We’ve looked back over the previous year at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. We’ve made a resolution to become more Agile. So what next?
How about some predictions for 2018? And if they turn out to be complete fiction, I would say: stranger things have happened..!
“Forward Looking Statement” …Before we get this started, we must remind you not to make purchasing (or any) decisions based on our crazy predictions or anything else posted here!
Trailhead badges, certifications & lifelong learning
Let’s start here, since we definitely predict that 2018 will bring us more Trailhead badges. I know that’s a given and one which we could all predict! So let’s make it more interesting… What’s the total badge count these days? It is at least 366 according to Jen’s profile – and we would expected that to be pretty accurate. So let’s give this one some more substance – exactly how many badges are we going to see by the end of 2018?
Anyone fancy giving it a shot? Here is what the team at Salesforce Weekly think:
- Chris 469 (Low)
- Ines 485
- Mike 500 (High)
Getting close to 500 badges mark would be incredible for Salesforce and will keep fueling the army of self-motivated trailblazers for years to come. So here’s another New Year’s Resolution for you – if you have not started with Trailhead at all, then make 2018 the year you start your journey towards become a lifelong learner with Salesforce!
Let’s stay with Trailhead for a moment. After what was (to me) obviously the no-brainer of integrating Trailhead superbadges with the Platform Developer II certification, it’s clear that the format is a success and works. I don’t like to bet, but I would expect that we see other certs getting the superbadge treatment in 2018. I would perhaps like to see superbadges added to the admin certs; maybe a superbadge or two could enhance the Advanced Admin cert, making it more interesting and fun.
Wait, there is more on certs! Salesforce are starting to see dividends in their industry (vertical cloud) offerings as functionality expands and matures, so we reckon industry based certs are coming – at a guess, Financial Services and/or Health Cloud Consultant certs should make at least a beta appearance in 2018.
Admins, automation & no Flash!
What else are we predicting? Well, more Admins of course, if the Salesforce economy is to continue to grow and not stall, many more Admins are needed to join – so we predict more people than ever before will join the ecosystem, with the obvious first step being the Admin one.
So that’s a people predication, what about a technology one..?
Flash is dead; well almost, as we get ready to say goodbye to Flash when Adobe ceases support in 2020. So how does this relate to Salesforce? Well the extremely well-documented Flash love-hate relationship we have all experience of is with Visual Flow (or Lightning Flow). The tool which we have to use to build these flows resides in Flash – and the transition to a non-Flash based designer has been the topic of many discussions for as long as I can remember and maybe that’s the issue. We have had some juicy carrots dangled in front of us so many times that the roadmap and the community expectations is so high that getting something out the door becomes increasingly harder. I see this a lot in my day job where sprints continue to expand until they burst with a bang! So what do we predict? Well, we predict we will see something (A/B) this year, but perhaps not the final direction. They have to that test the waters with something soon, as time is running out. If they don’t, they may not have time to pivot (remember the lightning navigator bar anyone..?).
Developers, DX & APIs
Use of Scratch Orgs will start to hit the level of traditional Sandboxes. Think about it – once you have the ability to shape Scratch Orgs to match production, what else is missing? Perhaps only data really!
Most Admins don’t like the command-line, but don’t be put off by the command-line nature of DX as tools like Illuminated Cloud, Gearsets and Blue Canvas plug this void very well, providing Admins with easy ways to manage Scratch orgs and their associated metadata.
Ok we now have a nice segue into what underpins the Scratch Org technology, i.e. Salesforce DX. Here is the thing which still bothers me; we now have the Metadata API, the Tooling API, Apex for the Metadata API, plus second generation-packaging – anyone else confused as to where to start? I know I am! There is too much going on and it all needs rationalising and folding in under the DX umbrella – I can’t be alone in thinking this? I like to predict/hope that Salesforce have observed this and maybe there is a strategy to help in the pipeline for this year. Could something be announced as early as TrailheaDX in March? Not long to wait!
Now for the insane and ridiculous
All this started way back when, with CRM & the Sales Cloud. We then got the Service Cloud, and Marketing Cloud wasn’t far behind, then Analytics Cloud and so on… We also have many vertical clouds now such as Financial Services and Health Cloud, so what’s next?
What is the final frontier in terms of Clouds for Salesforce, and when will we see them make a move? The path to 20 Billion has to involve Finance and ERP, I can’t see it any other way myself. Can Salesforce really expect to creep into the backyards of SAP and Oracle without its own Finance Cloud?
So was that the insane or the ridiculous? You tell me!
Let’s leave you with this then – how about Benioff for governor of California within the next 10 years? I don’t fancy his chances against Oprah for the Oval Office now – do you?
But, as they say, stranger things have happened!
Happy New Year, all!