Salesforce : Workflow Rules

Workflow Rules

Workflow is a Salesforce platform business-logic engine that allows to automatically send email
alerts,assign tasks, or update field values based on rules that you define.

A workflow includes two parts :

1. Criteria: criteria is the “If” part of the “If/then” statement. In the other words, what must
be true of the record for the workflow rule to execute the associated actions.
2. Actions: actions is the “then”part of the if/then statement. In other words, what to do
when the record meets the criteria.
Set the criteria for Workflow rule
The Object that determines the records on which the workflow rule is implemented. This object
determines the records the workflow evaluates, as well as the fields available for setting the
rule criteria.

 Evaluation criteria that determines which changes trigger the workflow rules like only
when accounts are created.
 Rule criteria that identify what must be true about the record for Salesforce to execute
the associated actions.
Workflow actions: The automatic action to be performed depending upon the outcome of the
criteria.
 Immediate Actions : The workflow actions which are immediately executed after the
criteria is met.
 Time Dependent Actions : Time-dependent actions are executed at a specific time,
such as 10 days before a record’s close date.

Workflow process
Immediate Actions :
 Tasks: Assign a new task to a user, role, or record owner.
 Email Alerts: Send an email to one or more recipients you specify.
 Field Updates: Update the value of a field on a record.
 Outbound Messages: Send a secure, configurable API message (in XML format) to a
designated listener.
 Workflow Actions
Time Dependent Actions :
1. Open a workflow rule.
2. In the Time-Dependent Workflow Actions section, click Add Time Trigger.
3. Specify a number of days or hours before or after a date that’s relevant to the record,
such as the date the record was created.
4. If the workflow rule is still active and valid when this time occurs, the time trigger fires the
workflow action.
5. Save your time trigger.
6. In the section for the time trigger you created, click Add Workflow Action.
7. Select one of the options to create an action or select an existing one.
8. Click Done.
Creating a Workflow rule
Step 1 : Creating new Workflow Rule
a. Navigate to Setup → Build → Create → Workflows and Approvals → Workflow Rules.

b. Click on Continue.

c. Click New Rule.

d. Select Opportunity object.

Step 2 : Specifying Evaluation Criteria

a. Specify Rule Name as Additional 20 Percent Discount

b. Specify Description as Additional 20 Percent Discount for Opportunities generated via Web
to Lead.

c. Specify “Created” as the Evaluation Criteria.

Step 3 : Specifying Rule Criteria
a. Select Criteria met true.

b. Select Lead Source field. Specify Lead Source equals Web. Click Save & Next.
Step 4 : Creating Workflow Actions : Email Alert
a. Click on Add Workflow Action drop down button.

b. Select New Email Alert.

c. Specify Description as Email Alert for Additional 20 Percent Discount. Note that Unique Name
gets auto populated.

d. Select Text Email Template created earlier — Alert for Sales Owner.

e. Select Recipient Type as Owner and add Opportunity Owner.

f. If required specify additional 5 emails to notify.

g. Note that From Email Address is populated as “Current User’s Email address’. Click Save.
Step 5 : Creating Workflow Actions : Field Update
a. Click on Add Workflow Action button and select New Field Update.

b. Specify Name as Additional Discount. Note that Unique Name gets auto populated.

c. Specify Description as Additional Discount to be updated for Amount.

d. Select Amount as the field to be updated.

e. Select Use a formula to set the new value for specifying new field value.

f. Specify new value as Amount — Amount * 0.2. Click Check Syntax to check errors. Click Save.
Step 6 : Activate Workflow
a. Once you are done defining all actions, click done.

b. Click on the Activate button to activate the workflow.

Reference : Salesforce Trailhead

Salesforce : Data Security

Data Security

Levels of Data Access

You can control which users have access to which data in your whole org, a specific object, a
specific field, or an individual record.

Organization Level
 For your whole org, you can maintain a list of authorized users, set password
policies, and limit logins to certain hours and locations.
Objects Level
 Access to object-level data is the simplest thing to control.
 By setting permissions on a particular type of object, you can prevent a group of users
from creating, viewing, editing, or deleting any records of that object.
For example, you can use object permissions to ensure that interviewers can view positions
and job applications but not edit or delete them.
Fields Level
 You can restrict access to certain fields, even if a user has access to the object.
For example, you can make the salary field in a position object invisible to interviewers but
visible to hiring managers and recruiters.
Records Level
 You can allow particular users to view an object, but then restrict the individual object
records they’re allowed to see.
For example, an interviewer can see and edit her own reviews, but not the reviews of other
interviewers.
You can manage record-level access in these four ways.
 Organization-wide defaults (OWD) specify the default level of access users have to
each others’ records. You use org-wide sharing settings to lock down your data to the
most restrictive level, and then use the other record-level security and sharing tools to
selectively give access to other users.
 Role hierarchies give access for users higher in the hierarchy to all records owned by
users below them in the hierarchy. Role hierarchies don’t have to match your organization
chart exactly. Instead, each role in the hierarchy should represent a level of data access
that a user or group of users needs.
 Sharing rules are automatic exceptions to organization-wide defaults for particular
groups of users, so they can get to records they don’t own or can’t normally see. Sharing
rules, like role hierarchies, are only used to give additional users access to records. They
can’t be stricter than your organization-wide default settings.
 Manual sharing allows owners of particular records to share them with other users.
Although manual sharing isn’t automated like org-wide sharing settings, role hierarchies,
or sharing rules, it can be useful in some situations, such as when a recruiter going on
vacation needs to temporarily assign ownership of a job application to someone else.
Salesforce Process Builder – A Detailed Guide
What is Process Builder in Salesforce?
Process Builder is a powerful point-and-click automation tool in Salesforce that allows users to automate business processes without writing
Apex code. It enables users to define rules and actions that trigger when certain conditions are met.

✅ Introduced in Salesforce as an enhancement to Workflow Rules

✅ More powerful than Workflow Rules but less flexible than Flow & Apex

Key Features of Process Builder

🔹 Automates Business Processes without writing code
🔹 Allows multiple criteria and actions in a single process
🔹 Works in real-time, executing instantly upon meeting criteria
🔹 Provides more automation options than Workflow Rules
🔹 Can call Flows, Apex Classes, and Email Alerts
🔹 Supports cross-object updates (e.g., updating a related record)

When to Use Process Builder?

Use Case Best Tool
Automating simple approval processes Process Builder
Sending email alerts based on criteria Process Builder
Updating a field based on another field change Process Builder
Creating related records when a condition is met Process Builder
Calling Apex from declarative automation Process Builder
Complex multi-step automation with loops & decisions Flow (Not Process Builder)
 Use Case Best Tool
Bulk processing large data volumes Apex Triggers

Limitations of Process Builder

❌ Cannot handle before triggers (only executes after a record is created/updated)
❌ Cannot handle bulk data processing efficiently
❌ Cannot perform complex loops or advanced logic
❌ Only supports "AND" conditions in decision criteria (Workaround: Use formula expressions)

How Process Builder Works?

Process Builder follows a trigger-based approach:

1️⃣ Define the Object & Event

 Choose the Salesforce object (e.g., Account, Opportunity, Case).

 Select when the process should run:
o Record is Created
o Record is Updated
o Platform Event occurs

2️⃣ Define Conditions (Criteria)

 Specify criteria for executing the action (e.g., if Opportunity Stage = "Closed Won").
 Use multiple conditions (Field Value, Formula, Boolean).
3️⃣ Define Actions

 Choose an action to perform when criteria are met:

o ✅ Field Update (Update field values in the same or related records)
o ✅ Create a Record (Create a related record, e.g., Task for an Opportunity)
o ✅ Send an Email Alert (Notify users when a condition is met)
o ✅ Invoke an Apex Class (Run complex logic via Apex)
o ✅ Submit for Approval (Send records for approval automatically)
o ✅ Invoke a Flow (For advanced automation beyond Process Builder's capabilities)

4️⃣ Activate the Process

 Save and activate the Process.

 Once activated, it runs automatically when the defined event occurs.

Example: Automating Opportunity Management

Scenario

If an Opportunity is marked "Closed Won", automatically:

✅ Update the Account Customer Status = Active
✅ Create a follow-up Task for the Sales Manager
✅ Send a congratulatory email to the Opportunity Owner

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Process

1. Navigate to Setup → Process Builder

 2. Click New → Name it "Opportunity Won Process"

Step 2: Select the Object

 Object: Opportunity
 Process Starts When a Record is Created or Edited

Step 3: Define Criteria

 Criteria: Opportunity Stage = "Closed Won"

 Condition Type: All Conditions Must Be Met

Step 4: Define Actions

✅ Action 1: Update Account Record

 Field: Customer Status = "Active"

✅ Action 2: Create a Task

 Assigned To: Sales Manager

 Task Subject: "Follow up with Customer"
 Due Date: Today + 7 Days

✅ Action 3: Send Email Alert

 Email Template: "Congrats on the Win!"

 Recipients: Opportunity Owner

Step 5: Activate Process

 Click Activate
  Process runs whenever an Opportunity is marked Closed Won 🚀

Comparison: Process Builder vs. Workflow Rules vs. Flow

Feature Workflow Rules Process Builder Flow
Supports Field Updates ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Supports Email Alerts ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Supports Task Creation ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Can Create New Records ❌ No ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Can Handle Multiple Conditions ❌ No ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Cross-Object Updates ❌ No ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Can Call Apex Code ❌ No ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Can Perform Loops & Complex Logic ❌ No ❌ No ✅ Yes
Handles Bulk Processing Efficiently ✅ Yes ❌ No ✅ Yes

Best Practices for Process Builder

✔ Use for simple automation (Field Updates, Record Creation, Email Alerts)
✔ Minimize the number of active processes (Too many can impact performance)
✔ Test before activating (Use Sandboxes to prevent unintended changes)
✔ Use Flow for complex logic instead of multiple Process Builders
✔ Deactivate old processes before creating new ones to avoid conflicts
✔ Use formulas instead of multiple conditions where possible
When to Use Flow Instead of Process Builder?
Use Case Use Process Builder? Use Flow?
Update a related record ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Create a Task for a User ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Call an Apex Class ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Perform a complex approval process ❌ No ✅ Yes
Loop through multiple records ❌ No ✅ Yes
Handle bulk operations efficiently ❌ No ✅ Yes

💡 If automation involves loops, decisions, or bulk updates, use Flow instead.

Salesforce Approval Process – A Detailed Guide

What is an Approval Process in Salesforce?
An Approval Process in Salesforce is a workflow automation tool that automatically submits records for approval based on pre-defined
criteria. It routes the record to specific users or groups for approval or rejection.

✅ Used for automating approval workflows like Leave Requests, Discounts, Budget Approvals, etc.
✅ Ensures consistency and compliance in business processes
✅ Supports multi-step approvals, escalations, and notifications

Key Features of Approval Process

🔹 Automates Approval Workflows – Eliminates manual approval requests
🔹 Multiple Approval Steps – Supports complex approval hierarchies
🔹 Supports Delegation – Users can reassign approvals when unavailable
🔹 Customizable Notifications – Sends email/Salesforce notifications for approval/rejection
🔹 Conditional Approvals – Can define approval criteria for different scenarios

When to Use an Approval Process?

Use Case Use Approval Process?
Approving discounts above a certain threshold ✅ Yes
Approving employee leave requests ✅ Yes
Automating expense approvals ✅ Yes
Getting approval for a new vendor ✅ Yes
Simple field updates or record assignments ❌ No (Use Flow instead)

How an Approval Process Works?

Approval Process consists of 5 main steps:

1️⃣ Entry Criteria → When should the approval start?

2️⃣Approver Assignment → Who should approve the record?
3️⃣Approval Actions → What happens when approved?
4️⃣Rejection Actions → What happens when rejected?
5️⃣Final Actions → What happens when the process ends?
Steps to Create an Approval Process in Salesforce
Example Scenario

A company wants to approve Opportunities above $50,000 before they can be closed.

Step 1: Navigate to Approval Processes

1. Go to Setup → Search for "Approval Processes"

2. Select Opportunity as the object
3. Click Create New Approval Process → Use Standard Setup Wizard

Step 2: Define the Approval Process

 Process Name: "Opportunity Approval Process"

 Entry Criteria:
o Field: Opportunity Amount ≥ 50,000
o Condition: Only applies to Open Opportunities

Step 3: Define Approvers

 Assign to Sales Manager

 If the manager is unavailable, allow Delegated Approver

Step 4: Specify Actions

✅ Approval Actions (When Approved):

✔ Change Opportunity Stage → "Approved"
✔ Send a confirmation email to the Sales Rep
❌ Rejection Actions (When Rejected):
❌ Send an email to Sales Rep stating the reason
❌ Change Opportunity Stage → "Needs Review"

Step 5: Activate & Test

 Click Activate
 Test by creating an Opportunity above $50,000
 Verify if it routes for approval correctly

Approval Process Components

Component Description
Entry Criteria Defines when the approval process should start (e.g., Amount > 50,000)
Approvers Defines who should approve the request (e.g., Manager, Role, Queue)
Approval Steps Defines multiple levels of approval (e.g., Sales Rep → Manager → VP)
Approval Actions Actions performed when approved (e.g., Status change, Notifications)
Rejection Actions Actions performed when rejected (e.g., Notify user, Rollback changes)
Recall Process Allows submitter to withdraw approval request if needed

Types of Approvers in Salesforce

✔ Individual Users – Assign approval to a specific user
✔ Roles – Assign to users in a specific role (e.g., Sales Manager)
✔ Queues – Assign to a group of users (first-come, first-served approval)
✔ Related User Fields – Assign based on a field value (e.g., Opportunity Owner’s Manager)
Parallel vs. Sequential Approvals
Approval Type Description
Sequential Approval Approvals happen one after another in a defined sequence
Parallel Approval Multiple users can approve/reject at the same time

✅ Example of Sequential Approval:

1️⃣ Sales Manager approves → 2️⃣VP approves → 3️⃣CEO approves

✅ Example of Parallel Approval:

💡 Sales Manager and VP can approve at the same time

Common Approval Process Use Cases

Use Case Approval Required?
Discount above 20% on an Opportunity ✅ Yes (Sales Manager approval)
Expense report above $1,000 ✅ Yes (Finance Team approval)
Employee requesting time off ✅ Yes (HR approval)
Automatic field update ❌ No (Use Process Builder or Flow)

Approval Process vs. Flow

Feature Approval Process Flow
Record Approval ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
 Feature Approval Process Flow
Sequential Approvals ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Parallel Approvals ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Field Updates ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Loops & Complex Logic ❌ No ✅ Yes
Bulk Processing ❌ No ✅ Yes

💡 Use Flow for complex automation. Use Approval Process for standard approvals.

Limitations of Approval Process

❌ Cannot handle bulk approvals (Use Flow for this)
❌ Cannot be edited once activated (Clone and modify instead)
❌ Cannot be triggered for related records (Needs Flow for cross-object approvals)

Best Practices for Approval Processes

✔ Use Delegated Approvers to avoid delays
✔ Use Dynamic Approval Routing (assign based on Manager, Role, or Field)
✔ Limit the number of approval steps for efficiency
✔ Test the process in Sandbox before deploying to Production

What Is Salesforce.com?
“A global web-based application and cloud computing company best known for its Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) product. They specialize in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to help
users handle all of their business needs.”

Salesforce is a customer success platform, designed to help users to sell, provide services, market
products and services, analyze data, and connect with their customers.

Salesforce has everything required to run a business from anywhere. Using standard products like
sales cloud, service cloud, etc, and features, users can manage relationships with customers,
collaborate and engage with employees and partners, and store their data securely in the different
data centers of the cloud.

But standard products and features are only the beginning. Salesforce Platform allows users to build
new custom products, customize existing and new products and personalize the experience for
customers, partners, and employees and easily extends beyond out-of-the-box functionality.

It is a suite of CRM products that work together to make today’s corporations function more efficiently
and profitably. They touch many functional areas in the company.

What Is CRM?
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, which is a process or methodology used to learn
more about customers’ needs and behaviors in order to help them through new solutions which
eventually develop stronger relationships with them.

This technology allows users to manage relationships with their customers and track data related to
all of their interactions. It also helps teams collaborate, both internally and externally, gather insights
from social media, track important metrics, and communicate via email, phone, social, and other
channels.
The more useful way to think about CRM is as a process that will help bring together lots of pieces of
information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness, and market trends.

Read More:
What is Salesforce? A Comprehensive Guide for 2024

Advantages Of CRM
 Discover new customers.
 Increase customer revenues.
 Provide better customer service.
 Sell products more effectively.
 Help sales staff close deals faster.
 Make call centers more efficient.
 Simplify marketing and sales processes

What Is Salesforce Architecture?

Salesforce delivers a highly customized experience to customers, employees, and partners.
Salesforce’s Architecture is divided into three layers:

1. Salesforce: Salesforce is a cloud company. Everything they offer resides in the trusted, multi-
tenant cloud.
 2. Platform: The Salesforce platform is the foundation of services. It’s powered by metadata and
made up of different parts, like data services, artificial intelligence, and robust APIs for
development.
3. Application: All apps sit on top of the platform. Salesforce prebuilt offerings like Sales Cloud
and Marketing Cloud, along with apps you build using the platform, have consistent, powerful
functionality.

Types Of Salesforce Apps

Here are some of the prebuilt salesforce apps:

1. Sales Cloud

“Sales Cloud is a specific Salesforce application designed to help organizations sell smarter and faster
by centralizing customer information, logging interactions, and allowing for collaboration across
teams. It puts all of your customer and prospect information in one place, giving sales teams the
ability to be more productive.”

Imagine there is a Sales team in a software company getting new leads(i.e. potential customers) very
frequently from the Marketing team, they need to communicate with every lead, as per their details of
them, and when leads get converted, store their deals-related information and need to generate
invoices of customers orders. Throughout the whole process, the sales cloud helped them to keep
track of the sales-related data, which helped them to improve and work efficiently.
2. Service Cloud

“Service Cloud enables users to automate service processes, streamline workflows and find key
articles, topics, and experts to support customer service agents. The purpose is to foster one-to-one
marketing relationships with every customer across multiple channels and devices.”

Imagine there is a telecommunication company, in which there is a customer support team, which is
helping customers solve their problems. Now using Service Cloud, they were able to keep track of
each problem and solution as well. Whenever the same problems come, automatically the solution will
be assigned to the problem. Through this, the efficiency of the team increased, response time
decreased and customers were able to receive a comparatively quicker solution.

3. Marketing Cloud

“Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a digital marketing platform that automates marketing across email,
social media, mobile apps, SMS, websites, and more.”

Imagine there is a retail company, that wants to do email marketing to their customers. So, they used
the marketing cloud, which enables them to send personalized mail to millions of customers, based on
each and every customer’s previous purchase history. Not only this, they are able to keep track of
open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.

4. Commerce Cloud

“Commerce Cloud is a key part of the Salesforce Customer Success Platform and offers e-commerce
solutions for B2C (business to consumer) and B2B (business to business) customers.”

Imagine there is a fashion retailer company that uses the Salesforce commerce cloud to manage its
online store. They are able to suggest similar accessories that their customers are interested in or
based on the customer’s last interaction with the web store. Through the commerce cloud, they were
able to provide a seamless customer experience, which eventually increases sales and builds
customer loyalty.

5. Experience Cloud

“Salesforce Experience Cloud enables enterprises to create and manage communities more
effectively. It allows you to create portals, support centers, forums, websites, and smartphone apps,
and administer your content.”

Think of various portals or forums where users come and interact with each other, and discuss solving
each other problems.

6. Health Cloud

“Salesforce Health Cloud is a platform for managing doctor-patient interaction and recordkeeping. It
brings together a wide range of data from several sources in one location, providing you with a
complete picture of everything about each patient, both clinical and non-clinical.”

It allows automated scheduling of appointments and also helps in conducting virtual health care for
patients so, that they can take care of from the comfort of their homes.

7. Financial Services Cloud

“It provides a user-friendly platform to handle all customer data, build more trusted relationships, and
create more seamless digital experiences at any touchpoint. It is designed to meet the demands of
companies in the financial sector: banks, insurance agents, mortgage and loan companies, and
others.”
Imagine a bank that provides loans and credit card services, which involves customer verification like
financial condition, and all of that can be done using the financial service cloud.

8. Education Cloud

“It allows educational institutions to create solutions for recruitment, admission, and registration while
also improving the student experience in the course of the teaching process and extracurricular
activities.”

It helps educational institutions to provide the right recommendations like tuition, extra class, and
books, to students according to their performance.

When Salesforce Releases Come

Salesforce is a #1 CRM-based solution provider because of its continuous improvements. It delivers
hundreds of innovative features by providing three seasonal releases during a year:
 1. Spring (January – April)
2. Summer (May-August)
3. Winter (September – December)

The first set of upgrades happens on sandbox instances 4-6 weeks before a release goes into
production. After that, all customers run the same version of Salesforce, complete with all the latest
features.

Benefits Of Salesforce CRM

1. It is highly customizable.
2. It is the one that comes with three major releases adapting to the user’s requirement, which
increases the user’s adaptability rate.
3. It has the highest user adaptability rate.

What is Salesforce Platform?

Salesforce Platform was formerly known as Force.com. It is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) product that
simplifies both the development and deployment process of cloud-based applications and websites.
By using this platform, developers can create multiple kinds of enterprise and business applications
without using any extra hardware or software.

Salesforce platform offers features such as better efficiency by removing any worries related to
database maintenance. At its core, Salesforce Platform enables organizations to create and customize
applications that cater to their unique needs, making it a versatile solution for various industries. Here
is a little Salesforce platform overview for you guys to remember:

 It is entirely cloud-based, meaning it operates totally over the internet.

 At its core, it is a CRM platform that allows businesses to store and manage customer data,
including contact information, preferences, and communication history.
 It is highly customizable and provides tools for reporting and analytics.
 It offers wider options for integration, such as REST and SOAP APIs to connect with other systems
and data sources.

Read More:
50 Salesforce Interview Questions That Will Get You Hired in 2024

Architecture of Salesforce Platform

Salesforce platform architecture is called multi-tenant, which allows a single instance of software to
serve multiple users or tenants. Each tenant’s data is logically separated and secured, ensuring data
isolation and privacy. It proves to be economical due to the sharing of resources and maintenance.
Also, there can be a single instance of a software server with multiple tenants.

Next, let’s take a look at some major benefits offered by Salesforce Platform.

Benefits of Salesforce Platform

Salesforce, as a leader in CRM platforms, is known for its robust capabilities and versatility. Hence,
some of the major benefits of Salesforce Platform are as follows:
  It enables the creation of a comprehensive view of every customer, including their preferences,
inclinations, and history.
 Salesforce itself is highly scalable, thus making it suitable for businesses of various sizes.
 It eliminates the need for complex on-premises infrastructure and maintenance due to being a
cloud-based platform.
 It offers powerful automation tools such as workflow automation, process builder, and flow.
 It seamlessly integrates with various third-party applications and services.
 Salesforce offers mobile applications that enable users to access critical data and functionality
on the go.

You must be familiar with Salesforce and its benefits now. In the next part, we will further explore the
key characteristics of Salesforce Environment. So, keep going to know more about it!

Characteristics of Salesforce Environment

There are multiple characteristics connected with the environments of Salesforce. Some important
ones are as follows:

 It contains data (Records) and customizations (Custom Database objects and fields).
 It is used for development, testing, and production.
 Environments are not provisioned with certain advanced features such as multi-currency or
develop preview technology by default. One can request activation of such functionality by
contacting the official site Salesforce.com in the customer support column.
 Although it is possible to access all environments through a Web browser, you can also access it
from Force.com IDE, SOAP.
 Every environment is based on an edition that contains specific objects, storage, functionality,
and limits.
 Environments are designed while keeping data isolation in mind to ensure integrity and security.
 Different kinds of environments offer varied levels of resources.
  Environments support version control integration, ensuring that changes are tracked, managed,
and documented.

Collectively, Salesforce environment forms a structured development and deployment lifecycle. It also
allows organizations to manage changes effectively, minimize risks, and maintain the stability of their
live Salesforce systems. Next, let’s take a look at the types and uses of the available environments in
Salesforce.

What is Salesforce Environment?

Salesforce environments are distinct spaces within the Salesforce Platform where you can build, test,
and deploy applications. They play a pivotal role in ensuring that changes and customizations do not
disrupt your existing business operations via the acceleration of application development. Here are
the primary types of Salesforce environments:

So, here is a brief description of all the main types of Salesforce environments. Different kinds of
people make use of these environments at their convenience. So, let’s dive deeper into the uses of
Salesforce Environments.

Production Environment

This is the live environment where your users interact with Salesforce daily. There are active paying
users in this environment who access business-critical data. Changes made in developer or sandbox
environments are eventually deployed here.

Developer Environment
This environment is used by developers for coding and creating custom functionalities without
affecting the production environment. These are those environments where you can develop,
integrate, and extend on Force.com without affecting your production environments.

Sandbox Environment

Sandboxes are copies of your production environment, used for testing and development purposes.
They allow you to experiment with changes before implementing them in the live environment. More
specific usage includes testing functionality before releasing it to customers or deploying it to
production.

Uses of Salesforce Environment

Customers
Customers mainly use the production environment to run their day-to-day business operations. This is
the place for managing customer data, executing sales and marketing activities, and providing
customer support.

Partners

Partners often work closely with Salesforce, thus requiring multiple development and testing
environments. These environments allow them to build, customize, and test Salesforce solutions for
their clients. They can create fine-tuned custom applications, configurations, and integrations in these
environments before deploying them to the client’s production environment.

Developers

Salesforce developers, whether individual or working with Salesforce partners, use developer editions
to write and test code, develop custom features, and experiment with new Salesforce functionalities.

Do you need clarification on why so many environments are used in Salesforce? Having distinct
environments for various purposes ensures data integrity, minimizes risks, and supports efficient
development and testing of Salesforce solutions. It also allows for different user roles (customers,
developers, partners) to work cohesively in Salesforce while maintaining a clear separation between
live business operations and activities such as development or testing. Further, we will discuss
environment licenses in Salesforce.

Read More:
How To Become a Salesforce Developer in 8 Steps

Environment Licenses and Upgrading in Salesforce

For effective utilization of Salesforce environments, it’s essential to understand environment licenses
and the process of upgrading. Licenses determine who can access specific environments and what
they can do within them. Upgrading involves moving changes and customizations from one
environment to another. There are a total of 4 production licenses, namely:

 Group Edition
 Professional Edition
 Enterprise Edition
 Unlimited Edition

The environment of Salesforce itself has changed a lot but in an upward direction. In such a case, one
can start functioning with a group edition and then upgrade it with a professional edition > Enterprise
edition > Unlimited edition.

There is a particular type of license that does not allow for conversion to production and is called a
development license. It is the same for Sandbox. One cannot upgrade Sandbox but can buy additional
or different types of Sandbox if that particular individual has enterprise or unlimited Force.com
edition.

What is Salesforce Development Environment?

As a student or candidate entering the world of Salesforce, you might be wondering what a Salesforce
development environment is and why it matters. Simply put, it’s your digital launchpad—a place
where you’ll build, test, and perfect your Salesforce skills.

Imagine it as a workshop where you craft your Salesforce solutions, ensuring they meet the highest
standards. Salesforce development environments provide you with a safe and controlled space to
hone your skills, experiment with new features, and innovate without the risk of affecting the live
Salesforce instance used by your organization. Some characteristics of Salesforce development
environment are:

 It is a free and fully featured copy of the Enterprise edition with fewer users and storage.
 You can sign up for as many development environment organizations as you may need.
 It allows for building applications designed for any Salesforce production environment.

Next, let’s discuss the Sandbox development environment as a type of Salesforce development
environment.

What is a Sandbox development environment?

Sandboxes are development environments that cater to various development and testing needs. They
are almost identical copies of the production environment available for customers with Enterprise or
Unlimited licenses.

It can include data, configurations, or both at the same time. You can create multiple sandboxes in
your production environment for different purposes without compromising data or applications.

Note: Since the Force.com edition runs on top of the Enterprise or Unlimited edition, you can
potentially have the same number of Sandboxes listed in the following table:
Next, let’s discuss some of the best practices and development considerations you need to follow in
the development environment as a Salesforce developer.

Best Practices For Salesforce Developer

You must develop in developer edition or Sandbox and then deploy to a production environment.

Also, you need to identify whether or not the available environment is the best fit or larger is required.
If you need a large development environment as DE is not upgraded to Partner DE in an instant.
Before building a customer editing app for Salesforce CRM, check the supported features for each
edition.

In other words, do not assume that if a feature is present in your developer edition environment, it is
also available to customers with group or professional editions. Additionally, it’s crucial to perform
testing before deployment. Remember to keep your development and testing environment separate.

What is Salesforce Testing Environment?

Before going for the deployment of your application to production or releasing it to the customers,
migrating your application to a dedicated testing environment is necessary. It is the place in which
you can perform integration tests with large sets of data and security checks for different numbers of
users or profiles. It will reveal the uncovered bugs or discover enhancements that you’d like to add
on.

In essence, for you to do all of this, there will be a need for a development environment that mimics
the production environment and has beta testers use it. Salesforce testing environment is the answer
to all your needs and provides spaces that are specifically set up for testing and quality assurance.
It allows you to thoroughly evaluate and validate changes, configurations, customizations, code, and
integrations before deploying them to a live production environment. The various key characteristics
of this environment are as follows:

 The testing environment is separate from the live production environment, ensuring that any
testing activities or changes made do not impact real customer data or processes.

 Depending on the type of sandbox used for testing (Partial or Full), the testing environment may
replicate various aspects of the production environment, including data and metadata. This
replication allows for realistic testing scenarios.
 Organizations can use the testing environment for various types of testing, including unit testing,
integration testing, load testing, user acceptance testing (UAT), and regression testing.
 The primary goal of the testing environment is to ensure the quality, reliability, and functionality
of changes. It helps identify and resolve issues, errors, or unexpected behaviour in a controlled
setting.
 Developers, administrators, and quality assurance teams can explore and experiment with
changes, configurations, and new features without the risk of affecting live customer data.
 In some cases, the testing environment can also serve as a space for training and onboarding
new users or employees on Salesforce features and processes.

In case you don’t have access to the Salesforce sandbox, you can use a DE environment as your
testing environment. The standard DE environment has limits in terms of storage and license. We will
describe the larger test environment available to partners, customers, and developers in the table
below:
In the next part, we will discuss the differences between the various Salesforce editions.

Salesforce Edition Comparison

Now that you know about the features of different Salesforce editions, take a look at the ideal usage
practices that you can follow as an Admin or Developer.

Ideal usage of Salesforce editions

Partner Test Edition (Enterprise/Platform Edition)

It is ideal to use this edition if:

 You are a partner developing a managed package to release commercially, and you need a
sandbox to test your beta-managed package.
 You want to make sure that the application will run smoothly in Enterprise and Force.com
editions.
 You are a partner looking for a production-like environment with more storage and users to run
tests identical to real usage.

Partner Test Edition (Professional Edition)

This edition is ideal if:

 You are a partner developing a managed package for release commercially and require testing
your beta managed package against Professional Edition. Note: This special Professional Edition
test environment will allow the installation of beta managed package.
 You want to be sure that your application will run smoothly in the Professional edition.
 You are a partner looking for a production-like environment with more storage and users to run
tests identical to real usage.

Sandbox
The Sandbox virtual environment is ideal if:

 You have an Enterprise, Unlimited, or Force.com Edition environment with a Sandbox.

 You want to try against a copy of your production environment (including both data and
customization)
 You want to test a beta-managed package.

Having upgraded your understanding of the environments and what’s there for you to take leverage,
let’s take a look at a few scenarios that you, as a customer, partner, and developer, may encounter.

Scenarios
1. You are a Developer looking to get started for free building a Force.com application

Sign up for the free Developer Edition environment.

2. You are a Customer wanting to build a new Force.com application for your production environment
Get a Sandbox or free Development Edition environment.

3. You are a Partner looking to build a Force.com application to sell

Sign up for Partner DE organization or Developer Edition.

4. You are a partner looking to build and sell a composite application that integrates with Force.com

Sign up for Partner DE organization or Developer Edition.

5. You want to develop an application with no relation to existing customization

Sign up for Developer Edition

6. You want to develop an application that has a relation with existing customization

Set up a Sandbox

7. You want to make an application or go for an implementation that will only use 200 MB storage and
existing customization

Use Developer Sandbox

8. You want existing customization with data existing in production, and the same data is sufficient

Use Partial Copy Sandbox

9. You want existing customization and also need data that exist in production, and if all data is
required
Full Copy Sandbox

Salesforce Notes for System Administrators

1. Introduction to Salesforce System Administration
A Salesforce System Administrator (SysAdmin) is responsible for managing and maintaining the Salesforce platform to ensure smooth
business operations, security, automation, and user support.

Key Responsibilities

✅ Managing Users & Access Controls

✅ Configuring Security & Data Protection
✅ Automating Business Processes
✅ Customizing Salesforce Objects & Fields
✅ Handling Reports & Dashboards
✅ Managing Data Import/Export & Integrations
✅ System Performance Monitoring & Troubleshooting

2. User Management
Creating & Managing Users

 Go to Setup → Users → Users

 Click New User, enter details, and assign:
o Profile (defines permissions)
o Role (defines record access)
 Save → User receives activation email
Profiles & Permission Sets

Feature Profiles Permission Sets

Purpose Controls what users can do Extends permissions beyond profile
Assignable? Only one per user Multiple per user
Controls Object, Field, and App Access Specific features & objects

Roles & Sharing Settings

Feature Roles Sharing Rules

Purpose Controls record visibility Grants additional record access
Hierarchy? Yes No
Applies To Users assigned roles Public Groups, Roles, Territories

3. Security & Access Management

Types of Security Controls in Salesforce

Security Type Description

Object-Level Security Controls user access to objects (via Profiles & Permission Sets)
Field-Level Security Restricts access to specific fields
Record-Level Security Determines which records users can see

Org-Wide Defaults (OWD)

 Private – Only owner and higher roles can see the record
 Public Read-Only – Everyone can see but not edit
 Public Read/Write – Everyone can edit
 Controlled by Parent – Follows Parent record's access
Additional Security Features

✔ Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) – Extra security layer for login

✔ Login IP Ranges – Restricts login from unauthorized IPs
✔ Session Timeouts – Auto-logout inactive users
✔ Field Encryption – Secures sensitive data

4. Data Management
Data Import & Export

Tool Use Case

Data Import Wizard Import up to 50,000 records, simple interface
Data Loader Bulk import/export (up to 5 million records)
Workbench Advanced SOQL queries, updates, and metadata export

Data Backup & Recovery

 Weekly Data Export – Backup data regularly

 Recycle Bin – Stores deleted records for 15 days

Duplicate Management

 Matching Rules & Duplicate Rules prevent duplicate records

 Third-party tools like DemandTools or Cloudingo enhance deduplication
5. Salesforce Automation
Workflow Rules (Deprecated)

 Automates basic tasks (email alerts, field updates)

 Being replaced by Flow

Process Builder (Retiring in 2025)

 Automates multi-step processes

 Use Flow instead for new automation

Flow (Best for Automation)

 Handles complex logic, loops, decision-making

 Supports record-triggered, screen-based, and scheduled automation

Approval Process

 Automates record approval workflows

 Example: Discount Approvals, Expense Requests

6. Reports & Dashboards

Creating Reports

1. Navigate to Reports → New Report

2. Select Report Type (Standard/Custom)
 3. Add Filters, Groupings, Summaries
4. Click Run Report → Save

Types of Reports

Type Purpose
Tabular Simple list of records
Summary Grouped by fields (e.g., total sales by region)
Matrix Grouped by both rows & columns
Joined Multiple report types combined

Dashboards

 Visual representation of reports

 Includes charts, graphs, and tables

7. Customization & Development

Objects & Fields

Type Description
Standard Objects Predefined (e.g., Account, Contact, Opportunity)
Custom Objects Created for business-specific needs

Field Types
✔ Text, Number, Date, Picklist
✔ Formula (auto-calculated values)
✔ Lookup & Master-Detail Relationships

Page Layouts & Record Types

 Page Layouts – Customize record display

 Record Types – Different layouts & picklists per user

8. Integration & API Management

Integration Type Use Case
REST API Lightweight integration for external apps
SOAP API Supports enterprise-level integrations
Outbound Messages Push Salesforce data to external systems
Apex Callouts Send API requests from Salesforce
Connected Apps Secure third-party integrations

9. Deployment & Sandboxes

Sandbox Type Purpose
Developer Sandbox Coding & testing (minimal data)
Developer Pro Larger storage for testing
Partial Copy Includes sample data for testing
Full Sandbox Exact copy of production

Change Sets vs. DevOps Tools

 Method Purpose
Change Sets Deploy configurations between orgs
VS Code & SFDX Used for Apex & custom development
DevOps Tools Automates deployments (e.g., Copado, Gearset)

10. Best Practices for System Administrators

✔ Regularly Review Security Settings – Ensure compliance and data protection
✔ Optimize Automation – Convert old workflows/processes to Flow
✔ Monitor System Performance – Use Setup Audit Trail & Login History
✔ Manage Storage Limits – Archive old data, optimize file attachments
✔ Keep Learning – Stay updated with Salesforce Releases & Trailhead