Welcome to the world of Salesforce.com!!
Are you a student contemplating among multiple platforms to start your career on?
Time and again I have been getting request from my peers and social connections asking me how to start learning Salesforce.com.
Below is an attempt to answer that first basic question i.e. How can I learn Salesforce? and help you with information which will get you self started.
Lets review few definitions before we begin:
·
What is SALESFORCE?
o
SALESFORCE
is an online web based CRM application
that runs in the cloud allowing users to manage and perform nearly every detail
of your job. Located in San Francisco California, Salesforce was founded by
Mark Benioff and Parker Harris in 1999. It started out as a business software
company distributing its products on a subscription basis now it has evolved
into the number one CRM solution in the world.
·
What is CRM?
o
CRM
is short for customer relationship management. CRM started out as a strategy
for managing the companies interactions with clients and future sales
prospects, but has expanded over the last few years to become a kind of
one-stop shop for all of the company's business processes as well. The most
widely recognised CRM solution on the market today Salesforce.com which runs on
Cloud.
·
What is CLOUD?
o
Cloud
is basically a metaphor for Internet. If an application runs on the cloud it
means the user can access it anywhere through an internet connected computer or
a mobile device. All information is stored on groups of online servers located
in various parts of the world. The advent of cloud computing has initiated the
no software movement where in companies are moving away from traditional
software in favour of online applications and websites.
·
What does NO SOFTWARE
mean?
o
In
a typical computing environment software programs (such as Dot net or java
installed onto your computers) are used to accomplish certain tasks but in a no
software environment web-based applications are used to accomplish those tasks.
Some examples you may already be familiar with are Gmail and Salesforce.
·
What if the CLOUD goes down?
o
Theoretically,
the cloud could go down but it's not likely. The reason the cloud is so secure
is because it is located on multiple servers in multiple locations around the
world and majority of the servers would have to go down all at one time in
order for the cloud to stop working. The other scenarios for the cloud being
down is if your company's Internet went down, in which case you wouldn't be
able to access the cloud but the cloud itself would still be up and working.
But don't be too alarmed at not being able to access the cloud, studies show
that Cloud is far more reliable than any traditional server software solution.
courtesy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0RsU8oPoFw
So now that we have had
defined the basic jargons and what they mean, lets move on to how can one start
learning Salesforce.
One can divide the learning into two parts:
- Configuration: Comprises of all click based, declarative solutions
(No coding involved, you need not be a computer science engineer)
- Customization: Comprises of programmatic solutions (Involves
coding – if you are one with good understanding of OOPS concepts and JAVA then
it would be pretty easy to learn APEX)
Steps to self start the learning:
- Goto www.developer.force.com and click on the SIGNUP (on top right corner) and fill in the signup form to get an access to a Salesforce FREE developer edition with two licenses. Let me repeat, this is FREE FREE FREE for lifetime.
- Browse the LIBRARY tab on www.developer.force.com and goto Workbook Tutorials where in you would find multiple workbooks covering various topics. As a starter lets pick up the Force.com Workbook which consists of series of short step by step tutorials that show you how to use the application and build your own on-demand applications.
- Goto http://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTHome and access the Quick Starts videos (here is a direct link : http://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTPopularTopicsDetail ) to access the same and complete all the videos.
- Join community https://success.salesforce.com/ (for admins and consultants) & https://developer.salesforce.com/forums (for developers) and connect with 1000’s of experts out there who are available 24/7 to help you clarify your queries. (remember you are not the first one learning and there have been people who might have had asked similar questions – hence, chances are high that you would find such answers or discussion already available to your aid) Note: Many prefer watching the videos first and then starting hands-on, where as I prefer the other way around. As watching something being explained which you already have had tried yourself helps in understanding better and retaining it for long. So I leave it to you to swap between 2 or 3.
- Now that you have fair understanding of Salesforce.com, the next step would be to plan for certifications. Coz that is how you become indispensable. Goto http://certification.salesforce.com/ and click on the Credentials tab to access the details about the certification. As a starter you should aim for ADMIN 201 & Dev 401. Access the Podcasts for tutorial videos. Also below are two awesome blogs from experts detailing on how to plan for the certifications:
Note: Salesforce.com is evolving rapidly and some links or
topics on the preparation blogs listed above might have been obsolete or merged
with new ones. There are tonnes of other websites, flashcards, blogs listing
out the same but the above blogs are something which helped me when I was
planning for my certifications.
6. Share & Care: Salesforce.com will not be what it is today
without its million member community. To fortify your learning and to learn
more I would request you to visit the forums regularly and help others by
providing answers and ideas.
Wishing you loads of success in building a Career on SALESFORCE.com
You can find me on community Anshul Jain and check my credentials on Certifications.
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