Introducing the life cycle of Salesforce implementations

This book will provide a framework for approaching the entire implementation life cycle specific to Salesforce projects – from project inception in the pre-development phase to the continuous improvement phase. Here’s a brief overview of the phases involved:

Figure 1.1 – The project phases of a Salesforce implementation

In Figure 1.1, you can see each phase of a Salesforce project. Let’s briefly define each phase:

• Pre-development phase: In this phase, you are creating a vision for your Salesforce project, defining its nature, determining how to deliver it, securing a budget for it, and engaging with Salesforce and implementation partners. In this phase, you will also be setting up the governance body, which will own and oversee the delivery of your Salesforce project.
• Development phase: This phase begins with a project kick-off event, following which the project team will start delivering the project. There are different methodologies for delivering Salesforce projects, which we will cover later in Chapter 3, Determining How to Deliver Your Salesforce Project. Whichever methodology you choose, the development phase is where your Salesforce solution’s scope is detailed, designed, built, and tested to ensure quality.
• Roll-out phase: In this phase, you are deploying your release, migrating data, training your users, providing support, and closely monitoring how users are adopting your solution and responding accordingly.
• Continuous improvement phase: Finally, you will find yourself in a state of continuous improvement. Your ability to evolve your Salesforce org to changing business needs, as well as managing and leveraging your data, is your top activity in this phase.

Salesforce projects – especially greenfield implementations, where an organization sets up their Salesforce org for first-time use – do not start at the project kick-off event. Neither should Salesforce projects end directly after user training in the roll-out phase.

Now we have understood the overall phases of a Salesforce project. Let’s dive into the pre-development phase of your Salesforce project.