November 4, 2013
Salesforce is not just a CRM solution, it is a platform. A platform so good that another company can build an industry specific application on it, be profitable, and go public. A platform for not only sales, service, and marketing applications - but also able to support almost any corporate application, of any size and complexity.
This realization has many companies rushing to integrate Salesforce with their legacy systems, build their own custom applications on the platform, and extend functionality with the thousands of solutions available on the Salesforce AppExchange.
When done right, all of this integrating, building, and extending will change the way a company does business. Doing it right—means doing it with cloud governance. Without the framework and tools for ongoing innovation, your Salesforce instance can stagnate.
Technical complexity without governance causes hesitation. Without a strategy and tools for ongoing innovation, fear that every release will break something does not enable IT to focus on innovation.
Non-technical complexity without governance results in a lack of prioritization. Business groups, functions, and divisions on integrated technologies that do not have a shared prioritization methodology reduces the likelihood that a plan for innovation will ever exist.
I spend a most of my time working with Bluewolf clients on their own cloud governance strategies, and at Dreamforce ‘13 I am speaking during two sessions on the same topic. Whether your company has a mature governance program or is just starting out, the stories will be inspiring and practical.
Accelerate Innovation and ROI with Cloud Governance
The first session features two Bluewolf clients, Caesars Entertainment and The Standard, sharing their experiences implementing cloud governance. We asked these two clients to participate because the outcomes are similar but one was lead by IT and the other by the business. We’ll talk about what can happen when:
- A company’s business leaders are collectively responsible for Salesforce innovation
- It’s possible to track every enhancement over time and automatically test functionality pre-release
- Enhancement contributions by individual users are celebrated company wide
Partner Platform Success - Center of Excellence Best Practices
My second session is with James Burns, Governance lead for salesforce.com. Join us to learn the best practices for developing Centres of Excellence (CoE). We will review the models, roles, responsibilities, and skills for a CoE, the success indicators of a CoE, and hear how Bluewolf has helped our customers successfully implement cloud governance.
