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Vetri Manoharan, Salesforce Developer – 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 Vetri, a Salesforce developer. We caught up with Vetri via Slack to ask him a few questions.

 

Vetri Manoharan, Salesforce Developer

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

I started my career as a .net web developer.  I got a chance to work on Salesforce around ten months into my career. Working on Salesforce is awesome because of the configuration and low-code methodology. On my first deployment I didn’t know that we needed to write a unit test class – I was the only person with Salesforce experience…!  So I started learning things on my own.

My major career breakthrough in Salesforce was when I started working with Phil while I was at Dazeworks. I have worked with Phil and his team for almost 5 years before joining full-time with Cloud Galacticos. I recently got involved on various projects on Salesforce Field Service and CPQ – hoping to do my CPQ certification soon. 

 

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

I started working with Phil in 2015, I was part of various complex projects, even travelled to the UK for a project delivery. I always like the way things are handled at Cloud Galacticos and approached Phil around the start of 2021 to convey that I would like to join the team! My career recently was more into project management and leading the team, but I wanted to be on the development side of things. Also I wanted to be part of a team where I can learn and do things differently.

 

One of the main benefits with working at Cloud Galacticos is the remote working culture. This allows me to spend more time with my parents.

 

Vetri with Paul and Neel at India Dreaming

Vetri with Paul and Neel at India Dreaming

 

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

My role here is more into Salesforce development – I really like to code! I’m also involved in projects writing APEX cods and have been part of the sprint planning and retrospectives in the projects.

 

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

I like to do yoga and meditation which I try and find time to do each day. Sport-wise, I like watching and playing cricket, and I enjoy trekking in the Himalayan mountains. If time allows, I would like to learn to play some musical instruments too 🙂

 

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

I would say, don’t sit for hours, make sure you get up every hour and stretch yourself. Also, the pandemic has changed a lot of things, so spend time with your family and friends.

 

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?

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Adam Barnes, Salesforce Consultant – 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 Adam, a Salesforce consultant and one of our recent recruits. I caught up with Adam via Slack to ask him a few questions.

 

Adam Barnes, Salesforce Consultant

Hi Adam, thanks for finding a few minutes to help people learn a bit more about you. Can you give us a bit of background about yourself and your work history?

I’m quite a bubbly outgoing person.  I’ve also been involved in the IT world from secondary school – blowing up my first PC at the age of 13, overloading it with a new graphics card!  Moving into computing for college, learning the foundations of programming.  It was then onto university for a Computer Games and Software Development degree. It covered all areas of computing. It was quite challenging.

I got my first job as an IT engineer for a large UK based software company. They had 26 offices and I learned a great deal with all the different offices and setup.

It was then onto the start of my Salesforce career, and it was like “ooooooh, this is awesome and you can do so much with it!”. This was 10 years ago. I still enjoy its development, and the community is one of the best things about Salesforce. Everyone is so helpful and it’s a pleasure to meet others here in the UK and around the world.  It’s a true pleasure.

 

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

I was looking for my next step – I always avoided consultancies up to now to be honest.  But when I saw Phil was needing some help, I thought I’d reach out. After we spoke, I decided to explore working permanently for Cloud Galacticos. I wanted to get a feel of the company and how they work with its clients. I liked what I heard with the way they do things. So it felt like an awesome fit to join the team and also to learn from an established consultancy rather than being a cog and a big organisation.

 

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

I think the best part is being thrown in the deep end and learning how they do things – good and bad. You could have two identical businesses but each implement Salesforce in a different way which you can learn from. 

I enjoy learning new things, which is why I try to attend various User Groups. I could be attending the most basic presentation but I normally always come away from it. You can still learn something as the person presenting will have a different perspective which you might not have thought of.  So it’s always worthwhile going and joining the events to feel part of the community.

 

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

None of us have been doing much over the current pandemic and my thoughts are with all that have been badly affected by it.  But when things go back to ‘normal’ I’d like to get back to my holidays; going Snowboarding in the winter, beaches in the summer, and generally travelling is my aim from now on!

Over the pandemic I got myself a puppy which has been an absolute joy. He’s a husky and is called Storm. He’s growing pretty fast already!

 

Storm

 

What tips would you have on working remotely during the current Covid-19 situation?

I’d say, make sure you have that separate space of an ‘office’ from the rest of your living space.  Also, make sure you have breaks away from the screen.  For me over the pandemic, I found myself just not leaving the flat at all, which can get quite depressing and not help your mood at all.  So the one major change I did was getting a puppy (Storm).  Had always wanted one but now it gave me the time to actually be here for them.  It also gives me a routine and gets me out of the flat.  

Mentally, having a puppy has been fantastic. It’s awesome company and gives you a reason to go for a walk – instead of just having to. Storm gets me up in the morning. It has really helped me keep a steady routine, as well as keeps things interesting and different each day.  

When walking with a dog, everyone wants to talk to you (or realistically, the dog). But you end up meeting some awesome people you probably would never speak to normally.  I’m very grateful the lockdown hasn’t affected me in an awful way as it has many around the world. Maybe if I didn’t have my friends, family and doggo support, it probably wouldn’t have been good for me either.  

Best wishes to everyone over this horrible period. We are almost out of it so we can get back to some sort of normality and let’s help others where they need it…

 

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. We have 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?

 

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Salesforce Developer Podcast – Weird Apex and Being Inquisitive

by with No Comment DevelopmentNewsTeam Galacticos

Recently Josh Birk interviewed my for the Salesforce Developer Podcast on “Weird Apex”. You can find the full recording here. I’m going to share some additional thoughts about the background to the discussion and how the simple act of being inquisitive has lead me to some of the weird and wonderful things I discussed on the podcast.

 

Weird Apex Salesforce Developer Podcast

Image taken of https://developer.salesforce.com/podcast/2021/05/episode-82-weird-apex-with-paul-battisson.html

Love What You Do

When we meet clients for the first time, we tell them that at Cloud Galacticos we are 100% Salesforce nerds. We have team members who are MVPs, user and developer group leaders, and authors. We also have speakers, CTAs, and a number who tick multiple of these boxes. When hiring, one of the things we focus on is how much people enjoy working with the platform. I always ask “Why Salesforce?” Of course, sometimes working your way through a big set of profiles and permissions to figure out what the gaps are is not the most riveting work. I find that it is important to ensure I take time to do things I enjoy within my work to stay inquisitive.

A prime example of this is the VR setup I built with Vincent Reeder for a Dreamforce talk. Virtual Reality is cool and still fairly new tech, however it is not really enterprise friendly (as we discuss in the podcast). Still, Vincent and I took it as a technical challenge to see how we could get different pieces of the Salesforce Platform to play together to deliver something cool. Is this a completely practical exercise that we will reuse? No, but the learnings on how to use the different bits of technology will definitely help me in the future. It’s a much more fun way of learning.

 

Build a Career You’re Interested In

I’d highly encourage anyone who is looking to learn more about a particular topic to approach it in this way. By trying to keep this in mind I have built my career on Salesforce and have had a great time doing so. It has helped me learn enough to be able to write two books on Apex as well as given me the opportunity to speak at events all over the globe. I would recommend listening to other episodes of the Salesforce Developer Podcast. You will notice this is a common theme.

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Ali Najefi, Salesforce CTA – 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 Ali, one of our Salesforce Certified Technical Architects at our Salesforce consultancy. I caught up with Ali via email to ask him a few questions.

 

Ali Najefi, Salesforce CTA

 

Ali Najefi, Salesforce Certified Technical Architect

Hi Ali, thanks for finding a few minutes to help people learn a bit more about you. Can you give us a bit of background about yourself and your work history?

I started working in Salesforce back in 2008. There were not many Salesforce consultants around back then. The community was not as big, so sometimes it was difficult to get help. However, it has been a great journey for all of us to see how Salesforce has grown so much!  I started as a developer and progressed to an architect. The greatest accomplishment in my Salesforce journey has to be becoming a Salesforce CTA in early 2019. That’s something I am really proud of.

 

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

I knew Phil for a while and we wanted to work together for sometime. Luckily, the opportunity came and I am very happy to be part of the team.

 

How is your role as Salesforce CTA at Cloud Galacticos. What do you enjoy about it?

I work as an architect on multiple projects where I advise the clients on Salesforce best practices from design, architecture and development perspectives. That is what I love doing.

 

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

I am a football fan and support Liverpool, so that is what I follow when I am not working!

 

What tips would you have on working remotely during the current Covid-19 situation?

It had been different at the start, but I guess we have also learned how to manage it. I think as long as we can create a work-life balance at home so we don’t end up sitting at home-office working longer hours, working remotely is a good thing. I found working remotely great because I do less travelling and spending more time with my family!

 

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. We have 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?

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Pippa Cox, Project Manager – Meet the Galacticos

by with No Comment Team Galacticos

Continuing in our series in which you get to meet and learn more about the Cloud Galacticos team, say ‘hello’ to Pippa, one of our project managers at our growing Salesforce consultancy. I caught up with Pippa via email to ask her a few questions.

 

Pippa Cox, Project Manager

Hi Pippa, thanks for finding a few minutes to help people learn a bit more about you. Can you give us a bit of background about yourself and your work history?

I studied Fine art at degree level which is quite a leap to my day job as a Salesforce project manager. I started working in the IT industry about 19 years ago and have always been involved in the consultancy service side of business. My roles have incorporated the full lifecycle from sales, delivery to finance. While my career has involved vendor relationship management within managed services and progressed from Project office manager to managing external projects.

 

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

I joined Cloud Galacticos in November 2020, but first met Phil in March of that year prior to everything going into lockdown. After learning more about Cloud Galacticos and its close-knit team, I was excited to become a part of it. There’s real talent within the team and they have a respectful way of working together. Considering I joined in lockdown and not met most of the team in person they have made me feel extremely welcome.

 

Tell us about your Project Management role at Cloud Galacticos, and what do you enjoy about it?

I like the interaction and the diversity of working with so many different organisations. Mainly I see the Project Manager function as someone to help, be that for the client or within the Cloud Galacticos team. The satisfaction I get is in establishing a good working relationship in order to help and ultimately complete a smooth and successful project.

 

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

My fine art background has stuck with me. Lockdown has actually given me the time to get creative a bit more again. My most recent hobby is in making lampshades – I have no more lamps needing shades in my house, so I think the paintbrushes need to come back out! Like most people I miss travelling. I’m excited for the time I can start exploring the world again with my family.

 

What tips would you have on working remotely during the current Covid-19 situation?

If you are on a break from work, then make it count and do something you enjoy. Get outside as much as possible and try to appreciate the small things.

 

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. We have 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?

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We are Cloud Galacticos, a Leading UK Salesforce Consultancy

by with No Comment Team Galacticos

“Hello, we are Cloud Galacticos, a leading UK Salesforce Consultancy. We have been in business for over 15 years, making us one of the longest established Salesforce consultancies in the UK.

 

Phil Walton, CEO

Led by CEO Phil Walton, our Salesforce consultancy is an all-star team of user and developer group leaders, bloggers, MVPs, and all round Salesforce nerds. The Cloud Galacticos team are based all over the UK. Our team is located in cities including Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, and London.

 

Salesforce Consultancy Partner

We are proud to be officially recognised as a Salesforce Consulting Partner. We offer a wide range of services from clicks to code, administration to architecture, data imports to integrations, and much more.

 

Salesforce Industry Experience

At Cloud Galacticos we work with organisations in all industries and verticals, including the non-profit sector. From start up universities, to multinational chemical suppliers, hair straighteners to hair replacement clinics, our team have experience in helping businesses using the Salesforce platform succeed.

 

Salesforce Experts

At Cloud Galacticos, we live and breathe Salesforce. Our experienced team are here to help, whatever stage of your Salesforce journey you are at. We will provide you with honest and informed guidance on the best way to help your company grow.

 

Contact Us

Contact us to find out more about how we can help you succeed with Salesforce”

 

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Learning and Mastering Salesforce Apex

by with No Comment Team Galacticos

Last year our COO Paul wrote and published two books on the Salesforce Apex programming language – “Learning Salesforce Development with Apex” and “Mastering Apex Programming“. Both have received great reviews on Amazon and we asked Paul to give us a bit of background as to why he wrote the books, who might be interested in reading them, and how to best learn and master the Apex language.

 

Where the idea came from

Over the 12 years I have been working with Salesforce, I have worn a number of hats. I have been a product manager, a developer, an architect, and a trainer to name but a few. I have been lucky enough to get to help a number of people start off working on the platform. A couple of years ago I took this to the next level and became a Salesforce Certified Instructor. I have noticed there are a number of key areas which many people find tough when working with Apex. I have found this both in helping people get up to speed on the platform, and as a senior team member on projects mentoring and guiding others.

Learning any programming language is difficult, but I think Apex is uniquely tough sometimes. For starters, it is not typically taught at university. You have a few hurdles to getting setup such as getting a developer environment and knowing how to navigate Salesforce. There is often a lack of abstract learning and reference material. We are blessed with many learning resources in the Salesforce ecosystem. There are official options like Trailhead and the Trailhead Academy classes and additional material from community members including blogs and courses. I personally find I learn best from a book. I like the ideas and concepts explained to me with an example. But I also want it in a way I can come back to and use in the abstract later.

 

Learning Salesforce Apex

I agreed to write my first book, “Learning Salesforce Development with Apex” to help try and plug this gap for those new to Salesforce Apex. For admins and junior developers there can be a plethora of terms and concepts that are difficult to grasp. It can also be difficult to learn a programming language. Many of the pieces need you to know other pieces first. Many learners struggle as too many concepts are taught at once. This makes it difficult to understand the topic at hand.

Learning Salesforce Development With Apex Book Cover

In writing this book, I tried to make it simple and easy for someone to go through, chapter by chapter, and focus on one topic at a time. I cover a lot of the concepts in the abstract first, irrespective of the programming language. Whether it is Salesforce Apex or some other language, many of the core concepts are the same. So understanding them in general will make it much easier to apply them when needed. I also tried to make it easy to both jump to a section in the book, so it can be used as a reference. If you are a new developer or Salesforce Admin trying to learn Apex, hopefully it will help your understanding.

 

Junior to Advanced Developer – Mastering Salesforce Apex

As I was writing the first book it became clear that there were many areas I wanted to cover or cover in more detail, but were not really right for a beginners book. I therefore began noting down a list of areas that would help someone who had been working with Salesforce Apex for a few years really begin to master the language. At this point I want to thank Mike Gill, one of our awesome architects. Not only did Mike help sense check the ideas but was a brilliant technical reviewer throughout.

Mastering Apex Programming

The focus of “Mastering Apex Programming” is therefore on understanding some of the more complex areas of Salesforce Apex. I was fortunate when I started that it was easy to be on the bleeding edge of Apex. This was because the platform was a lot smaller and everything was bleeding edge. In my time working with Salesforce and Apex, a number of huge innovations have occurred to the language. Batch Apex, Platform Events, updates to the testing framework, Queueable Apex and Apex REST to name a few. These options all help you to deliver more robust and scalable applications, but are not used by every developer. They can be very min-boggling when you first start working with them.

The book falls into 3 sections. Firstly it discusses common mistakes and best practices. I felt this was an important first section to help ensure that the common silly mistakes we all make are identified and dealt with. The second section focusses on the various asynchronous Apex options and how and when to use them. The third and final section focusses on performance. This has long been an area of interest for me and I recently spoke on this at London’s Calling.

 

The Trilogy?

A few people have asked if I have a third book in mind to complete a trilogy. Currently this is a no, but never say never. Being locked indoors for a year due to the pandemic allowed me to focus on getting these books written, something that I am sure would have been harder in a normal year. I would also encourage anybody who is interested in writing a book to do it. There can never be too much material on a subject in my opinion. I categorically do not see my books replacing any of the amazing existing works out there. Rather it is a different set of eyes and experiences on the subject.

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Phil Walton, CEO – Meet the Galacticos

by with No Comment Team Galacticos

In our Meet the Galacticos series so far this year, we’ve met project managers, COOs, Senior Salesforce Consultants, and Developers. And as 2020 draws to a close, we meet the man behind the magic at Cloud Galacticos, our CEO, Phil Walton. I caught up with Phil via email to find out more about him and his experiences.

 

Phil Walton, CEO

Hi Phil, thanks for finding a few minutes in your busy schedule to help people learn a bit more about you. Can you give us a bit of background about yourself and your history with Salesforce?

I started using Salesforce back in 2004. It was simple back then. There were help files and a 250 page ‘Salesforce for Dummies’ book which covered EVERYTHING! So I see myself as rather fortunate, that I got to experience Salesforce early, and learn in steps as Salesforce grew. 

After attending Cloudforce events and User Group events in London, I kept asking why there weren’t similar events happening elsewhere in the UK. One day someone called my bluff and said I should set one up in my home city of Manchester, so I did. I also spent a lot of time on the Answers forum, working with Appexchange, writing my Salesforce blog, and because of this was first awarded as Salesforce MVP in Christmas 2013. I am now in the MVP Hall of Fame as ‘MVP for life’.

 

Cloud Galacticos at Salesforce World Tour London 2019

What made you decide to set up Cloud Galacticos?

I had been a freelance Salesforce Consultant since 2005, so the company has been going since then. But with a few rebrands and updates, we re-launched as Cloud Galacticos in 2017. I wanted a brand that reflected the high skillset of the team. The term ‘Galacticos’ can be used as superstar, or in the football/rugby world as an exceptionally skilled and celebrated player. A bit over the top, but it made a point. 

It was also a great chance to work together with like-minded people. When you have a small team like this, you can work a lot faster, and smoother, and in a friendly and respectful environment.

 

You’ve worked on a lot of Salesforce projects through the years, can you tell us about some of your favourite or memorable ones?

I have lost count of the hundreds of Orgs I have looked at and worked upon, the number of Clients, Users, and industries. There’s been so many great people and experiences. But I feel you only learn from the difficult situations – the easy wins are a bonus, but don’t help you to grow. I look back at some global rollouts where a year of work all hinged on a go-live in an evening/weekend. Where the deadline was tight but we all piled in to make it happen. Or where a mis-communication could nearly have ruined a project and a working relationship. These things happen in business! But it is how you react to a potential issue that marks you out. And having an experienced team that has battled through the tough times, makes us ready and prepared for whatever lies ahead.

 

Phil at Punta Dreamin

Looks like you’ve done a lot of travelling and have been to a few Salesforce events around the world, can you tell us some of your highlights?

Yes, I have been very lucky to speak at Salesforce events on five continents in the last few years. Some of the team went to India Dreamin in 2018 and 2019. It was a fantastic experience to travel with friends and colleagues, meet people in person that we had ‘e-met’ on social media and Trailblazer Communities, and spend time with some of our extended team. I travelled to Uruguay and Argentina for Punta Dreamin in 2018, my first trip to South America. Everyone was so welcoming, and the steaks and red wine were amazing.

Closer to home, I am looking forward to the chance in 2021 to get back to in-person meetings with the local Salesforce Communities. You can’t beat them!

 

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

Normally I enjoy running. When the first lockdown happened, it didn’t feel enjoyable anymore, so I tried weight training. I am not sure if it will last, but I have already had to buy new t-shirts to fit! 

I enjoy spending time with my family (my wife and two young sons). There is always something going on. Last month on a bike ride we ‘discovered’ the remains of a 5th century Saxon defensive fortification.

 

Cloud Galacticos Christmas Zoom 2020

What tips would you have in working with clients remotely, or working remotely in general?

The ‘new norm’ has been just ‘norm’ to me and most of Cloud Galacticos for the past 10 years. I think the key is communication. You don’t get those visual signs that you get from being sat next to someone in an office – verbalise them. If you need something, be prepared to ask. When you have done something amazing, be prepared to tell people. If you are unavailable, feel free to show a notification. Reinvent the water-cooler/coffee break moments. 

While I believe 90% remote is great, 100% is not so great. We all need that in-person catch up, with clients, colleagues, friends, and family. For those hospitality businesses that can survive Covid, I think they will be very busy when the coast is clear and we can all meet in person. See you at the party! 

 

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. We have 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?

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Cloud Galacticos 2020 Highlights

by with No Comment Team Galacticos

There’s no denying that 2020 has been a strange and difficult year for many people. So as this year comes to a close, the team at Cloud Galacticos tell us their highlights, and what they’ve been grateful for this year. Why not join in the conversation on Twitter using #SalesforceGratitude?

 

Val Southern, Senior Salesforce Consultant

“My first work related highlight would be passing both the Salesforce Platform Developer I (PDI), and the Sharing and Visibility Designer certifications on the first attempt. It felt particularly good to have studied successfully to a structured plan. I did not leave school with great results, so it probably was something of a ‘see if I can do it for myself’ situation. It was a great confidence booster!

Finishing the Cloud Nine implementation was another highlight this year. I had to overcome some significant challenges and this project was a learning process for me. Not my first implementation by far but it was different from any other. I really enjoyed working with the Cloud Nine team and took away a lot of satisfaction from helping them. I also enjoyed mentoring Katie in the first few weeks of working at Cloud Nine.

On a personal note, I’m grateful for witnessing my partner’s success in her new writing career. For most of 2020, Jen has been going through the (surprisingly complex) process of getting her new book series ready to be published. I’ve been lucky enough to have done some beta-reading, and loved brainstorming funny ideas for story ideas and illustrations. I could not be prouder!”

 

SalesforceGratitude Phil Walton

Phil’s #SalesforceGratitude

Phil Walton, CEO

“I think my highlight of 2020 is seeing how adaptable we all are. It is easy to get used to the status quo (not the band!). Big changes or events can really shake things up and enforce change. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade!

Also, it wasn’t a choice to stay in the house for months on end, but I’ve been grateful for the chance to spend more time with my family. In the last couple of years I have spoken at Salesforce events on five continents. This year I am not sure I have gone 5 miles away from my house.

I have also enjoyed reading books. I got out of the habit, but this year have read a mix of fiction (including some 1970’s science fiction that I found in a skip!?), and non-fiction (including Paul’s book, Ines’ book, The Barcelona Way, Range, Factfulness).”

 

Emma with one of her paintings

Emma with one of her paintings

Emma Frost, Project Manager

“I’m grateful for the fact that we now have a second person, Pippa, to work on project management. It has been great to share the workload with her. Also having someone else to bounce ideas off and discuss what we can do to improve our project management offering.

This year I managed to launch a new website for my landscape painting. With opportunities for art fairs and exhibitions completely at a stand still, I knew it was time to sort out my online offering in order to continue selling work and reach new audiences. It was a lot of work and I’m very proud of the final result.

Finally, I’ve managed to give out over 100 bikes through my charity, Bikes in Need. During lockdown I have given pool bikes to be used by asylum seekers staying in a hotel on the outskirts of York. This took me over the magic 100 which has been a personal goal since I started.”

 

Rhi McCorkindale, Lead Developer

“My work-related highlights for 2020 would be getting the Salesforce Certified Service Cloud (SP20), and Salesforce Certified Nonprofit Cloud Consultant (SP20) Certification. These were areas that I have done a lot of work in but so far hadn’t taken any certifications for, so it is nice to be able to back up my experience with the relevant certifications. I hope to make some inroads into the Integration Architecture Designer Certification too this year as part of the journey towards becoming a Certified Systems Architect.

Outside work, it would be moving house. We were lucky enough to move just before the first lockdown happened. The new house has much more space for myself and my partner. We both work from home full time, along with my partner’s children who also spent half the time in lockdown here. With the extra time on our hands, we were able to do a lot of work renovating the house and garden. Looking forward to being able to have visitors in 2021!”

 

Learning Salesforce Development with Apex by Paul Battisson

Paul’s first book, ‘Learning Salesforce Development with Apex’

Paul Battisson, COO

“I think my main highlight for 2020 has been getting my first two books published!

I’ve always had an itch to write a book, but this year thanks to lots of time indoors and a lack of travel options I managed to get not one but two books on Apex programming written. It has been great to have the physical copies of the books in my hand and to finally share some of the practices and tips I have learned over the past 12 odd years with the rest of the Salesforce Ohana.”

 

Nkosi Ncube, Developer

“Amazingly, I managed to run a total of 200 miles during the first lockdown with my wife. We’ve been married 18 years and never thought this day would come. And a work highlight would be having two go-lives on projects!”

 

Sales Cloud Consultant Certification Luke Menzfeld

Luke’s Sales Cloud Consultant Certification

Luke Menzfeld, Salesforce Consultant

“ It has been a turbulent year for all with a very real requirement to adapt to day-to-day life in many different ways. My ‘highlights’ would be surviving and thriving in lockdown, changing jobs/starting at Cloud Galactico, hosting a number of events for the Newcastle User Group, mastering domestic project management (a.k.a home improvements), lawn management and gaining three Salesforce certifications.”

 

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. We have 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?

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Luke Menzfeld, Salesforce Consultant – Meet the Galacticos

by with No Comment Team Galacticos

Continuing in our series in which you get to meet and learn more about the Cloud Galacticos team, say ‘hello’ to Luke Menzfeld, one of our newest team members, and a Salesforce Consultant. I caught up with Luke via email to find out more about him and his experiences.

 

Luke Menzfeld, Salesforce Consultant

Hi Luke, thanks for finding a few minutes to help people learn a bit more about you. Can you give us a bit of background about yourself and your history with Salesforce?

I’m a self-certified super-fan of the Salesforce platform with a keen interest in technology, business and digital innovation. I was born and raised in the East Midlands before moving to the North East to attend university many years ago. My working career prior to joining Cloud Galacticos has taken me worldwide and allowed me to work in the USA, Paris and Norway in the private sector of both the automotive and oil & gas industries. 

I was first introduced to Salesforce in 2007. I worked briefly as an end user in the USA before working full time with the platform in 2017. I’m also a co-lead of the Newcastle Community Group. I’m keen to spread awareness, encouragement and learning potential to my local community and beyond!

 

Salesforce TrailheaDX Global Gathering August 2020

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

I first met Phil as part of a shared North England Community Group Event that we were planning for TrailheaDX. Over subsequent meetings I also got to know Paul, and was impressed with the work and engagement coming from the Cloud Galacticos pair/team. Those initial meets sparked a conversation and it went from there.

 

What will your role be at the company, and what are you looking forward to most?

I’m joining Cloud Galacticos as a Salesforce Consultant.  I will be engaging with clients and delivering projects to make the best of their Salesforce system solutions. I’m most looking forward to the variety of projects that consultancy offers and working with organisations who are looking to create & deliver value with Salesforce.

 

Luke playing rugby for Novocastrians RFC

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

I’m a huge fan of Rugby Union and actively play for my local side Novocastrians RFC in Newcastle. This might be a career limiting statement at Cloud Galacticos but I’d argue there’s no better team sport . . ha! I also like to travel, and keep active outdoors.

 

What tips would you have on working remotely during the current Covid-19 situation?

Stay connected to your colleagues, be focused on what you need to achieve and dedicate your energy to one key task at a time. Listen to your body/mind and if you need some time out, get out for some fresh air or take an exercise break.

 

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. We have 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?