The best thing about Technology is what is relevant today will be obsolete in maximum 10 years time. Technology and advancement such as core programming languages and entirely custom-built applications that were in demand 10 years ago is now seen as a challenge for continuous improvement. That is why the world is now moving towards platform and configuration based rapid developments where you get a base product from day one and you continue to build over that.
I was very fortunate to learn about Salesforce and its entire ecosystem during one of my jobs. Salesforce has products built for you that covers all your business needs from comprehensive CRM and ERP solutions to e-commerce products with the support of Data Analytics tools and various integrations thus covering every aspect of your business domain and its ecosystem.
If you are looking to learn a new skill, then look no further than Salesforce platform. I started my journey into Salesforce and now I wish I had started earlier. I am going to share a few things that I have done so far and plan to do in the future to continue my Salesforce journey.
Salesforce has a very helpful learning playground named ‘Trailhead’ for you where you could create you own account for free and continue your learning or even learn new features before implementing them in your projects. The URL is given below:
https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/home
It contains modules covering every aspect of different salesforce product and its ecosystem. You can start with any module, complete all the levels in that module and then move on to the next module. On completion of every module, a certain percentage is added on your badge which gives you a good indication of your learning process and keeps you interested in continuous learning. There are unlimited choices in Trailhead, start with a one that interests you and take it from there.
I started my learning journey at Trailhead keeping in mind how my journey as a customer would be for any organization in any sector. So for example, if you want to start with Salesforce CRM, the journey would be, you will enquire about any service or you are approached by a sales team then for company you will be a prospective customer or a lead. Once you avail their service/product, you are a customer and then your profile is built based on your interactions with the company and also your overall customer profile. Now based on your profile and relationship with the company, the company will run certain data analytics and try to figure out ways to create better personalized marketing campaigns for you. I took a similar approach for navigating through Salesforce Commerce Cloud and practised my complete User Journey on the Trailhead.
In this way you are covering all products of Salesforce Ecosystem from Salesforce CRM to Salesforce Commerce Cloud, from Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Salesforce Sales and Services Cloud. Digging out analytics using Salesforce Analytics and integrating your various services together using extensive Salesforce Integration platform. Salesforce provided you with a complete 360-degree solution that caters to every aspect of your business model and need, and the best part is most of them is just pure configuration.
Last but not the least, once you are familiar with the different functionality available within the Salesforce platform, try and prepare for ADM 201 certification. This certification is based on how you will interact with the Salesforce by being a Salesforce Administrator. This is a basic level certification and most certainly your key to enter the amazing world of platform-based configurations and development. Although it is always beneficial if you have professional experience working on Salesforce but even if you do not have then you can start to prepare for it with the help of dozens of material on the internet and also by practising on the Trailhead. You will get more hands-on on the Salesforce platform which will allow you to progress further within this domain and then attempt more certifications in the future.
I highly recommend anyone that is planning to venture into the Salesforce world to not think twice and jump into it. Platform based configurations and development is the future and Salesforce one of the top players in the market today and will remain for the foreseeable future.