The ability to quickly and adequately address the changing needs of your team members and customers can be very beneficial. Technological advances are nonstop. And if your business can’t at least keep pace with the changes, you’re going to fall behind.
This is where Continuous Integration (CI) comes in.
Salesforce CI tools bolster your DevOps efforts to help you establish yourself as a leader in your industry.
Multi-developer teams will be able to push new applications and updates through the DevOps pipeline quickly, but they are prone to mistakes. This type of environment is likely to experience overwrites and improperly structured lines of code. A failure to find these mistakes early makes the process of rectifying them much more difficult.
Continuous Integration is the development process where the code is automatically integrated from multiple developers into a single software release.
This powerful tool helps optimize and streamline your Salesforce DevOps pipeline. But what specific advantages can you expect to see from utilizing Continuous Integration?
Here are 8 benefits you can expect from utilizing Salesforce CI tools:
1. Increased Confidence in Code Quality
The quality of your code is the greatest factor in the potential success of your release. Any issues with the source code will show themselves as malfunctions in operation. These errors can come from a variety of sources, but one thing will remain constant: It’s in your best interest to find these errors as soon as possible.
Salesforce CI tools automate essential quality checks to reduce human error and guarantee proper functionality upon release.
Combining these quality checks with other DevOps tools like static code analysis will create the strongest, most secure releases possible.
2. Faster Release Cycle
Automated processes can be completed much faster compared to manual processes. Expediting an important aspect of the DevOps pipeline such as integrating and testing lines of code from multiple sources will decrease the overall time it takes to move a project from planning to deployment.
Salesforce CI tools make the process of detecting and rectifying errors and failures much faster, allowing your team to move the project toward deployment.
The ability to quickly create and release updates and applications allows you to address the needs of the market in real time. This positions your company as a leader in the industry and sets the standard for competitors to strive toward.
3. Expanded Testing Capabilities
Manual processes are essential for some aspects of the Salesforce DevOps pipeline. A talented developer simply can’t be replaced by technology. However, there are other tasks that greatly benefit from taking the work out of a team member’s hands.
Automating the process of testing code integrations not only reduces the number of errors, it increases the speed and breadth of tests.
The reliability of your application or update is directly tied to how well you can verify the validity of the coding instructions. Salesforce CI tools greatly increase your ability to guarantee this reliability.
4. Repeatable Processes
Every DevOps project is going to be different. There will be varying needs and metrics by which success can be measured. This is why the planning stage of a DevOps pipeline is so important. You should take some time to find the best way to address your current needs and produce the highest quality product possible.
Utilizing powerful DevOps tools allows you to set a rubric in place that can be adjusted to each project. A reliable and repeatable process can save time while ensuring success upon deployment.
Setting up repeatable processes affords you the ability to make slight adjustments over time as you find methods and practices that can be refined.
5. Reduced Cost
The overall cost of your Salesforce development project will grow as more problems arise. Errors in the code and other malfunctions that aren’t caught early in the process can become quite costly. The time it will take to rectify these errors takes your team members away from accomplishing more pressing issues.
Wasted team member time and repetitive processes reduce the ROI your company will see in an individual project.
Salesforce CI tools reduce these errors that lead to repetitive tasks for your team members. Code quality is heightened, errors are reduced, and this will impact the overall cost of your project in a positive way.
6. Facilitates Continuous Delivery/Deployment
DevOps tools for Salesforce work together to create an optimized pipeline. The exact toolset that most benefits your company will depend on your specific needs. However, those that utilize Salesforce CI tools will benefit from how it blends perfectly with other powerful DevOps tools: Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CD).
CI and CD tools automate essential aspects of the Salesforce development pipeline to ensure stability and expedite the release process.
Continuous Delivery is the process to get all types of changes into production at any time after receiving the correct approvals. Continuous Deployment takes this one step further by removing the approval requirement.
7. Satisfied End User
The ultimate goal of every Salesforce development project is to create a product that is beneficial to the end user—whether that’s a team member or customer. There’s no reason to expend the resources to develop an application or update if it’s not going to contribute to your company’s overall goals.
Salesforce CI tools help you create stronger, more reliable products and ensure proper functionality when it gets into the end users’ hands.
Any bugs, errors, or security mishaps will aggravate your end user. Salesforce CI tools greatly reduce the potential of experiencing these negative results.
8. Enables Further DevOps Maturity
Your DevOps processes should be continually monitored and refined over time. Full DevOps maturity means you have automated and optimized every available aspect of your pipeline. Salesforce CI tools are a large part of that, but this effort can be taken further.
Integration of powerful DevOps tools like static code analysis, data backup and recovery, and more will make your development projects stronger and more secure.
The tools and processes you use to address your Salesforce development needs will be the difference between success and failure. Salesforce CI and other DevOps tools will increase release velocity, support data security efforts, and improve the overall quality of your releases.
FAQs
CI stands for Continuous Integration
CD stands for Continuous Delivery or Continuous Deployment
The first and most important aspect of implementing CI/CD is to find a tool that works seamlessly with your other DevOps tools. From there, communication and training for your employees will get them on their way.
DevOps is an overarching approach to software development. CI/CD is a tool used in this pursuit.
