The best Salesforce UI testing tools in 2026
When a critical user journey breaks silently after a deployment, the cost isn’t just technical. Team productivity and end users’ trust in Salesforce take a hit.
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The best Salesforce code review tools in 2026
Static code analysis and automated code reviews are essential for Salesforce teams — even more so with the rise of vibe coding. AI makes it easy to generate large volumes of Salesforce code quickly, but the quality of that code needs to be validated before release.
Static code analysis vs dynamic code analysis: what’s the difference?
In this blog post, we’ll set out the practical differences between static code analysis (also known as static application security testing — SAST) and dynamic analysis (also known as dynamic application security testing — DAST) in Salesforce. We’ll dive into where SAST, DAST, software composition analysis, and vulnerability scanning fit, as well as why deterministic code reviews have become a critical safety layer in an AI era.
Best Salesforce DevOps training courses and learning resources for 2026
Whether you’re just getting started or deepening your expertise in Salesforce DevOps, the right training can be the difference between smooth, automated releases and weeks lost to failed deployments, merge conflicts, and manual fixes.
Salesforce DevOps training guide with skills and certification paths
Salesforce DevOps has become one of the highest-paying paths in the ecosystem, with DevOps Engineers earning average U.S. salaries of $192,000. As demand grows, specialized Salesforce DevOps training is now essential for professionals looking to expand their skills and move into more advanced roles. If you’re a Salesforce admin, developer, or team leader, this guide will give you a clear roadmap for DevOps. We’ll highlight the key training paths, certifications, and career trajectories that support a successful transition.
Learn, connect, and level up: join us at DevOps Dreamin’ London 2025
DevOps Dreamin’ London returns on November 20th, bringing together some of the brightest minds in the Salesforce ecosystem for a full day of learning, collaboration, and inspiration. In this blog post, we take a look at what makes DevOps Dreamin’ London a must-attend event — from inspiring community sessions to the Launchpad Lounge, where you can learn, connect, and get certified live.
Dreamforce 2025 Day Three: vision, agents, and responsible innovation
Day Three at Dreamforce 2025 closed out the conference experience with some of the biggest ideas, the sharpest warnings, and the boldest promises for how the agentic enterprise will reshape business. In this post, we’ll help you catch up with the key highlights of the day.
Dreamforce 2025 Day Two: Key updates for admins, developers, industry verticals, and more
Take a look inside Day Two of Dreamforce 2025, and recap the key highlights and announcements from keynotes, sessions, workshops, and more — and learn what they mean for Salesforce DevOps teams.
Dreamforce 2025 Day One: Welcome to the Agentic Enterprise
In this blog post, we’ll bring you all the biggest announcements, key moments, and behind-the-scenes insights from Day One of Dreamforce 2025 — touching on what Salesforce’s new vision for the Agentic Enterprise really means for DevOps and the wider Salesforce ecosystem.
From afterthought to safety net: my journey implementing Salesforce backup
In this post, Mohammed Nadeem (Gearset DevOps Leader) shares how his team redefined backup as a cornerstone of their release process. He reflects on the misconceptions they left behind, the lessons learned, and how this shift now empowers their developers and release managers with lasting confidence in every deployment.
The best Salesforce backup tools in 2025
Finding the right Salesforce backup solution is critical. With 47% of teams experiencing at least one data loss incident in 2024 — and 19% needing days to recover when disaster strikes — you need to be sure you’ve protected your Salesforce investment through both daily operations and crisis situations.
From change sets to CI/CD: a Salesforce DevOps success story
In this blog post, Jeremy Foster, Manager of Salesforce Development at Pilot Company, shares his team’s journey from the frustrations of manual change sets, to learning modern continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) best practices through DevOps Launchpad, and ultimately implementing scalable CI pipelines with Gearset. He walks through each stage of that transformation, discussing how CI/CD enabled faster, safer, and more collaborative delivery across multiple teams.
Getting started with Git for Salesforce: my journey to DevOps success
Salesforce deployments can be notoriously complex and error-prone, especially when relying on traditional methods like manual change sets. As a Salesforce admin who has navigated these challenges, Eric Kenney discovered that integrating Git and structured DevOps practices can significantly streamline the deployment process and enhance team efficiency. In this article, Eric outlines the common deployment challenges Salesforce teams face, explains how adopting Git and DevOps can address these issues, and shares practical, actionable steps for implementing these processes effectively.
Beginner’s guide to Git branching strategies
Branches, commits, pull requests, merging, conflicts — these are familiar terms we hear across the wider software engineering world, and within high-performing Salesforce teams. But tying them all together into a strategy can be tricky. With long-lived sandboxes and varied metadata types, Salesforce’s unique development model can make it even harder to adopt a branching strategy that works for everyone, adding to the initial learning curve.
Admin’s guide to Git: understanding version control through clicks not code
For many Salesforce admins, the idea of using Git, source control, or version control can feel like something reserved for developers, buried in command-line tools and technical workflows. But that perception is shifting. As Salesforce teams modernize their DevOps processes, Git has become essential. And it’s not just for developers anymore.
What is Model Context Protocol (MCP) — and why Salesforce teams should care in 2025
Salesforce development is changing — and fast. With Agentforce 3 ushering in a new generation of AI-powered tooling and smarter DevOps workflows, there’s one term you’re going to hear a lot more about in 2025: MCP. Short for Model Context Protocol, MCP is the behind-the-scenes standard powering many of the new capabilities in Agentforce. In this blog post, guest author Dave Rant (Development Team Lead at Gearset) deep dives into what MCP is — and why it matters for Salesforce professionals.
What are DORA metrics — and why do they matter for Salesforce teams?
If you’ve spent time around Salesforce DevOps, you might have heard people talking about key metrics, especially DORA metrics. They’re frequently mentioned in discussions about deployment frequency, performance benchmarks, or DevOps maturity. But what exactly are these metrics, and how are they relevant to Salesforce teams?
From Developer to CEO: how DevOps powered my Salesforce career
In our latest Careers in DevOps webinar, we had the pleasure of welcoming Paul Battisson — Salesforce MVP Hall of Fame member, author of two Apex programming books, and now founder and CEO of Groundwork Apps. Paul has worn nearly every hat in the Salesforce ecosystem — developer, consultant, architect, COO, and now entrepreneur — and throughout each step, DevOps has been a constant companion helping him grow, scale, and lead with confidence.
Agentforce 3.0 — what Salesforce’s next leap in AI really means for your team
Salesforce has just launched Agentforce 3.0, and it’s a pretty big deal. Not in the overhyped “change everything overnight” way — but in the real, practical sense that matters to the Salesforce pros actually building and running Salesforce environments every day. With over 200 prebuilt agent actions ready to go, this Agentforce release brings real-world automation one step closer to reality.
From product manager to DevOps evangelist: my Salesforce career journey
At DevOps Launchpad, we’re passionate about spotlighting real career journeys that show how DevOps can unlock new opportunities in the Salesforce ecosystem. In our latest “Careers in DevOps” webinar, we heard from Eric Kintzer — Salesforce Architect, Stack Exchange top contributor, and long-time DevOps advocate — who shared how learning Salesforce hands-on, embracing DevOps best practices, and giving back to the community transformed his career. Whether you’re a solo admin or a developer in a growing team, Eric’s story is full of insights that can help you scale your skills and build a stronger, more rewarding Salesforce career.
What top Salesforce DevOps teams are doing differently in 2025
The best Salesforce teams don’t just deploy more frequently — they deliver more value, with less stress. And in 2025, they’re doing it with DevOps practices that are more mature, more automated, and more collaborative than ever before.
From accidental admin to principal engineer: an unexpected Salesforce journey
At DevOps Launchpad, we love to spotlight the real stories behind career growth in the Salesforce ecosystem. Recently, we were thrilled to host Kyle Bentsen, Principal Salesforce Engineer, for the April edition of our “Careers in DevOps” webinar series. Kyle shared his incredible journey through the world of Salesforce — from his unexpected start as an “accidental admin” to leading DevOps strategy at some of the biggest names in tech. In this post, Kyle walks us through the pivotal moments of his career, the lessons he learned along the way, and his top advice for those looking to grow their technical skills and embrace DevOps in Salesforce. Missed the webinar? You can catch the full recording here.
5 steps to building observability into your Salesforce development process
Observability is vital for modern DevOps, giving Salesforce teams true visibility over what’s happening within their orgs. But knowing what observability is, and understanding why it matters, is just the starting point. The real transformation comes when we learn how to effectively build observability practices into our day-to-day Salesforce development process.
What is observability and why does it matter for Salesforce DevOps?
In the world of Salesforce development, we’re constantly striving for smoother releases, more stable applications, and a better experience for our users. A key practice that underpins all of these goals, and one that's becoming increasingly vital in Salesforce DevOps, is observability. In this blog post, DevOps Architect Andy Barrick deep dives into what observability is, and why should it be on your radar if you’re serious about optimizing your Salesforce DevOps lifecycle.
New Salesforce observability course now available!
Have you ever stared down a cryptic Salesforce error message, feeling like it’s just the tip of a much bigger problem? Maybe your deployments are slower than expected, or users are flagging issues that are hard to track down. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Get deeper insights into your org’s health and performance with our brand-new Salesforce observability course: your free guide to getting ahead of bugs and failures.
Experts react to the Salesforce Summer ’25 release: what teams really care about
Salesforce’s Summer ’25 release is here, and while Agentforce, AI, and automation remain key trends across the ecosystem, this particular rollout shifts gears slightly. The Summer ’25 release is packed with quieter — yet critical — updates that Salesforce professionals building, deploying, and maintaining orgs truly care about. To cut through the noise and surface what really matters, we sat down with two experienced Salesforce DevOps professionals: Maya Bengtson, DevOps Engineer at Farm Credit Services of America, and Johnathan Flatt, Principal Platform Engineer at Aflac. From debug logs to TypeScript tooling, here’s what they’re most excited about — and why these changes are worth your attention.
What does a Salesforce release manager do?
As businesses grow and rely more heavily on Salesforce, the need for smooth, efficient, and reliable updates becomes critical. That’s where a Salesforce release manager comes in. Release managers play a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth and efficient delivery of updates and new features within the Salesforce platform. This role is crucial for coordinating changes, maintaining stability, and ensuring that every feature rollout and deployment goes off without a hitch — all while facilitating continuous improvement and innovation. Whether you’re exploring career paths in Salesforce or are just curious about how this role supports DevOps practices, this post will break it down for you.
How to use Salesforce Code Analyzer for better code quality & security
In spring 2024, Salesforce released their official GitHub action on the GitHub marketplace, which made integrating your version control system (VCS) with the Salesforce Code Analyzer (SFCA) tool simple — but what if you're running on a different VCS and still want to leverage the scanner? In this blog post, Sam Crossland, DevOps Architect at Gearset, covers everything from the basics of Static Code Analysis, to understanding the benefits of using Salesforce’s Code Analyzer (SFCA), and how to easily integrate it into your Salesforce DevOps pipeline if your team uses Azure DevOps (ADO).
Tackling the Salesforce admin certification: my journey and top tips
If you’re thinking about earning your Salesforce admin certification, you’re in good company. The Salesforce ecosystem is packed with certifications covering all sorts of Salesforce Clouds, technologies, and niche products — but the Salesforce administrator certification remains one of the most important and popular first steps. In this blog, DevOps Architect, Sam Crossland deep dives into what the admin certification covers, why it’s worth pursuing, how he prepared (and passed!), and what resources helped him succeed. Plus, he’ll share top tips to boost your own exam day confidence.
A new era for Salesforce certification exams: what you need to know
Salesforce certifications have always been a powerful way to validate your skills, grow your career, and stand out in a competitive industry. But if you’ve taken — or are planning to take — a Salesforce exam recently, you might’ve noticed some big changes. Salesforce has officially updated its certification exam experience, and whether you’re a first-time test-taker or a seasoned cert collector, it’s worth understanding how these changes affect your study strategy and test-day expectations.
What every Salesforce admin should know about release pipelines
Salesforce admins are used to wearing many hats. Managing users, responding to unexpected issues, keeping projects moving forward, making config changes, and ensuring they get safely from sandbox to production. It’s a big job. And when you’re dealing with lots of releases using manual tools, things can quickly start to feel overwhelming.
DevOps: A roadmap for Salesforce career growth
In our recent DevOps Launchpad webinar, “Solutioning and scaling: how to harness DevOps for a successful Salesforce career”, Carla Wishart, Director of Client Operations at Subsplash, shared some valuable insights on how DevOps can be a roadmap for growing your Salesforce career. Whether you’re an admin, developer, architect, or manager, getting your head around DevOps principles can open up new doors and boost your career. Read on for Carla’s top tips on mastering the basics, scaling your skills, and leading the way with DevOps…
Why DevOps Dreamin’ Chicago is a must for your Salesforce DevOps journey
If you’re working in Salesforce DevOps, you already know that technical skills are key. But there’s another huge factor that can shape your success: community. Events like DevOps Dreamin’ Chicago (DDC) aren’t just about learning new tools and techniques — they’re about connecting with others, sharing experiences, and growing together.
Salesforce AI agents vs. chatbots: what’s the difference?
It’s no secret that the biggest buzzword floating around the Salesforce ecosystem right now is Artificial Intelligence (AI). With everything from Einstein chatbots to Agentforce, understanding the nuances of all this new generative AI technology can be overwhelming. So, let’s break it down. In this article, we’ll take you through some of the key differences between the capabilities, use cases, and benefits of chatbots and AI agents.
5 common Salesforce backup pitfalls and how to avoid them
With growing automation and AI integration within Salesforce development, safeguarding your data is more critical than ever. For Salesforce teams, a robust backup strategy is no longer a luxury but a necessity to protect against any unforeseen data disasters. At DevOps Launchpad, we’re on a mission to empower Salesforce professionals with the knowledge and skills to implement DevOps best practices, like backup, within their DevOps lifecycle. That’s why we’re excited to share the following insights from Jolene Mair, a DevOps expert with extensive experience in Salesforce implementation and data protection. In this blog, Jolene will guide you through the common pitfalls of data backup in Salesforce, and offer practical advice on how to avoid them.
Kickstart your Salesforce AI training with our new Agentforce course
Agentforce is making tsunami-sized waves in the Salesforce ecosystem, promising to redefine customer interaction, predictive analysis, and sales automation. But while the potential is undeniable, navigating the complexities of this powerful AI tool requires a deep and practical understanding. But don’t worry — DevOps Launchpad has you covered! You can now dive into the world of Salesforce’s autonomous AI with our new course: An introduction to Agentforce.
Surviving TDX as an introvert
Attending TDX in San Francisco on March 5–6 is an exciting opportunity to learn, connect, and immerse yourself in the Salesforce ecosystem. This year, TDX is centered around being “The developer conference for the AI agent era”. The big event will be spotlighting Agentforce: Salesforce’s AI platform empowering Salesforce admins, developers, and architects to deploy AI-driven agents. Boasting over 400 in-depth technical sessions and hand-on workshops, TDX will play host to thousands of Salesforce experts and professionals within the Trailblazer community ready to expand their Salesforce knowledge. But for the more introverted among them, a large Salesforce conference like this can feel overwhelming.
What is DevSecOps and why does it matter?
Security should be a key consideration for any Salesforce DevOps team, no matter what development you’re doing or data you’re storing. As highlighted in the most recent State of Salesforce DevOps report, 38% of teams consider enhanced security to be one of the most important elements of ROI when it comes to Salesforce. More and more teams are thinking about implementing security earlier in their software development process rather than adding it in later on — otherwise known as DevSecOps. In this post, we’ll dive into what Salesforce DevSecOps means and why it is important, along with common challenges your team might face, and how to overcome them.
What does a Salesforce admin do?
Thousands of businesses around the world trust Salesforce as their go-to CRM platform – managing customer relationships, streamlining sales and marketing processes, and optimizing operations through data-driven insights. Every business that uses Salesforce relies on a team to manage their Salesforce instance and organizations (orgs), with roles ranging from developers and consultants to architects and admins. Salesforce administrators are the backbone of many of these teams, responsible for configuring systems, automating processes, and ensuring everything runs smoothly.
What does a Salesforce developer do?
Salesforce is the world’s leading customer relationship management (CRM) system, used by thousands of businesses worldwide to manage their customer data, interactions and operations. There are many different roles in the Salesforce ecosystem, and most Salesforce teams will have at least one Salesforce developer – in fact, there are an estimated 1.5 million Salesforce developers worldwide!
How to stand out in a crowded Salesforce job market
It's a challenging time in the Salesforce job market, and whether you're just starting out or looking to make a strategic career move, competition is high. Recently, a group of industry experts joined me for a DevOps Launchpad Live webinar to share their insights on how to stand out in this ever-evolving field. They shared some fantastic tips on networking, skills development, and how to position yourself as the ideal candidate. Here's a summary of their advice for those looking for a new role in the Salesforce ecosystem.
How to do Salesforce regression testing
Salesforce regression testing is critical for maintaining the stability and reliability of Salesforce environments, particularly when you consider the frequency of changes and customizations applied to them. In this article, we’ll look at a structured approach to Salesforce regression testing, including key steps, best practices, techniques and considerations to streamline the process.
What is Salesforce data archiving?
Data archiving is an important part of the data management lifecycle. In this post, we’ll explore why archiving is needed for Salesforce, what it looks like to implement data archiving for Salesforce, and how archiving relates to Salesforce DevOps.
Top takeaways from the 2024 DORA Report – sponsored by Gearset!
I’m excited to share that Google's 2024 DORA Report — the definitive guide to understanding how teams around the world are adopting DevOps practices — has been released! As one of Gearset’s DevOps Advocates, I’m thrilled that we’ve sponsored this invaluable resource that continues to shape the future of software delivery.
Why use Salesforce scratch orgs?
Salesforce has long been more than just a CRM tool — it’s a full-blown development platform. As such, teams need better tools to manage customizations and move them through development pipelines. One approach is to make use of scratch orgs. In this post, we’ll dive into what scratch orgs are, why they’re a useful technique in modern Salesforce DevOps and CI/CD practices, how to set them up, and compare them to traditional sandboxes.
Reflecting on Dreamforce 2023: How Salesforce's Vision Came to Life in 2024
Dreamforce has rolled around again! While we’re ready for Dreamforce week, with all of the excitement of big announcements, meeting friends old and new, parties and concerts that come with Dreamforce 2024, we thought it would be a good time to cast our minds back to last year’s event.
How to Prepare for Dreamforce 2024: Embrace the Experience and New Opportunities
As Dreamforce 2024 approaches, I find myself reflecting on the journey I've taken over the past few years. Since my first in-person Dreamforce experience, I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge about how to navigate this incredible event. I’m better prepared this year, armed with lessons learned and a clearer understanding of what to expect.
How to test Salesforce Flows
Salesforce Flows are a powerful tool within the Salesforce platform, often created using Flow builder, that allow for the automation of complex business processes without writing code. They provide a visual interface where users can design and implement workflows by defining data manipulations, actions, and user interactions.
How long does it take to learn Salesforce DevOps?
If you’re involved in building on the Salesforce platform, you’ll know that DevOps has become a big deal over the last few years. The days of developing in production are fast disappearing, and simple org-to-org deployments will go the same way. Salesforce teams are joining the wider world of software development and rapidly adopting DevOps best practices.
“Honestly, Salesforce CPQ is fun!”
Deepak Veera is an experienced Salesforce consultant, CPQ specialist, and one of Gearset’s DevOps Leaders. In this interview, he shares his insights on carving out a career in Salesforce, advising clients on CPQ implementations, and the growing importance of Salesforce DevOps.
Testing and test automation for Salesforce
If you’re looking to sharpen your Salesforce skills and ensure your deployments are top-notch, we’ve rolled out a new course that’s tailor-made for you. This course is all about mastering Salesforce testing — a crucial element in optimizing and ensuring the success of your Salesforce applications.
The increasing value of Salesforce DevOps training in 2024
It’s that time of year again: Gearset’s State of Salesforce DevOps 2024 report has just landed! Over a thousand Salesforce professionals had their say on all things DevOps, revealing the current state of play in the ecosystem.
How to adopt version control for Salesforce
For some folks in the Salesforce ecosystem, version control is a new (and slightly scary) concept. For others, Git is familiar — but working out how best to use it for Salesforce development isn’t completely straightforward. In this article, we’ll build up from the basics and point out some pathways for version control adoption.
Structuring your Salesforce DevOps team in 2024
Salesforce teams are constantly thinking about structures — the structure of our solutions, orgs, CI/CD pipeline, and our data — but how often do we really take a step back and consider the structure of our Salesforce teams themselves?
Crafting more resilient Salesforce apps with advanced Apex error handling
Ever find yourself grappling with unexpected errors in your Apex code? Well you’re in good company, so let’s tackle this head-on. We’re diving into advanced Apex error-handling techniques that promise to transform your Salesforce apps from just working to wonderfully resilient. Ready to level up your error-handling game? Let’s jump in!
What is a Salesforce Center of Excellence?
With more Salesforce staff, orgs, and data to manage, it’s unsurprising that large enterprises need to pay close attention to the processes and tools they’re utilizing to ensure they’re operating as planned. Plus, to continue seeing real ROI from Salesforce as teams continue to scale, looking after and motivating the people behind those processes and tools is key.
How to build and scale a successful Salesforce DevOps team
Whether you're just starting to grow your DevOps team, or have an established team trying to optimize your release process, one of the most difficult parts can be establishing a strong foundation that works not just today, but also for years to come.
Bringing DevOps to Salesforce with the package development model
Salesforce development teams have more options than ever for delivering changes between environments. While manual deployments still work, they quickly become cumbersome at scale. This is where packaging comes in – providing a way to bundle customizations into modular units. But with multiple package types available, which is the best fit for your needs?
Top Salesforce DevOps learning trends of 2023
DevOps has become the accepted way to develop on Salesforce, and Salesforce professionals across the globe are recognising the importance of adding it to their skillset. The DevOps Launchpad survey provides a fascinating glimpse into the habits and preferences of more than 100 Salesforce professionals, shedding light on their training preferences, challenges, and areas of interest. In this blog post, we'll delve into the key findings and explore what they mean for those looking to excel in Salesforce DevOps.
DevOops: a Salesforce horror story
Mistakes are inevitable. The question is whether or not we learn from them. In this Halloween post, we’ll look at 10 common mistakes made by teams building on the Salesforce platform, and how to turn these tricks into treats. Don’t feel too spooked if you realize you’re making most or all of these errors — you’re not alone! Identifying missteps is necessary for getting back on track.
What is Salesforce DX? A deep dive into Salesforce’s developer toolset
Salesforce DX is a powerful set of developer tools, APIs and features aimed at streamlining the development lifecycle for building apps on the Salesforce platform. With Salesforce DX, it becomes much easier for Salesforce teams to adopt DevOps. DevOps makes it easier to manage code, gives greater confidence that your changes will work when deployed, and helps you get apps to market faster using industry-standard models.
How to train a team in Salesforce DevOps
Every team is different, and each organization using Salesforce has unique requirements. Routes into Salesforce aren’t always straightforward, but many skills learned in other industries are highly transferable, and it’s one of the reasons that the ecosystem is so diverse. Salesforce attracts individuals from many different backgrounds, and gives opportunities for progression along a wide range of paths. But with so much variety, how do you make sure that you get the best out of people when looking at implementing new Salesforce development processes — like DevOps — in your company?
Salesforce DevOps documentation best practices
Documentation is the lifeblood of any successful software project, but it often gets deprioritized. Writing comprehensive docs can feel like a thankless task when you're heads down coding new features. But putting in the effort upfront does pay dividends down the line when your future self or teammates need to understand the rationale and inner workings of your Salesforce org.
How to create a Salesforce sandbox
Salesforce professionals can feel like they’re living in a Catch 22: developing and testing in production risks disrupting your live environment, but developer orgs aren’t an accurate representation of how changes may actually affect production. It can feel like a lose-lose situation!
What do Salesforce admins think about DevOps?
DevOps is rapidly becoming the standard way to develop on Salesforce, with more teams abandoning change sets in favor of a faster, more reliable way to develop. If you’re in a Salesforce admin role, you might have explored the idea of implementing DevOps. When on this journey, it’s helpful to know what other Salesforce admins think about adopting Salesforce DevOps. The State of Salesforce DevOps 2023 report offers valuable insight into the world of Salesforce DevOps from different perspectives. Find out what admins think about Salesforce DevOps, what benefits they get from it, and what challenges they face.
Get Gearset certified with the Gearset Academy
We’re excited to announce that the Gearset Academy is now available on DevOps Launchpad! DevOps Launchpad is designed to help anyone in the Salesforce ecosystem upskill, with free courses and certifications available in a wide range of Salesforce DevOps topics. In addition to this vast vendor-neutral offering, the Gearset Academy has now been released to help Salesforce professionals get the most out of Gearset, with modules covering all of the platform’s key features.
What to consider when selecting a Salesforce version control tool
Version controlling your Salesforce code is a bit of a no-brainer these days. But with so many options out there for DevOps tools, how do you pick the right version control tool that meets all the needs of your organization? Here are some factors that you should consider when you’re getting started with version control.
What is Salesforce CPQ and what does it do?
The Salesforce world is full of acronyms. Whether you’re an admin, developer, or completely new to the ecosystem, CPQ is another one to add to your ever-expanding list of Salesforce vocabulary. But what exactly is Salesforce CPQ, and why should you learn more about it? Read on to find out more.
Forcelandia 2023: Unpacking the code, unveiling the magic
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the latest edition of Forcelandia in the enchantingly eccentric city of Portland, Oregon. For those not familiar, Forcelandia is an annual event focusing on the Salesforce Community, specifically its developers and architects. The unique concoction of tech-savvy people, mind-bending sessions, and inspiring keynotes truly exemplifies the spirit of the Salesforce Ohana (family).
Salesforce DevOps according to developers
More and more Salesforce teams are being inspired to implement Salesforce DevOps into their process — perhaps trying their hands at the recently released Salesforce DevOps Center in order to rid themselves of the cumbersome process that change sets offers, or skilling up with essential DevOps knowledge to be more competitive in a tough job market. But how exactly do Salesforce developers view Salesforce DevOps? And what’s making Salesforce DevOps easier — or harder — for them? Keep reading to get the lowdown.
Creating the right culture for Salesforce DevOps success
More and more Salesforce teams are realizing the benefits of DevOps adoption. But whilst it’s easy to get caught up in the technical side of implementing DevOps, the human side of DevOps can’t be underestimated. It’s a common misconception that technology alone — whether that’s adopting a new platform or tool, or changing a process -– will magically result in a successful workflow. That’s just not the case.
Does your Salesforce DevOps team do enough training?
The largest survey of Salesforce professionals has revealed some interesting insights into how regular training benefits DevOps teams — and the impact goes deeper than you might expect. Read on to find out what the State of Salesforce DevOps 2023 report unveiled when it comes to the importance of DevOps team training, and why you should be looking at implementing more frequent training for your team.
Big picture decisions; small, iterative steps — an interview with DevOps Architects Amrut Patil and Sam Crossland
Nia sat down with two of Gearset’s DevOps Architects, Amrut Patil and Sam Crossland, to discuss their career journeys. They also share key insights for Salesforce Architects looking to get into DevOps, and the challenges they may face on the way.
What is CI/CD? Understanding the fundamentals
With 83% of teams in a recent survey prioritizing CI/CD as the key to unlocking their DevOps investment, it's important to understand the basics of this key DevOps principle. From grasping the important terminology to knowing when your team is ready to adopt, ensuring you’re familiar with all the concepts of CI/CD can be overwhelming. We’re here to help you break down the fundamentals:
Common Salesforce Apex error messages and how to fix them
Even for experienced admins and developers, Apex errors can be difficult to unpick. The messages tend to be vague and give little indication as to their cause or a suitable fix. To save you time on Stack Exchange or Trailhead forums the next time you run into an Apex error message, we’ve compiled the best practices for handling Apex error messages and how to fix the most common ones!
Community, certifications and overcoming DevOps challenges: DevOps Dreamin’ Chicago
The curtains have closed on another fantastic DevOps Dreamin’ experience! Last week, over 200 Salesforce professionals came together to be inspired at the largest community conference dedicated to Salesforce delivery teams. It was the largest DevOps Dreamin’ yet, and by attending the community were able to raise $14,650 for Feeding America and the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, with proceeds from ticket sales split between the two causes.
Expert tips and tricks for passing Salesforce certification exams
Salesforce is the world's leading customer relationship management (CRM) software, and obtaining a certification in this domain can unlock a wealth of opportunities for your Salesforce career growth. In this blog post, we'll be sharing some top study tips and tricks to help you prepare for and ace those Salesforce qualifications.
So you want to be a DevOps Engineer? We'll help you prepare for your interview
The demand for DevOps engineers in the Salesforce ecosystem is increasing, and more and more Salesforce professionals are interested in furthering their career in this role or transferring to it. As Salesforce DevOps engineering differs both from DevOps engineering on other platforms and traditional Salesforce development roles, it can be hard to know what to expect from an interview for the role.
I know Java/C#, so developing in Salesforce's Apex will be easy, right?
Well, maybe. Apex definitely looks like Java. But if you’re coming from something like a Java or C# background, you might find that Apex doesn’t always behave in the ways you’d expect. In this post, I’m going to walk you through a few of the pitfalls I came across as an experienced developer picking up Apex.
Release management and DevOps: what’s the difference?
The terms ‘release management’ and ‘DevOps’ are often used interchangeably, especially in the Salesforce world. But they’re not really synonymous. So what’s the difference?
Salesforce DevOps Leadership Certificate now available!
We’re excited to announce that a brand new Salesforce DevOps certificate is now available on DevOps Launchpad! The Salesforce DevOps Leadership Certificate is designed to help those in, or aspiring to be in, a position where they’re responsible for DevOps implementation, optimization or management in their organization.
The benefits of taking your time with DevOps implementation
Your team or organisation might have heard about the great benefits of Salesforce DevOps, and you might even be ready to adopt it for yourselves. There's a common misconception that simply having a DevOps process in place quickly means you’ll start reaping the rewards — but here at DevOps Launchpad, we know that any high calibre DevOps process takes the form of a marathon, not a sprint.
Top tips to get your dream job in Salesforce DevOps
With the recent news of Salesforce layoffs and hiring freezes, it’s fair to say that there’s some anxiety amongst Salesforce professionals seeking a new position. However, upskilling and implementing DevOps is still proving important. Back in 2021, 85% of Salesforce teams had implemented or were planning to implement DevOps, according to Gearset’s State of Salesforce DevOps report — and that number is only growing.
What’s the difference between CI and CD?
CI/CD pipelines have become a hot topic in the Salesforce ecosystem, with 82% of Salesforce teams working to implement them, according to the 2022 State of Salesforce DevOps report. What’s spoken about less often, though, is a clear definition of both ‘CI’ and ‘CD’ and an explanation of how they differ — don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Why get Salesforce DevOps certified?
Certification isn’t new to the Salesforce community — it’s long been the best way to demonstrate your skills and experience, and certifications can be key to a successful Salesforce career. Whether you’re working towards your first official certification, or you’re a die-hard Trailblazer, they prove that you have the hands-on experience and knowledge companies are looking for in their Salesforce teams. But with so many different certifications on offer, why should you consider Salesforce DevOps certification?
Overcoming DevOps adoption challenges
With General Availability of DevOps Center, DevOps continues to take the Salesforce world by storm. Many Salesforce teams have been enjoying the benefits of DevOps for some time, but DevOps Center shows that DevOps has become the de facto approach to Salesforce development across the ecosystem. But it can be daunting to change the way your team works, so in this post we take a look at some of the key challenges facing Salesforce teams looking to adopt DevOps, and how you can avoid these common pitfalls.
Why DevOps is not just for developers: Debunking DevOps myths
DevOps has never been more central to the Salesforce ecosystem, underpinned by the recent General Availability (GA) of Salesforce DevOps Center. As the community embraces DevOps as the preferred approach for Salesforce development and release management, teams have a renewed focus on improving the experience of moving changes between environments — all with greater accuracy and smoother delivery than change sets alone can provide.
More coding, less loading — an interview with DevOps Advocate Rob Cowell
DevOps Advocate Rob Cowell shares insights from his career journey, and the benefits of Salesforce DevOps for developers that he’s seen first hand.
Why awesome admins should upskill in Salesforce DevOps
Admins are at the center of any Salesforce org, managing its users, data and experience. But, as well as being responsible for so many critical aspects of Salesforce, wouldn’t it be awesome to have greater control of your data and orgs? With DevOps you can gain more control over your Salesforce processes and, in turn, your career.
How DevOps improves your Salesforce release management process
Salesforce orgs can be hugely complex, needing a skilled team of admins, developers and release managers to keep them on track. When developing custom Salesforce features, it can be difficult to balance demands and resources within your team, hit release targets, and maintain a positive and productive culture — but DevOps can help. Changing your approach to releases can be daunting, but there are good reasons for you and your team to adopt DevOps practices.
Salesforce DevOps Fundamentals Certificate now available!
Salesforce DevOps is here to stay, and it’s never been more important to make sure you have the skills you need to be successful in a fast-changing world. That’s why we’re so excited to announce that our first certification track is now live on DevOps Launchpad! The Salesforce DevOps Fundamentals Certificate is the first certification program of its kind, providing a comprehensive, vendor-neutral foundation of Salesforce DevOps knowledge – and all at no charge.
What’s the difference between ‘source control’ and ‘version control’?
Tl;dr — Both terms are valid, but there are good reasons why ‘version control’ is used more often in the Salesforce world. Do you ever wonder which term you should use: ‘source control’ or ‘version control’? You might come across both, and they’re often used interchangeably. But are they the same thing? Is one more ‘correct’ than the other? Does it depend on the context?
How can Salesforce DevOps boost your work-life balance?
DevOps is part of an important cultural shift in working life, where work-life balance is the nirvana that many of us are chasing. Taking genuine time out has been proven to improve both mental health and general wellbeing. For some, that might mean a full lunch break with time to go for a walk, for others it could be meditation, time for hobbies or having ‘downtime’ to spend with friends and family away from work or screens.
How can low-code accelerate your Salesforce career?
It’s no secret that there’s a worldwide shortage of software developers. We’ve increasingly come to shop, bank, work, and play online: an effective online presence has become essential for the majority of businesses. This has accelerated in recent years, as more companies work and serve their customers online.
Are your deployments DevOps ready?
Everyone’s talking about how DevOps can take the pain out of Salesforce deployments and supercharge your release pipelines. Many teams using change sets spend hours — or even days — on each deployment, limiting their release cadence.
People, presentations and possibilities: Dreamforce 2022
Dreamforce 2022 marked my return to the biggest Salesforce event, after my first visit in 2011. If you saw my earlier article, you’ll know that this time I went far better prepared to maximize my experience. Here are some of my highlights over ten years later.
Be part of the Agile world with DevOps
If you’re starting to explore DevOps, you might have come across the view that it’s something that’s only for Agile developers in code-based development environments. But, who says you can't learn to be lean and keen yourself, whatever environment you’re working in?
Dreamforce 2022: Top picks
Dreamforce is almost upon us! For those lucky enough to be attending, by now you’re probably familiar with the feeling that comes with choosing which sessions to catch. Endless possibilities and deliberation, the excitement to learn about new features, or hear customer stories.
How to get started with Salesforce DevOps
Whether you’re entirely new to DevOps, or are familiar with the concept but haven’t yet applied it to Salesforce development, DevOps Launchpad is here to help! At its simplest, 'DevOps' is a set of practices that merge the previously siloed areas of software development (Dev) and operations (Ops). DevOps helps teams build, integrate, test and deploy faster and more collaboratively than ever before.
Salesforce DevOps - journeying from Admin to Developer
Salesforce DevOps is increasingly the solution for today’s Salesforce developments challenges. The State of Salesforce DevOps 2022 survey found that 66% of companies use source control while 85% of teams say DevOps has boosted their Salesforce ROI.
3 qualities of a successful DevOps team
Salesforce DevOps adoption continues to increase globally, with teams seeing impact across efficiency, improved return on investment (ROI) and easier, more frequent releases. So what are the key components that help drive successful adoption of DevOps processes and principles in these high-performing teams?
Seeking less work stress? Salesforce DevOps could be your answer
Most of us are seeking that elusive work/life balance, which is why more control over both the way we work and our career development is very attractive. So instead of trying to set a distant career resolution, how about joining a revolution?
In conversation with Matt Pieper: A journey to Salesforce CI/CD
Matt Pieper, Director of Business Systems Engineering at CareRev joined DevOps Advocate Jack McCurdy for a conversation exploring his team’s journey towards CI/CD.
Become a decision maker with DevOps
Depending where you work, it can be hard to believe that less than twenty years ago, most software development organisations worked with a structured hierarchy of decision makers – typically senior developers, business analysts and technical architects.
3 tips for building your Salesforce DevOps support network
The journey to learning Salesforce DevOps is an exciting one — gaining skills is a gamechanger no matter where you are in your career. But committing to learning new terminology and getting the hang of new processes can be a little daunting.
Finding training resources to master Salesforce DevOps
One of the biggest advantages to learning more about Salesforce DevOps is the variety of skills anyone and everyone can pick up on their learning journey.
Why you’ll be your team’s hero with Salesforce DevOps
An ever-increasing number of Salesforce’s 150,000 customers worldwide are adopting DevOps best practices to improve business processes. They know that DevOps unlocks efficiencies within release cycles and sharpens the customer experience.
Women in DevOps: resources to build your support network
Community and support from people you trust are key whatever the learning journey you’re on. Seeing people that you relate to going through the same challenges and enjoying the same success provides an emotional lift that would benefit anyone.
How do Salesforce releases impact DevOps?
One great advantage of using Salesforce is that new features are regularly released which benefit the user and unlock higher business performance.
Three reasons why upskilling in Salesforce DevOps could supercharge your career
Whether you’re planning to take on some new Salesforce responsibilities, or you're setting out on a totally new trajectory as a Salesforce administrator or developer, becoming a DevOps master will have an enormous impact on your professional prospects.
So you’ve decided to master Salesforce DevOps. Now what?
What do seasoned release managers, Salesforce developers and admins just getting their teeth into Salesforce all have in common? The fact that Salesforce DevOps skills are hugely valuable and practical — whatever their role and no matter what stage they’re at in their careers.