Don't Make "Dead-End" Design Decisions with your Salesforce CRM

Over my 20+ years performing Salesforce CRM implementations for small businesses, occasionally I have come across existing salesforce systems that have strayed far from best practices.

In particular, some organizations have purchased the Salesforce "Platform" licenses to try and save money on license costs. Don't get me wrong, if the usage has nothing to do with "selling" or "supporting" your customers, Platform Licenses may be a great fit and a great value.

However, in one instance, an organization who needed to track their sales process purchased Platform Licenses and then proceeded to create custom objects for Leads and Opportunities. Needless to say, they eventually found themselves needing to switch to full Sales Cloud Enterprise Licenses because they were on a dead end path architecturally.

In another instance, a client thought they had a non-sales, non-service use case so they purchased Platform Licenses. Then, they proceeded to build custom objects for Accounts instead of using the standard Account object which, again, put them on a dead-end path for future scalability. The ironic part was their use case was actually a typical Service use case and they could have taken full advantage of Service Cloud.

The full Sales and Service Cloud licenses provide the ultimate in long-term scalability because an entire suite of complimentary functionality has been build around them out of the box.

Salesforce Platform licenses are designed for users who need access to custom applications built on the Salesforce platform but are not involved with Sales/Service processes. Here are some common use cases for using Salesforce Platform licenses:

Custom App Users: If your organization has built custom applications or uses third-party applications built on the Salesforce platform, Salesforce Platform licenses are suitable for users who primarily interact with these applications. These users typically don't need access to standard Sales Cloud or Service Cloud features but require access to custom objects, custom tabs, and custom apps.

Light Users: Salesforce Platform licenses are cost-effective options for users who require limited access to Salesforce features and data. These users may only need to view or update specific records, such as customer profiles, and do not require access to sales data, case management, or advanced reporting available in Sales or Service Cloud.

Integration Users: For users who primarily interact with Salesforce data through integrations with other systems or external applications, Salesforce Platform licenses may be suitable. These users typically do not require access to the Salesforce user interface but need API access to read or write data to Salesforce objects as part of automated processes or data synchronization tasks.

Custom Development: If your organization extensively utilizes custom development, Salesforce Platform licenses offer access to features like Apex code, custom objects, Flows, and Visualforce pages. Developers, administrators, and business analysts who work on customizing and extending Salesforce functionality can use Platform licenses without needing the additional features provided by Sales or Service Cloud licenses.

Limited Feature Requirements: In cases where users have specific job roles that don't require the full suite of features provided by Sales or Service Cloud licenses, Salesforce Platform licenses can offer a more cost-effective option. For example, users who primarily focus on administrative tasks, data entry, or basic reporting may not need the advanced features of Sales or Service Cloud.

Overall, Salesforce Platform licenses are suitable for users who need access to custom applications, limited Salesforce functionality, or specialized roles within your organization.

However, don't "dead end" your system architecture. For your sales/service users and processes, do yourself a favor and choose the right license type for your business. Furthermore, if your use case is non-sales and non-service, you should still continue to use standard Salesforce Objects such as Accounts, Contacts, Tasks, and Events instead of created your entire data base from scratch.

What is your experience with this?