Phil's Salesforce Tip of the Week

Salesforce Events – Phil’s Salesforce Tip of the Week #489

by with No Comment Tip of the Week

Welcome to my Salesforce Tip of the Week #489

A Salesforce Events Special Edition!

 

Tip 1 – Am I Dreamin’

Salesforce Events

For our first Salesforce event…

In-person events are starting to open up again, and online events continue to rise in popularity.

So whether you plan to go to your local Community conference, or Zoom your way to greater Salesforce knowledge, keep an eye on the official Community Conference calendar to plan ahead.

 

 

Tip 2 – Call for Speakers

A great way to really immerse yourself into a Community event is to join the list of presenters.

Usually around 3-4 months before an event there is a ‘call for speakers/submissions’. It’s where you can write a brief abstract so the organisers can review it and plan the most suitable sessions.

The call has just been announced for Czech Dreamin, take a look here.

 

Tip 3 – FlowFest

If you love Flows and fancy getting involved in a hackathon style event, register for FlowFest here.

It will take place as a live stream on 23rd February.

 

 

Tip 4 – DevOps Dreamin’

Another event outside of the official Community Calendar is this two day DevOps specific event.

“DevOps Dreamin’ is a 2-day event for developers, configurators, architects and anyone responsible for building on Salesforce”

Take a look and register here.

 

Tip 5 – Rio Dreamin

And our final Salesforce event…

It is early days of planning, but follow this Twitter account to show your interest and support for what could be an amazing event in Brazil in 2023!

 

 

 

 

Final Tip Of The Week – Sign Up

Remember if you have enjoyed this Tip of the Week then sign up for the weekly Friday email, direct to your inbox here. And feel free to get in touch if you have any ideas for future Salesforce tips!

CactusForce 2022

CactusForce 2022

by with No Comment News

In January, Mark Jones, one of our Salesforce Consultants did a virtual session at CactusForce. The session’s called ‘Welcome to Orchestration… Understanding How to Use Flow Orchestrator in Your Org‘. Read on to find out more about Cactucsforce, and to re-watch Mark’s session.

 

What is Cactusforce?

Cactusforce is a community conference for Salesforce Developers and Architects. It’s a 2-day, three track hybrid event (online and in-person in Phoenix, Arizona, USA).

“A three-track event focused on content for developers, architects, and configurators. The developer track sessions will dive into the programmatic side of the Salesforce platform. The architect track sessions will include Salesforce Certified Technical Architect (CTA) program intros, training, board exam prep, and more. The configurator track sessions will dive into advanced declarative development, process automation and may include some code.

Whether you know the power of the Salesforce platform, are a seasoned developer, and want more, or you’re just starting out, there’ll be lots of takeaways!”

 

About Mark’s session

‘Flow Orchestrator is available right now in Beta. Flow Orchestrator is the newest addition to Salesforce Flow.

In this session attendees will get a chance to learn a bit more what Flow Orchestrator is and to see it in action. The plan will be to give an overview of what Flow Orchestrator is, to demo a pre-built orchestration and to build an orchestration live in the session.

The aim will be to serve as an introduction to Flow Orchestrator, to showcase the capabilities of the tool and to highlight how it compares to Approval Processes (which is currently what is viewed as the most likely usage of Flow Orchestrator).

I will also look to include some key points around the core capabilities of Flow Orchestrator in order to give people some insight of the tool and some good ways that it could be used.’

 

Watch again

 

About Cloud Galacticos

Cloud Galacticos is a Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. Our Salesforce consultancy has people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, and London.

So if you are looking for a Salesforce Gold partner with experience to help you make the most of your org, why not get in contact?

Kully Dosanjh – Meet The Galacticos

Kully Dosanjh – Meet the Galacticos

by with No Comment Team Galacticos

Welcome to the latest in our series of Meet the Galacticos blogs to learn more about our growing Cloud Galacticos team. Say ‘hello’ to Kully Dosanjh, one of our recent Salesforce Consultant recruits. We caught up with Kully to ask her a few questions.

 

Kully Dosanjh, Salesforce Consultant

Hi Kully, can you give us a bit of background about yourself and your work history?

My educational background is Information Systems related. I then got introduced to Salesforce at the start of 2015, where I worked for an Oil & Gas company in Dubai.  Since then I have worked for quite a few end users as well as being self employed as a contractor.

 

What’s your story behind joining the Cloud Galacticos team?

I was introduced to Cloud Galacticos through ‘Supermums’ who are a fabulous recruitment company where they find their candidates’ roles based on skills and expertise.

 

What’s it like joining a new company during these Covid times?

For me, the transition was great as I had worked at home pre-Covid so was well accustomed to the new ways of working which many had to learn to adapt to.

What is your role as a Salesforce Consultant at Cloud Galacticos involve, and what do you enjoy about it?

Since joining CG I was put on a project with an end user where I’ve been tasked to capture and create all ‘as-is business processes.  I must say I have really enjoyed my role so far,  I’ve had exposure to all sides of the business to really understand what their requirements are, and have regular communication with stakeholders at all levels within the organisation. From here I am looking forward to helping them review and improve these processes and implement their new changes in Salesforce.

 

Do you have plans to take any Salesforce certifications in the near future?

Absolutely, I would really be interested in the Not for Profit and Sales Cloud Certifications.

 

Cloud Galacticos is a remote working focussed company. What advice would you give people to make the most of working remotely and staying motivated?

Definitely set times when you are working. Often working from home you actually end up doing more work than you would in an office environment.  Make sure to still take time out for lunch or even a quick walk or chat with someone. 

 

Aside from Salesforce and working at Cloud Galacticos, what else do you enjoy doing?

I enjoy travelling and exploring new places as well as going for a regular run, it helps clear my mind (not so much since being back in England and the cold weather!) 

Favourites:

– Food: I love Thai food, anything spicy does the job!

– Drink: Coffee, Gin and Wine

– Music: Varies on my mood

– Animal: Dog

– Place to Visit: Next on my list is Maldives

 

About Cloud Galacticos

Cloud Galacticos is a Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. Our Salesforce consultancy has people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, and London.

So if you are looking for a Salesforce Gold partner with experience to help you make the most of your org, why not get in contact?

Phil's Salesforce Tip of the Week

Appexchange – Phil’s Salesforce Tip of the Week #488

by with No Comment Tip of the Week

Welcome to my Salesforce Tip of the Week #488

 

Tip 1 – Speakers Needed

Here at Galactico Towers we are  very excited to be involved with London’s Calling 2022…and you can be too!

The Call For Proposals has gone out, you have until 13th Feb. See here for details. Don’t leave it until the last minute!

 

 

Tip 2 – Marketing Cloud Releases

Here is a link to the next Marketing Cloud release, which will be out to all users by Feb 19th.

But other big news is starting with the Spring ’22 release, Marketing Cloud plans a new cycle to align with the release schedule of the rest of Salesforce products.

With 2022 updates during the Spring ‘22 (Feb 5-18), Summer ‘22 (June 4-17), and Winter ‘23 (Oct 8-21) releases.

 

Tip 3 – Appexchange

Appexchange

Congratulations to the Appexchange team and all its partners – 10 million installs is an amazing achievement.

I’m sure there are many more to come. Well done!

 

 

 

 

 

Final Tip Of The Week – Sign Up

Remember if you have enjoyed this Tip of the Week then sign up for the weekly Friday email, direct to your inbox here. And feel free to get in touch if you have any ideas for future Salesforce tips!

Winter 22 Maintenance Comments

Winter 22 Maintenance Comments

by with No Comment News

By Val Southern

Are you ready for Winter ’22 maintenance?

As a Certified Application Architect, it’s important to keep up with the latest features. This helps to provide the best possible solutions for our customers. I’d already completed the Winter ‘22 Release Highlights badge. So rather than wait for the December deadline for maintaining my credentials, I thought I’d get it done now while it’s the current release. And fresh in my mind!

I’m relatively new to the Architect world. Hence I was a little worried that maintaining my credentials was going to be a long and arduous task – given the amount of study and number of certs that were required to get here. I was delighted to find that I could do this by completing just 3 badges:

 

Salesforce Certified Application Architect

I managed to do it all in 1 day and here’s a little summary of the required tasks for each badge.

 

winter '22 maintenance

For this maintenance module, the task focussed on granting access based on activated User sessions for permission set groups. We are asked to create 2 permission sets, then group them into a new permission set group.

Simple enough but good practice and reminded me to group together permissions typically used for a specific task and therefore needed together.

 

 

The task for this maintenance module focussed on using getInstance() in Apex to retrieve a custom metadata record, removing the need to write a SOQL query to do the same thing, making the code cleaner, faster and not subject to SOQL limits.

We are given an Apex class and instructed to update it to use getInstance() and remove code no longer needed. Whilst not spoon-feeding with instructions, the module contains enough resources to help find the correct way to use it (along with my own knowledge) to pass the task. I found it challenging enough without being too frustrating.

 

Salesforce Architect Certification Maintenance (Winter ’22) involved 2 modules. Each has a quiz about the key features to know about, covering each of the architect roles.

It’s a surprise that there were no hands-on tasks in this one but the content is still good to know!

 

 

 

Rather than waiting for the deadline in December, I recommend getting these done now for relevance.

 

About Cloud Galacticos

Cloud Galacticos is a Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. Our Salesforce consultancy has people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, and London.

So if you are looking for a Salesforce Gold partner with experience to help you make the most of your org, why not get in contact?

Phil's Salesforce Tip of the Week

Winter ’22 – Phil’s Salesforce Tip of the Week #487

by with No Comment Tip of the Week

Welcome to my Salesforce Tip of the Week #487

 

Tip 1 – Winter ’22

Winter '22

No need to panic, you have until December 2nd 2022.

But if you like to stay on top of your Cert maintenance then the Winter ’22 modules are ready for you.

Click here for the Trailhead link to all modules.

 

 

 

Tip 2 – The Trailblazer Ranch

Salesforce Ranch

After many rumours, the Salesforce Ranch is apparently here!

“While we fully recognize and embrace that we’re in a digital-first world, we know that a majority of our employees still want to have the ability to connect in person.

That’s why we’ve decided to create the ultimate expression of the Salesforce culture — the Trailblazer Ranch. It will be a sustainable gathering place where all stakeholders can come together to connect, learn, innovate, get inspired, have fun, and give back.

For us, this is the next evolution of our culture.”

I’ll be keeping an eye out for any more news. But if it is a chance to spend more time in the beautiful countryside I may insist on a few less phones and tablets when I visit 😉

 

Final Tip Of The Week – Sign Up

Remember if you have enjoyed this Tip of the Week then sign up for the weekly Friday email, direct to your inbox here. And feel free to get in touch if you have any ideas for future Salesforce tips!

Why Company Culture Matter

Why Company Culture Matter

by with No Comment Team Galacticos

By Phil Walton

 

I have been lucky to work in some pretty awful jobs..! 

Some interesting jobs…

Some unusual jobs…

Lucky, because I have survived them, moved on from them, and learned from them.

 

The Tough Lessons

At 18 I left home, I worked in the fields of Norfolk, England, picking fruit, grading veg, and packing trucks. It was physically tough, but I worked with people I liked, in the fresh air and the sun.

Also, I once took a job in Canada – often working 100 hour weeks – for minimal wages. But I did it for a friend, and had great fun travelling. i.e. the culture was right.

For my first entrepreneurial business, I converted an old Mill into 20 arts and music studios in Manchester, England. I did my 8 hour day at my paid job, then travelled 30 minutes to work evenings and weekends labouring – as I had no cash to pay someone else to do it…

 

What’s my point?

Sometimes we don’t get to choose what job we do.

When you need some income you take whatever job you can get. But thankfully many of us in this Salesforce Community are in a better position. We are building skills and experience, in a growing and in-demand marketplace. So we can be more choosy about where we work, who we work for, and what they stand for. 

Let’s be honest here, we often work in sandboxes but this isn’t always playtime. We still do challenging jobs, sometimes have to caffeine our way through tough tasks and handhold clients though long go-live events. But there is (hopefully) a big difference between doing this in a safe and friendly environment, where your colleagues appreciate your hard work and celebrate your successes – rather than somewhere you feel undervalued and unloved. 

 

What do Cloud Galacticos stand for? 

A couple of years back we got together and did an exercise, where everyone listed characteristics of Cloud Galacticos, and the characteristics they wanted to avoid. We then looked at similarities and trends, and found a set of beliefs/values/ideals that seemed core to us all. With a bit of clever organising we summarised it as :

 

“H-E-R-O-E-S”

Honesty

Expertise

Respectfulness

Ownership

Enjoyment

Salesforce

Cloud Galacticos Christmas Meal 2021

I am proud of what we have achieved at Cloud Galacticos so far. We know we can do more. And I know the growing team will lead this as much as I will!

 

ABOUT CLOUD GALACTICOS

Cloud Galacticos is a  Salesforce Gold Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. Our Salesforce consultancy has people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, and London. If you are looking for a Salesforce partner with experience who can help you make the most of your org, why not give us a call?

A Brief Introduction to Multi-Factor Authentication

A (Brief) Introduction to Multi-Factor Authentication

by with No Comment News

By Rhiannon McCorkindale

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is the process of adding additional security to your systems by requiring a secondary verification during login. It is a widely used practice to help avoid online fraud and identity theft. Salesforce is requiring users to verify their identity through multiple factors from February 2022. In this blog we will go through what MFA is and how you can get MFA enabled in your environment.

 

What is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?

MFA or Multi-Factor Authentication, requires a user to use multiple pieces of evidence (called factors) to prove their identity when authenticating to a system.

The first factor is simple: this is your username and password.

The second factor can be provided by one or more of a number of items: 

  • Salesforce Authenticator app
  • Third-Party Authenticator apps, e.g.: Auth, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator
  • Security Keys, e.g.: Yubikey, Titan Security Key

Using more than one factor provides security, because if someone gains access to your username and password, it is unlikely they will also be able to access a verification method on your mobile or a security key.

 

How does Multi-Factor Authentication differ from one-time passcodes?

One time passcodes that are sent to text (SMS), email or phone calls don’t meet the requirements of MFA. This is because email credentials can be compromised, and text messages and phone calls can be intercepted. 

 

Why should I plan for MFA?

From February 1st 2022 Salesforce will require internal Salesforce users to use MFA in order to access Salesforce products.

 

How is MFA enabled?

MFA is enabled once the permission ‘Multi Factor Authentication for User Logins’ is checked and assigned – but there are a lot of things to take into consideration first before checking that box.

 

What if we use SSO?

If an organisation uses Single Sign On, you can enable the SSO’s MFA service, or enable MFA for users on the Salesforce platform.

 

What about Admin access?

Users such as Admins who log directly into Salesforce must have MFA enabled on the Salesforce platform. 

Admins should use at least two different authentication methods, and you should have at least two users with permissions to manage users and MFA settings. 

Also consider keeping a Security Key onsite or in a safe place – all these actions will enable admins to recover access if they find themselves locked out of the system.

 

How do I prepare my users for MFA?

Read and implement the Rollout Pack:

Our top tips are as follows:

Check who has access to a mobile device. The simplest way to prepare for MFA is for users to download the Salesforce Authenticator app from the App Store or Google Play, or to download a third-party authenticator app.

Purchase security keys for users without mobile devices. To complete the second factor of the authentication, users connect the security key to their computer via a port or wirelessly. Then they press the key’s button to confirm their identity.

At a push, Third-Party Authenticator apps downloaded to a computer desktop can meet MFA requirements but using separate physical devices such as a mobile or security key is preferable. This is because if someone gains access to your username and password, they may have also gained access to your laptop or computer.

Once you have taken action to implement MFA, answer these questions to ensure your implementation meets the MFA requirements.

 

MFA for End Users

How does MFA change the login process?

Once a user provides their username and password on the login screen, they will be prompted to add an authentication method. Instructions on how to use the Salesforce Authenticator are provided as standard, but another method can be chosen by clicking on the ‘Choose Another Verification Method’ link.

 

Logging in using the Salesforce Authenticator app for the first time

Once you have the Salesforce Authenticator app installed on your device, when you enter your username and password details to Salesforce in the browser you will see the following screen.

The Salesforce Authenticator app will provide you with a two-word phrase to enter in the box below and click ‘Connect’.

Salesforce Authenticator

You will then be asked to verify your details in the Salesforce Authenticator app. If your username and the service look correct, click ‘Connect’ to complete the process and access Salesforce.

 

Logging in using the Salesforce Authenticator app

On entering your username and password details to Salesforce in the browser, a push notification will be sent to your mobile device. 

When you open the Salesforce Authenticator app on your phone you can review details of the login attempt. If you are sure that the attempt was generated by you, click ‘Approve’ to complete the process and access Salesforce.

 

DISCLAIMER:

We recommend you complete your own investigation and form your own implementation plan for MFA before making any changes to your system. The attached list of recommended reading is a good place to start. We can advise and assist you in rolling out MFA.

 

Recommended Reading

https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000352937&type=1 

https://security.salesforce.com/resources/mfa-rollout-pack 

https://salesforce.vidyard.com/watch/O3rQLAtVX0Z4lLjdOvVFYQ 

https://security.salesforce.com/mfa-requirement-check

 

ABOUT CLOUD GALACTICOS

Cloud Galacticos is a  Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. Our Salesforce consultancy has people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, and London.

If you’re looking for more advice on MFA, our team of experts can guide you though the new features and updates. We can also support you through projects. Why not find out more about our Managed Services package?

Phil's Salesforce Tip of the Week

TrailblazerDX – Phil’s Salesforce Tip of the Week #486

by with No Comment Tip of the Week

Welcome to my Salesforce Tip of the Week #486

 

Tip 1 – TrailblazerDX 2022

TrailblazerDX

Say hello to TrailblazerDX…

So it’s New year, new name for TrailheadDX.

“Uniting developers across Salesforce Customer 360, MuleSoft, Slack, and Tableau, TrailblazerDX (formerly TrailheadDX) is a world-class learning experience you won’t want to miss.”

TrailblazerDX will be on 27th to 28th April 2022 – in person and online.

Don’t forget to save the date for the ‘the developer event of the year for all Trailblazers in the Salesforce ecosystem‘.

 

Tip 2 – Release Notes

Release Notes

Take a look here for the Spring ’22 release notes, just 550 pages of light reading this time.

“The latest innovations in the Spring ’22 release deliver seamless customer and employee experiences, empowering your company to
work smarter and succeed from anywhere.”

Or click here for the details in the Help documentation which are split into searchable sections & easy to navigate.

 

 

 

 

Final Tip Of The Week – Sign Up

Remember if you have enjoyed this Tip of the Week then sign up for the weekly Friday email, direct to your inbox here. And feel free to get in touch if you have any ideas for future Salesforce tips!

What is Elastic Compute? - Sorry, Functions

What is Elastic Compute? – Sorry Functions!

by with No Comment Development

Here’s a quick blog from one of our Technical Architects at Cloud Galacticos, Mike Gill. He was interested to see that Salesforce Functions is now generally available. Here’s his initial thoughts:

 

Mike Gill

Mike Gill

What is Elastic Compute? – Sorry, Functions!

A couple of years ago, our COO Paul wrote one of our most popular blogs ever on Salesforce Evergreen after it was announced at Dreamforce 2019 calling it a game-changer for Salesforce developers. A little over 2 years have passed since then and Evergreen has now finally become Generally Available and has a new name – Salesforce Functions. But what are “Functions”? Elastic Compute; sometimes called Serverless, or now simply put “Functions” is Salesforce’s answer to services already provided by other major cloud providers.

It’s little more than that. It has been talked about for ages; why can’t Apex be more like Java? Well now you can now use proper Java in Salesforce!! And if you have been expanding your Node.js skills like I have, you now have the ability to build out solutions leveraging the wealth of Node.js npm libraries out there.

 

What are the benefits of Functions?

Whilst you have been able to integrate with Salesforce using other languages for a long time, the big difference here is that with Functions all your code runs within the “Salesforce trust boundary.” This means all of your permissions and security are handled for you. Also, it doesn’t even count against your Salesforce request limits!

 

Get involved

Why not start playing around with it today? The keys to the kingdom are now unlocked!

 

Why not sign up?

If something is too good to be true, then it probably is! We’ve heard this before with Salesforce… Well, not this time if seeing is believing.  Functions have landed and you can start your New Year off with an exciting new tool!

Sign up here and try it out  https://functions.salesforce.com/signups

 

About Cloud Galacticos

Cloud Galacticos is a  Salesforce Consulting Partner with an all-star team. We are user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs and all round Salesforce nerds. Our Salesforce consultancy has people all over the UK including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, and London. If you are looking for a Salesforce partner with experience who can help you make the most of your org, why not give us a call?