salesforce consulting firms involved in building and maintaining the system.

Customer Needs

Over time, the complexity of the Salesforce environment grew, making it increasingly difficult to deliver new features without breaking existing functionalities. Frequent issues included triggers hitting limits and a significant increase in the cost of new feature development. The quality of the application declined, and updates became infrequent and minor.

Our Solution

We proposed the introduction of a Release Management process to address these challenges. This approach allows multiple teams to work in parallel, plan new features with accurate delivery timelines, and minimize the risk of breaking existing functionality. After implementing the Release Management process on this large and complex project, it revitalized the system. Combined with our sClass solution for Salesforce database management, it significantly improved the time, quality, and cost efficiency of introducing new features.

Details

Roles

Release Manager

• Manages deployments and communicates issues during code merging or deployment.

Reporter/Product Owner/Project Manager

• Provides tasks to Development and QA teams and leads deliverability planning and grooming.

Developer

• Develops functionality, estimates tasks, and saves code in a Version Control System (VCS).

QA

• Validates new functionality against task requirements and provides estimations during grooming sessions.

Business User

• Validates new functionality in a User Acceptance Testing (UAT) environment and provides feedback.

Pilot User

• Validates new functionality in a Production environment.

Tools

Task Tracker (Jira)

• Tracks deliverability plans, epics, and tasks, connecting business, developers, and QA teams.

VCS (Git, GitLab, Bitbucket)

• Stores code, maintains change history, and facilitates developer communication.

Automation System (GitLab, CircleCI, Bamboo, Jenkins)

• Manages deployments and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD).

Salesforce

• Manages sandboxes and configurations for the Automation System.

Knowledge System (Confluence)

• Stores documentation on business processes, technical implementations, and QA test cases.

Processes

Main Processes

1. Initial Setup

   • Configure tools and systems, integrate between systems, and set rules and conventions.

2. Release

   • Define scope of work, deliverables, and deadlines.

3. Salesforce Release Preparation

   • Prepare for Salesforce’s three annual releases by staying updated and planning accordingly.

4. Data Archiving and Backup

   • Store only necessary information in Salesforce and back up important data according to local laws.

Minor Processes

• Sandbox Creation

  • Manage sandbox creation with proper naming conventions, refresh policies, and data population.

• Validate Code for Deployment

  • Ensure code is always deployable with no issues such as test coverage failures or metadata inconsistencies.

• VCS Data Sync

  • Keep the VCS in sync with the production code to avoid discrepancies.

• VCS Pipelines and Triggers Configuration

  • Set up triggers to automate validation and deployment processes.

• Task Tracker Flow

  • Define workflow in the Task Tracker to guide specialists effectively.

• Deployment Flow

  • Outline the code path from development to production.

• Development Flow

  • Detail steps for developing tasks and what constitutes completed work.

• QA Flow

  • Define the QA process and steps for testing and validation.

• Review Flow

  • Explain code review procedures, including checks and reviewer responsibilities.

• Documentation Maintenance

  • Maintain up-to-date documentation as the project’s “source of truth.”

• Access Control

  • Ensure proper access control to minimize risks of unintended mistakes.

Simplified Example

Initial Setup

• Access Control

  • Grant necessary access to users based on their roles to minimize risks.

• Sandbox Creation

  • Create required sandboxes based on development flow and ensure proper setup.

• Validate Code for Deployment

  • Ensure VCS code is deployable to production and sandboxes.

• VCS Pipelines and Triggers Configuration

  • Set up pipelines and triggers for automated processes.

• Documentation Maintenance

  • Document all steps and decisions thoroughly.

Conclusion

Effective release management ensures smooth deployments, reduces risks, and enhances productivity. This document serves as a guide to establish robust release management practices using the outlined roles, tools, and processes.