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Deployment of salesforce is the culmination of hard work, energy, and ideas. At this stage, any business owner would like it to be a smooth process. This is because at any stage anything can go wrong. So we have put together some pointers before the deployment process to ensure the experience is as smooth as it can be. We hope these tips are useful for you when you get down to doing it. We hope they are useful to you as we found them to be.
Before the deployment, the list of precautions to be undertaken by any firm:
Time of deployment - It's most advisable that deployment takes place during the off-production period. This is because things can go awry and you don’t want people working when these changes happen. It’s best to schedule it in advance, inform everyone concerned and do it on the weekend or evening hours.
Audit trail – It's best to check the audit trail in production to make sure no amendments have been made that will be overwritten by the deployment. If you discover that they have been made, it’s best to postpone the deployment until the changes have been copied to the sandbox.
Prepare The Changeset – Prepare and validate your change in advance. Be prepared. This takes a long time if you need to align things between the sandbox and production, and you do not wish to miss your deadline for the deployment.
Export Your Data – Make sure you do a complete export of all data. This way you have your data intact even if something goes wrong.
Create A Sandbox Copy – Create a duplicate sandbox that is a twin of your production org. Therefore you have a record of your current setup and metadata.
Prepare Test Scripts – The tests to determine that everything is running smoothly must be prepared well in advance.
Remove Email Deliverability – Ensure that the delivery of emails has been disabled as at times changes can activate system emails and notifications.
Training and Documentation – Changes can lead to confusion among your team members. Therefore organize training sessions and written manuals for them to use.
Once the deployment has taken place, here are some tips for smoother functioning:
Test the changes - Make sure everything is running smoothly by logging in and doing the necessary tests. This will ensure everything is as per your requirements.
Reactive Email Deliverability – If you’re testing has gone as per your expectations, then it is time to activate your email system so that your users can once again receive your correspondence.
Inform The Users - After successful deployment, allow the concerned users to log in and be aware of the changes affected. This is the last step. Make sure they have access to all resources to enable them to be proficient with these changes etc.
With the above tips, you are ready for a smooth deployment where everyone is a winner. Make sure the changes and deployment are done by an experienced firm so that the whole process is as painless as possible.
About the Author
RS Maan
Maan joined Salesforce Ecosystem in 2008 with entry of Salesforce in APAC region. He worked on many of the underlying Salesforce Products & it’s functionality, including Heroku, Chatbots, and Einstein before leading Codleo Consulting - Leading Partner of Salesforce.com & Salesforce.org. In his spare time, he immerses himself in travel, books and spirituality.
