Software development is a great tool for a company to improve the experience of their customers. This could be done through introducing new applications or updates that offer new services or capabilities. It could also be seen through tools that enable your customer-facing team members to better address customer needs.
The customer experience (CX) will dictate the overall success of your services, and impact how likely these customers are to continue doing business with your company.
Developing on Salesforce has become increasingly popular over the last decade due to its ease of use. The clicks-not-code functionality has opened the world of developing up to people without years of experience.
However, Salesforce was originally designed as a CRM, not a dev environment. This means there are aspects that can use a little support. Salesforce DX is in the app exchange and provides an additional set of tools and features that are aimed at doing just that. It is intended to boost the efficiency of development processes throughout the DevOps pipeline.
But what benefits can you expect to see from utilizing Salesforce DX? And how can these features be improved to better support your CX efforts?
1. Improves Collaboration Between Team Members
A major goal of every DevOps pipeline is to maximize the efforts of team members as they develop, test, and deliver new updates and applications. However, multi-developer teams can run into problems such as overwrites as they address various aspects of the project at the same time.
Salesforce DX makes it easier for teams to communicate and increase productivity within a singular development project.
Branching off the main source of truth through the use of Version Control is one example of how development teams can maximize their efforts within Salesforce DX. These tools streamline efforts in a team-based atmosphere.
2. Heightens Efficiency in the Application Lifecycle
Any wasted effort from your team is time that could be better spent. And there are a lot of processes and habits within a Salesforce DevOps pipeline that have room for improvement.
This can be addressed through a couple of different avenues. First, your team members can adhere to a series of best practices that guide their efforts. And second, you could utilize the various available toolsets and affordances of working with Salesforce DX.
Efficient processes provide quicker and more reliable updates for your customers.
These affordances can be heightened through the implementation of expanded tools, such as that are available with the AutoRABIT SFDX features. Integrate scratch orgs and work with a graphical interface to make the experience much cleaner for your developers.
3. Works with a Variety of Tools
Every development project is going to be different. There will be new functions and services your customers need to have the best possible experience interacting with your business. And this means that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to your DevOps pipeline.
Salesforce DX expands upon the available toolset developers can use to produce high quality and reliable products.
Developers have options for the VCS they want to use, along with various extensions. Text editors, scratch orgs, and other ALM tools provide a tailored experience that helps developers best address the needs of their customers.
4. More Accessible Dev Options
There are many options for how a dev team wants to approach a project. This includes different coding languages, interfaces, metadata types, and more.
Salesforce DX supports a wide variety of languages and file types to adapt itself to your particular wants and needs.
A familiar working environment puts your team at ease and allows them to focus on their tasks. Better projects are created when your team has the support they need to properly address all of the customer needs. And ultimately, your customers will have a more positive interaction with your applications.
5. Increased Release Velocity
There are many important aspects of a Salesforce DevOps pipeline. Coding, testing, and deploying a project will all require expert attention and skill in order to be able to quickly and adequately address them.
More releases lead to happier customers because you can grow and evolve with their needs.
Automation is an essential aspect of an optimized DevOps pipeline. Salesforce DX allows users to utilize continuous delivery to quickly get their projects to market. Application lifecycle management involves streamlining as many aspects of the pipeline as possible. Automating these efforts makes them more repeatable, more reliable, and faster.
6. Testing Stabilizes Releases
Buggy and malfunctioning software will drive your customers away. The problem is that many DevOps teams become so focused on being the first to get their product to market that they miss errors in the coding structure which lead to these errors.
Salesforce DX integrates many testing checkpoints so you can be confident that your customers will receive the intended benefits from your releases.
Customers that can rely on your services are likely to come back. Ensuring the stability and proper functionality of your updates and application is an essential aspect of a successful Salesforce DevOps pipeline.
7. Is Salesforce DX Right for You?
Salesforce’s cloud dev environment opens up the world of development to a wider audience. Salesforce DX expands upon those offerings but necessitates a more traditional level of development knowledge from your team.
The decision to use Salesforce DX for your development projects will need to consider the needs and expertise of your team members.
Salesforce DX doesn’t utilize the clicks-not-code functionality that made the original dev environment popular for many users. However, it affords a wider arrangement of tools that enable knowledgeable developers to expand upon their existing capabilities.
Teams that have the existing knowledge or the will to build their skill and toolset have a lot to gain from implementing Salesforce DX.