This is the final of five blog entries on increasing technical debt in the Salesforce and SaaS application ecosystem (link to the entire article). Technical debt is rarely mentioned within the bright, shiny promises of AI/ML and particularly generative AI. Early adopters of generative AI prototypes and trials are learning otherwise that successful AI implementations are predicated on relevant, sufficient data. The imperative for AI success serves to magnify technical debt - particularly data issues. The question is, where did the "dirty" data come from? Typically, it's multiple sources: People, Processes, and Technology.
Much has been written about the importance of data quality for organizations to realize full business value from their Salesforce and enterprise investments, e.g., “Ultimate Guide to Salesforce Data Quality and Data Cleansing”, Salesforce Ben, November 2023. AI is only as good as the data it analyzes and acts on.
An often overlooked source of data issues stems from the incomplete considerations of selection, installation, and configuration of Salesforce AppExchange packages. The AppExchange app selection process should start by asking governance questions like, “What is the business value outcome expected from this capability, and which tech stack and app should it reside?” AppExchange apps should not be seen as a magic salve to solve all problems without proper data governance. Selecting, purchasing, installing, configuring, deploying, and maintaining AppExchange apps without proper governance can cost the organization more headaches, increase technical debt, and undermine an organization’s ability to leverage machine learning to a single shared customer360 view of the customer.
AppExchange-managed package apps usually introduce their own custom fields to store data, often overlapping with preexisting standard or custom fields. Sometimes, this design decision is based on the AppExchange ISV's desire to simplify managed package installation, configuration, and usage - but not the long-term implications of similar, semantically overlapping fields and automation. When a Sys Admin or Analyst installs a managed package, they may not be aware of or incentivized to consider the implications.
When evaluating AppExchange apps, it is essential to determine how the object and data model relate to existing data and plan for it through data migration, transformation, deduping, and cleansing. It is crucial to consider extending your governance policy to do this upfront impact analysis before signing off on purchasing yet another AppExchange product.
Not only does this reduce field creep, which can approach prescribed field limits, but it can also impact overall system performance, including user experience, reporting/analytics, automation, and upstream and downstream integrations.
Members of the Agile Product Board or Executive Steering Committee should consider the costs of app maintenance; regression testing, including how the package plays with all the other automation on the platform; user training; data architecture analysis; and exceeding system limits such as API calls, APEX limits, and data limits.
Therefore, AppExchange apps may not be the "Get out of jail free" business stakeholders wish they were. They may have downstream costs that can fuel more software and tech debt.
Summary:
Regarding governance practices, implementing small, lightweight policies and guidelines can be more effective than one massive program. Using an agile approach and conducting bite-sized experiments can help you determine what works best for your organization. By framing governance policy to deliver business value returns, you can gain buy-in from business stakeholders and IT executives. By reducing tech debt by just 10%, you can invest more in innovation and automation products.
About CloudSellerate:
CloudSellerate is a boutique enterprise business and technology strategy advisory firm with decades of experience working with leading enterprise customers and technology solution providers. We help organizations plan and execute with agility, innovation, and cost savings. Contact us at info@cloudsellerate.com.
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