What to Look for in a Salesforce DevOps Tool

So many teams are looking for a better way to equip them to manage Salesforce Deployments. Finding a tool that fits your team best can feel overwhelming.

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When it comes to identifying what might be a great fit for your organization, we put together a list of what a great tool should be able to do for your team and compared a few of the most popular ones.

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Ready? Let's go! 🚀

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1. Why Salesforce Teams Need a DevOps Tool

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Having a great DevOps tool can not only help your team achieve smoother deployments but can also:

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• Reduce manual errors and long, tedious processes

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• Automatically recover and track changes with the help of version control

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• Leverage automation to reduce the risk of failed deployments and accidental overwrites

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• Enable access to CI/CD to accelerate deployments and improve collaboration with your admins and developers.

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If you're working with a large team and haven't yet implemented a DevOps tool, there's probably some tension between team members and a lot of duplicative work in achieving new deployments.

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The right DevOps tool can help maximize your team's efficiency and bring your team together around a common goal!

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2. Key Features to Look for in a Salesforce DevOps Tool

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While there are many ways to get your team on the same page, the best DevOps tools should have these six capabilities to maximize efficiency and data compliance.

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A. Git-Based Version Control

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Git is the gold standard in the development industry for a reason. Unsurprisingly, it's the best way to commit all changes to a record.

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A great Salesforce DevOps tool should seamlessly integrate with Git to track changes without you even thinking about it.

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Why should it happen automatically? Well, automatic tracking and version control enable you to implement quick rollbacks in case something goes wrong. You can easily take it back to a stable version without having to do a lot of manual review of the new code while scrambling to find where it went wrong!

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Being able to easily identify changes made and roll back to stable versions if needed makes it easier than ever for smooth and simple collaboration between developers and admins. There will be no more hard feelings or stewing over who did what. Your team will be able to function like a well-oiled machine.

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B. Seamless Metadata and Source Tracking

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Speaking of a well-oiled machine, any DevOps tool worth your time can track Metadata and sources!

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No more who changed what and when, no more accidental overwrites, and even if there are multiple contributors, collaboration can be a process of togetherness!

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When it comes to tracking Metadata, it's important to ensure your changes will work everywhere, from your sandbox to production. Being able to track and manage metadata throughout environments helps ensure a smooth transition for your new features.

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C. Automated Deployments & CI/CD

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One feature we think every great Salesforce DevOps tool should have is the ability to automate deployments via CI (continuous integration) and CD (continuous deployments). Continuous integration and code deployment are important, and you can test updates in every stage in real-time.

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With one-click deployments to test new code in environments and pre-deployment tests to help catch and prevent errors, your team will be functioning at full capacity in no time.

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Automation like this can only be deployed when integrated with something like Git or a version control system to track and manage your changes accurately.

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A great DevOps tool will easily allow you to integrate and automate your development process.

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D. Rollback & Recovery Options

What good is a fancy new tool for your team if you can't use it to save the day when something goes wrong?

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The best Salesforce DevOps tools will enable you to leverage easy and quick rollback/recovery options.

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When something goes wrong—and it's inevitable that it will—a DevOps tool should allow your team to quickly (and easily!) revert to a previously stable version.

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This feature should make it easier to minimize risk and downtime during deployments. A key feature here is that your tools should maintain backups of successful deployments so you can follow through on what went wrong and how to avoid those mistakes in the future.

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E. Security & Compliance Features

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Salesforce is often used to house important customer/client data. This means that when you add upgrades to the tool, you have to take precautions to keep that data safe.

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A great DevOps tool will automatically create audit logs and leverage user access controls. These preventative measures will help you keep your data safe and secure while you build the perfect system for your organization.

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On top of that, a lot of development tools will allow you to support compliance and security for specific industries. The tool that makes the most sense for one team might not make the most sense for another based on their industry and data security requirements. Be sure to find a tool that meets the needs of your company.

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F. Integration with Other DevOps Tools

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Everyone's "perfect" tool will be different based on use cases and security requirements, but don't forget to find a tool that will integrate with your current tech stack.

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Many popular DevOps tools should integrate with other platforms, such as Salesforce DX, Apex, Selenium, Jest, JIRA, Slack, and more!

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3. Comparing the Top Salesforce DevOps Tools

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4. Why Blue Canvas is a Leading Salesforce DevOps Solution

Blue Canvas could be a great, affordable option for those looking to add a DevOps tool to their team's tech stack.

Why?

Blue Canvas is:

• Git-Based - this means seamless tracking and version control.
• Automated - hello, faster releases are available thanks to CI and CD.
• Enterprise-grade - we meet all the necessary requirements for security and compliance in most regulated industries!
• Easy to use - with one-click rollbacks, reverting to a stable environment has never been simpler.
• Quick to implement - with the simplest integration process on the market, your team will launch new features quickly!

Conclusion

With so many great options on the market, finding a Salesforce Development tool that best fits your team can be tricky, but we're hoping this helps.

Remember the key features of any great DevOps tool: version control, CI/CD automation, rollback features, and compliance.

Depending on your specific needs, Blue Canvas might be your perfect fit!

👉 Want to simplify Salesforce deployments? Try Blue Canvas today! 🚀