Salesforce Managed Packages and the AppExchange
Thinking about building an enterprise application and not sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve heard about the Salesforce AppExchange, but still don’t understand the benefits of developing, packaging, and distributing business applications with Salesforce.
Whether or not you’ve heard of managed packages before, you’re actually already using them. Maybe you’ve heard of Sales Cloud, Service Cloud or Financial Services Cloud: These are examples of managed packages Salesforce has created, packaged, and distributed amongst their customers. As a developer or aspiring tech entrepreneur, you can take advantage of the underlying technology, vast customer base, marketing and online marketplace that Salesforce offers for your next application.
I worked for Salesforce for over 3 years and during that time I saw the inception and growth of countless businesses who chose to develop apps with Salesforce and distribute it via the AppExchange. My goal is to share with you my knowledge, having intimate and direct experience with businesses like yours, the Salesforce Platform, and the AppExchange.
To be clear: AppExchange apps are a set of configurations that are packaged and distributed amongst multiple Salesforce orgs, and not to be confused with Lightning apps, which exist within a single org. In this article I’m specifically referring to managed packages and exploring the benefits of both Salesforce as the underlying platform for your business application and the AppExchange for marketing and distribution.
Built on the #1 Sales and Service Platform
Developing your app with Salesforce means just that — developing with the #1 Sales and Service Platform. Whether it’s a native app or you’re integrating with an external system, your shared customers will appreciate how seamless the experience is.
Open API
For developers looking to extend functionality off-platform, Salesforce boasts an Open API system so you can connect with everything, from AWS to your homegrown database.
Mobile first
Salesforce understands that rarely do businesses operate within 4 walls — whether that’s in office or in your home office. Because of this, Salesforce has developed a Mobile First approach: There’s no need to purchase additional licenses for mobile access and the Salesforce app (and all your packaged configurations) are compatible with both Android and iOS devices. For developers, the mobile SDK can be configured to transition seamlessly from online to offline.
Salesforce also announced a partnership with Apple in 2019 and released an iOS SDK optimized for Swift.
AppExchange
One of the most obvious advantages of creating Salesforce managed packages is access to the AppExchange, which not only opens the door to Salesforce customers searching for your solution, but also offers free marketing and advertising for your app to help extend your reach.
Collaborative
Salesforce has an extensive partner program to support their AppExchange partners. Business Coaches, Partner Account Managers, Technical Evangelists, Platform Experts and Office Hours are all available for AppExchange partners*. You also gain access to the Partner Community, where you can post and answer questions, knowledge share, and collaborate with other Salesforce partners.
Ease of Development
Salesforce boasts low code or no code development if you choose, opening the door for non-developers to develop powerful enterprise applications with Salesforce.
Training
No Salesforce experience and need to get started? Salesforce offers free training material with Trailhead for you to learn how to develop apps and customize Salesforce.
Free to get started
It’s free to sign up for a developer edition org and get going. What do you have to lose?
Contact me for more information on how to get started at lela@koopalconsulting.co
Resources
https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/home
*Access to each of these resources are dependent on your partnership tier.
