I was thumbing through the first edition of the Spring ’12 release notes a few days ago prepping for both the release and to see what is coming out. As usual I was taking some notes and prepping for a post on release features as I have done in the past. Then it dawned on me- “how do Admins get ready for a release? What are some best practices to help us all get on the same page?” So I turned to some of my Button-Click Admins for tips on what they do to prep for a release and wanted to put those into 5 easy steps to help you prep for the Spring ’12 or any other upcoming Salesforce release.
1. Get your hands on the Release Notes and read them!
No brainer right? So first off let’s bookmark this page- http://www.salesforce.com/customer-resources/releases/ - this is your go-to spot for Release information. Knowing where to go is part of the battle. Now that you have the site, let’s look at the notes. The first part we need to notice is the “Release Change Notes”. This part was added due to the confusion that surrounded some of the versions of the Winter ’12 release and the notes. I’m going to credit Andy Ognenoff for leading the charge and really bringing this to Salesforce’s attention and credit goes to Salesforce for responding on the next release. Speaking of Andy, I asked him what he does to prep for an upcoming release he had this to say-
“I read the release notes front to back at least 3 times, usually once right away so I can go into the pre-release org and start understanding what the notes really mean from a functionality perspective [...] like in Spring ’12 the ability to deploy sharing rules, public groups, etc. is huge. As I’m reading the notes, I will mark up a printed copy of the release notes with 3 colors of highlighter which I consider my working copy. 1 color for critical, need to regression test type features that will automatically be enabled. 1 for possibly useful features that we might be able to take advantage of in the short term. And 1 for features, usually developer related, that are good to know, but may not have a short term impact on my program. Anything not highlighted at the end is something I don’t need to bother with because it’s probably something that’s either a pilot, a paid add-on I won’t be able to use or part of the platform that we’re not doing anything with.”
2. Get a Pre-Release Org for testing or Sandbox.
The whole purpose of a pre-release org is to test features before they become available without risking your real data. But, you will need to sign up for one. No worries I have what you need- https://www.salesforce.com/form/signup/prerelease-spring12.jsp .Ok, I know what you are thinking “Well, that’s great Mike but what about Summer 12, or Winter 13? Easy peasy- just change the link after the hyphen to the release edition. So Summer 12 will be https://www.salesforce.com/form/signup/prerelease-summer12.jsp (but that’s not ready yet).
Another way to test out the release features is to do (or not do) a Sandbox refresh. This gives you a chance to try out the new features with your data (or a sample of it). Salesforce has a great post to give you more information on when or when not to refresh your Sandbox depending on your instance. For as much as I would love to go into great detail I will let Salesforce give you the details in this post- http://blogs.salesforce.com/product/2011/12/spring-12-sandbox-preview-window-instructions.html
3. Watch SuccessTV & Check your inbox
I know when a new release is coming because I will start to receive emails from Salesforce with links to sign up for a webinar about the upcoming release. These are valuable webinars to attend for both your team and yourself as you prepare for the release ahead. One webinar I attended on Jan. 12 is the “6 steps for making the most of a new release” (Link leads to recording of webinar). If you don’t get on this webinar Salesforce also does an awesome job of tweeting and posting to Facebook about new webinars.
That being said you can always tune in and watch SuccessTV for real demoes about some of the most exciting features. When you are done reading this post click on this link to subscribe and stay up-to-date on the newest videos – Subscribe to SuccessTV here.
4. Communicate with your team & your User Group.
You will see this topic come up a lot in my posts because it’s critical that you as an Admin communicate both with your users and your developers- if you have some on staff -about the upcoming release. This is also a good time to figure out what features will automatically be on when the new release comes out and what features you as an Admin have control over. Work with your team to figure out how you want to roll out these new features and when to turn them on (if that’s an option.) One thing you cannot overlook is the WIIFM Factor. The WIIFM Factor is the “What’s in it for me” and it’s how your users will look at ever feature and every change in an upcoming release. When planning your communication it’s easy to talk about a new feature and how cool it is. But put it into brass-tacks for them- “here is why this will be helpful for you” should be the center of your communication strategy.
Now is also a good time to get your butt to a Salesforce User Group meeting. I promise you the topic will come up about new release features- if it hasn’t already. Salesforce User Groups are a great way to talk through and getting a deeper understanding of the release features and for me- find things that I may have overlooked.
Don’t forget the Youtube! I use and post Salesforce Youtube videos about the next release to my company Chatter feed and feature them as part of my team communication. Why reinvent the wheel when Salesforce has a shiny wheel ready to go.
5. Start Planning
Visit trust.salesforce.com to see when your instance will receive the release. Click on the “System Status” tab to see the Scheduled Maintenance Notification area and look up when your instance will be upgraded. Number 5 and number 4 are really close friends, generally with team communication you should already know your rollout date- but you may have a large number of users to communicate with so my theory on communication is start early and often.
Let’s talk about the day of the release. You should have a plan and be prepared to execute. First, make plans with your friends- maybe catch a game, go to a club, or grab your family and catch a movie. I bet you didn’t expect me to say that – or maybe you did. It is the cloud afterall and Salesforce has some really good gnomes that will take care of the release for you.
So are there only 5 things you need to do to get ready for a release? No, there are more but you need to make the subsequent steps tailored for you and your situation. That is what being an Admin Hero is all about- looking for best practices, learning from others, and executing. So when prepping for an upcoming release what steps do you take in addition to the ones listed above that you want to share with other Button-Click Admins? Share them with in the comments below.
Tags: Monday AM Admin, Pre-Release Org, Release Notes, Salesforce User group, Sandbox, Spring '12, SuccessTV













