Application Lifecycle Management is a system of people, tools, and processes for building and deploying Salesforce apps. Salesforce claims it delivers a 43% efficiency gain and 42% happier developers, using tools like DevOps Center, sandboxes, and Code Builder across five stages: Plan, Build, Test, Release, and Observe.
All you admins and developers in the crowd, this one goes out to y'. All. But the process is important to everyone, because today we're diving into Salesforce Application Lifecycle Management, or alm. Now, we're not talking about a new gadget, product, or feature. ALM is a process that lets you build and deploy business applications fast. Now, here's the official definition. Application Lifecycle Management is a system of people, tools, and processes that supervise a software application from start to finish. And everything you'll learn about in the next few minutes is built on the Salesforce platform, which means you can take advantage of all its features, including AI and automation. Now, let's say you need to change up your apps, send a new one out into the world, make the process of building one foolproof. Well, that's exactly what ALM is for. But before we go into all the juicy ALM details, we needed to find something that you'll hear a lot about in this episode. DevOps. Now, DevOps is a bridge between your development and operations team. It basically helps you stay efficient and keeps everyone on the same page as you build and test new apps and features. Sound good, right? But what is it really? Well, DevOps is a combo of tools and practices, kind of like a blueprint to help you get things done faster and easier. Think of it as a methodology. Now, strong DevOps practice practices will help you avoid those awkward moments when teams are stepping on each other's toes. Why? Because there's one central location for managing all the software changes. Now, at Salesforce, we like to think of DevOps and ALM as a happy couple. Now, when you invest in this relationship, it ultimately leads to better quality apps, reduced risk, and increased visibility and ROI for your Salesforce projects. We're going to talk about more of those in a minute, but let's just appreciate the couple goal status. Like, am I right? Now, before the confetti and gold starts coming out, hey, let's start with a stat that's maybe a bit of a downer. And don't worry, we'll bring the good vibes back up in a second. So 91% of IT leaders say their current processes slow down productivity and innovation. Womp, womp. Here's the good news. By following Salesforce's ALM process, you're looking at little to no IT downtime, and you'll likely be able to find any issues before they affect your customers. A structured ALM process will also help your team work together and allow you to build, test, and deploy your applications quickly and Safely. And get this, we've seen efficiency increase by 43% using Salesforce's ALM process. And developers are happier. 42% happier in fact. So, you know, let's keep that going. And the best part, DevOps and ALM best practices are all built into the Salesforce platform. Let's say that you want to build or extend your existing Salesforce customer360, but you don't know where to start. Well, that's where Alm and DevOps come in. With our suite of Salesforce tools, you can easily get from idea to deployment quickly. And These products include DevOps center, sandboxes, code builder, and AI assisted tools. Okay, okay, right? Sounds like a lot. But hey, don't be intimidated. This might seem like an overwhelming list at first, but I'm going to walk you through it. I'm going to hold your hand, and soon enough you'll be a DevOps and ALM expert. So let's check out this whole ALM thing in action. There's going to be five stages when it comes to building and managing changes to your Customer360 apps. Plan, build, test, release, and observe. So let's start with Plan. Every application starts with an idea. So when you're designing an app, you'll need to plan out how you'll break down your project into smaller work. With tools like DevOps Center, IT teams can break down a complex software project into work items and assign them to the right team members all in one place. Think of DevOps center as the home base for all the work to be done in the ALM process. Now that we've got our plan, it's time to build in a magical land called a sandbox. Okay, it's not actually magic, but it is a place where mistakes are welcome. So first you're going to take your live environment and make a copy of it. And there you go. That copy is your sandbox. All the data you need to develop and make mistakes is easily accessible here. So code your heart out and play around. And the nice thing about Salesforce's products is that all programmers are welcome and can code in their tools of choice. While low code programmers might prefer point and click tools like Flow or App Builder, I have not forgotten about you pro code smarties out there. And with Salesforce's ALM tools like Code Builder, you can develop straight from your web browser. And let's not forget AI. You know that thing that everyone is talking about lately? Salesforce's AI features can actually help you reduce typos, catch common mistakes. Scan the code, make sure it follows best practices, and point out any issues before deployment. Okay. Now, when you're finished building, you can test everything out. Remember that magical land where you can test changes? That's right, your sandbox. Find an issue in your code. No problemo. Make the necessary changes before the app is released to your customers. I mean, we don't want any unhappy customers right now. Once everything looks good, you can move on to the release and observe stage, deploy the application, and just watch how things are going. You can also use data visualization tools like Tableau to track progress through the initial stages after launch and get key insights and learnings. Okay, Y' all still with me? Yeah. All right, good. Good to go. Because we just walked through the ALM process, particularly the Salesforce ALM process, from planning stage to deployment. Amazing, right? But wait, where's my confetti? Thank you. Now you want to learn more about how you can improve your IT experience with Salesforce and alm? Well, we've got you covered. To dive even deeper. For all of you who are 10 times smarter than me, let's be honest. Be sure to hit the link on your screen now, and we'll also link resources for you in the description. Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time.
