What Does a Salesforce Developer Do? Roles & Responsibilities
Salesforce stands as a clear industry leader in the world of CRM and is known for the innovations and advancements it offers to its customers. However, to leverage the benefit of these innovations in your business and gain the best of their potential, you would need the technical expertise of someone fluent in Salesforce knowledge.
Salesforce Developers are professionals who are proficient in creating and delivering customized Salesforce setups that cater to a business’s specific needs. But what exactly does a Salesforce Developer do? In this blog, we’ll break down their key roles, responsibilities, and the skills that make them so important. From creating user-friendly applications to solving tricky problems, understanding what these developers do will show you why having an experienced Sfdc Developer on your team can make all the difference.
What is A Salesforce Developer?
A Salesforce developer is a professional who possesses strong Salesforce knowledge and technical skills relevant to its products and services. They work with Salesforce technology and build solutions for businesses like yours using both code and no-code functionalities.
They handle and work on the overall technology stack of Salesforce, including the front-end and back-end of development. Listening to your unique business requirements, they develop Salesforce applications and solutions that solve your business challenges.
They not only customize the platform but also work with related Salesforce products, such as its versatile cloud offerings, Lightning App Builder, Heroku, and more.
These developers not only perform coding but also become your Salesforce consultants when it comes to seeking a piece of technical advice.
Salesforce Developers Skills And Expertise
Not just relevant to coding, but These developers possess an extensive range of knowledge, including technical and soft skills. Let’s explore:
Technical Skills
As discussed, SFDC developers are familiar with various developer tools, languages, and platforms. Let’s discuss them
1. Force.com
Now popularly known as the Salesforce platform, it is a cloud-based platform for developing and deploying Salesforce applications and websites. Developers use it to build applications without managing the server infrastructure. They get both code-extensive and low-code capabilities for a faster and more streamlined development process. Also, they get pre-built applications, which can be leveraged and can be deployed in no time.
2. Lightning App Builder
It is a drag-and-drop interface tool in Salesforce for creating custom pages and applications using no-code or low-code capabilities. It leverages Lightning components for quick and accelerated development.
Using this, developers can customize the whole application layout, single or multiple pages of mobile or web applications, which results in a user-friendly interface. They can modify components, allowing tailored development.
3. Apex
Apex is an object-oriented language developed by Salesforce to allow developers to code over the Salesforce platform. They learn it and write code to develop flows and transaction control statements, such as what function a specific button click performs. The flow of that particular action and more.
It is a key skill that a Salesforce developer must know.
4. Heroku
Developed by Salesforce, Heroku is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that enables developers to create, run, and deploy applications in the cloud. It is a more code-intensive platform and supports multiple programming languages, including Node.js, Java, Python, and more. This platform integrates with Salesforce CRM to offer enhanced capabilities.
But why do developers need Heroku when they have Force.com?
Heroku offers a more flexible approach towards application development as the servers can be scaled up or down as per your development requirements.
5. Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL)
SOSL is a type of language that allows you to enable text-based searches and extract relevant text across multiple Salesforce objects. This is ideal for finding records where keywords or phrases appear in specific fields. Hence, this makes data search easy and efficient, allowing quick retrieval.
6. Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL)
A query language similar to SQL that is designed to retrieve data from Salesforce objects. SOQL enables users to pull specific data from a single Salesforce object or related objects when they know which data is to be retrieved. Also, it allows you to sort the data as per the filter and count the number of records.
7. Visualforce
It is a framework that developers utilize to build custom user interfaces in Salesforce that support dynamic content. It allows developers to create pages using a tag-based markup language that is similar to HTML and is particularly useful for customizing the UI beyond the standard Salesforce options. It can extend to the capabilities of Salesforce, allowing the creation of navigation bars, multistep processes, and more.
8. Aura and Lightning Components
These are components in the Salesforce Lightning framework that provide reusable, self-contained units that can be used to build dynamic web applications.
Aura is the older framework that requires extensive understanding, while the Lightning component is the newer, more optimized version for modern development needs.
9. Salesforce Products
Salesforce offers a suite of products for customer relationship management (CRM), including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, and more, addressing different business needs. Therefore, Salesforce developers possess the skills to customize these product offerings as per your business requirements.
Soft Skills
Along with technical skills, Salesforce developers possess soft skills that are required to deal with and communicate with businesses and their teams to establish trust and long-term relationships.
1. Communication
Salesforce developers should possess strong communication skills to clearly share ideas with clients, team members, and other stakeholders. It is required as developers have to explain the technical concepts to the nontechnical business teams.
2. Problem-Solving
It is a key skill that the developers must have. Its ability to solve business problems and any issues that arise between teams to achieve results that benefit the company.
3. Continuous Learning
They must be keen to keep up with new trends and technologies. They must be up for learning new languages and experimenting with new advancements that Salesforce rolls out.
4. Adaptability
It is the ability to change approach and adapt to changing situations. Salesforce developers have to work on multiple projects that require them to shift their expertise relevant to the project needs.
5. Understanding Business Requirements
These developers can analyze and understand business needs, challenges, and objectives. They communicate clearly with the client and understand their concerns.
6. Selecting Technologies
They stay updated with what’s new and upcoming in the Salesforce ecosystem. They possess the ability to choose among the best and trendiest technologies to solve a business problem.
7. Innovation
A key skill that Sfdc developers excel at is innovating. It is the ability to learn and innovate quickly to keep up with the pace of new Salesforce features.
Salesforce Developer Roles And Responsibilities
A Salesforce developer plays a variety of roles, and their responsibilities go beyond coding or developing an application. They tend to make the solution scalable to meet the future needs of the business.
1. Listen To Your Business Requirements
Salesforce developers work closely with you and understand your business model. They start by collaborating with you and your business teams, listening to your unique business requirements and challenges, and further analyzing what solutions can be implemented to resolve them.
Further, they prioritize your needs and accordingly create a development plan to explain to you how the process would work.
2. Design, Build, And Manage The Org And Applications
Salesforce developers are responsible for developing and customizing the Org as per your specified requirements. They ensure that the platform has relevant features and functionalities and is scalable to meet your future needs. They aim to provide a solution that stands up to your expectations and feels that it is just made for your business.
Also, they develop, deploy, and maintain applications within the Salesforce platform that cater to your unique business requirements. Moreover, they also suggest which other solutions can extend your CRM capabilities and seamlessly integrate them into your platform.
3. Code Using Best Coding Practices
SFDC developers develop solutions by coding in various programming languages like Apex, Lightning Components, and VisualForce on the Force.com platform to develop business-centric solutions. They also work on web development using web languages including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Moreover, it is their primary task to follow the best practices of coding. Be it in any programming language, they develop code that is clear, consistent, readable, scalable and contains no errors. Therefore, they ensure that the code is high quality and can be effectively managed.
4. Ensure Quality
They are responsible for ensuring and maintaining the quality of the solutions they have created. By performing various testing and debugging activities such as Unit testing and more, they make sure that any error or issue in the application is resolved immediately and will not occur in the future.
5. Create Supporting Documentation
Salesforce developers create documentation of the solutions they build, including technical documentation, solution designs, and test plans. This helps fellow developers or other users understand and get familiar with what the solution does and how it works.
This documentation might also include various tactics and recovery procedures in case of code failure or error.
6. Suggest Additional Solutions And Integrations
Developers know what can work best for you! Therefore, they suggest the best possible solutions that can upscale or enhance the current capabilities of your platform.
They analyze what third-party applications or AppExchange solutions can be integrated into your CRM. Developers analyze which integration method would prove to be efficient for integration, be it using APIs or middleware tools.
With your permission, they map data objects between the systems accurately and ensure optimal security while the integration process takes place.
Further, they test the connection and ensure that the result is optimal, guaranteeing the success of the connection.
7. Set Permissions
While Salesforce developers customize your Org and build apps, they ensure that your users have the right access to the right resources. Therefore, they are responsible for allowing the right permissions to the right users and eliminating any unauthorized access that can impact your system.
8. Communicate Seamlessly With The Client
These developers possess strong communication skills through which they collaborate with the technical or non-technical teams and provide on-call support for addressing application or technical issues. They offer support, whether it involves troubleshooting or improving the existing functionality.
Moreover, they assist business users in defining their needs, offer insights into alternative approaches, and explain the potential impacts of modifications made in the platform or applications.
Types of Salesforce Developers
Salesforce has a wide ecosystem and therefore requires specialized technical expertise across varied domains. This enables developers to excel in a variety of areas, making them achieve expertise in a particular domain.
Let’s learn about the different types of Sfdc developers.
1. Salesforce Cloud Developers
As we know, Salesforce offers a variety of clouds for every industry segment. Therefore, these developers master the knowledge of a specific cloud and excel in its development.
These developers can be known as B2B Commerce Cloud experts, Service Cloud experts, Sales Cloud experts, and the list goes on
2. Salesforce App Developers
These developers focus on creating custom applications within the Salesforce platform, especially using Apex programming language, Visualforce, and Lightning Components.
3. Salesforce Integration Developers
These developers specialize in integrating Salesforce with external third-party systems. They conduct integration using APIs, middleware, and tools like MuleSoft or custom integrations using REST/SOAP APIs that connect Salesforce with other platforms, databases, and third-party services.
Additionally, they test, maintain, and guarantee a scalable connection for the future.
4. Salesforce DevOps Developers
DevOps engineers ensure efficient deployment, version control, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) of Salesforce applications. They work with different tools like Git, Jenkins, and Salesforce DX to streamline deployment and manage multiple environments.
5. Salesforce CPQ developers
CPQ developers are focused on Salesforce CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote), a tool that helps companies accurately price complex products and create shareable quotes.
These developers specialize in creating custom pricing rules, product configurations, and guided selling processes to streamline the quoting process and make it efficient, both for the business and the customer.
Salesforce Developers' Hiring Model Options
Choosing the right Salesforce developer is crucial because one person can help you win or lose the customer. To make an informed decision, it’s essential to grasp the different employment arrangement options available:
1. On an Hourly Basis
This is the best hiring option if you have tasks or projects with fluctuating workloads and you need to scale up or downscale your team based on project requirements.
Hiring on an hourly basis can be a cost-efficient option for your business. You only have to pay for the hours that the developer has worked on your project. You can hire them for short-term durations, and they can work remotely or on-site, as per your requirements.
2. On Full-Time Basis
These developers become an essential part of your team. They work for your organization regularly, typically for 40 to 48 hours per week.
If you have a long-term project that requires continuous communication and collaboration, then this could be the best hiring option for you. They dedicatedly work for your organization, adapt to its culture, and are readily accessible to address immediate issues.
Full-time employment requires offering developers the benefits of regular compensation, paid time off, healthcare, and retirement plans. Furthermore, based on the requirement, they work either at the office premises or remotely.
Conclusion
Salesforce developers bring a wealth of skills and expertise into your business that ultimately optimizes and enhances your Salesforce platform. They are aware of what works best for your business and aim to deliver solutions that help you remain competitive in the market.
Be it any Salesforce services, whether you want to build custom solutions, integrate them with other systems, or maintain and upgrade your Salesforce environment, hiring the right developer becomes a crucial step.
But, with so many hiring options available, from an hourly basis to dedicated teams, you can choose what best suits your business needs.
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You can hire Salesforce developers at an affordable cost who are ready to support your journey to a more powerful and efficient Salesforce solution. Reach out to us today to find the perfect fit for your team.
FAQ
Why Do Businesses Need Salesforce Developers?
Businesses that are starting with Salesforce or want to enhance their existing capabilities of the platform require Salesforce developers. To start with its initial implementation, customization, and further integration of apps, it is a technical process and requires extensive technical knowledge centric to Salesforce, which your business teams might lack. Therefore, you need a skilled developer who excels at performing these activities.
What Are The Main Salesforce Clouds A Developer Works On?
These developers work on several clouds, including analytics cloud, marketing cloud, experience cloud, sales cloud, commerce cloud, service cloud, and so on.
What Are The Common Challenges In Salesforce Implementation That Require A Developer's Expertise?
- Unique customization
- Data migration
- Data mapping
- Training business teams
- Ensuring security and compliance
- Setting permissions
- Ensuring maintenance and optimal performance of the platform
How Do I Assess Whether A Salesforce Developer Is A Good Fit For My Business?
- You can access the Salesforce developer over multiple factors:
- Gain insight into their past experience of working on a Salesforce project
- Look into their expertise area
- Know what certifications they hold for Salesforce and at what level
- You can test their problem-solving and communication skills
- Look how proficient are they with Salesforce platforms and programming languages