In my last post, I shared with you how fast and easy it is to deactivate a Salesforce user who decides to leave the company. One of my recommendations in that post was to work closely with your company’s IT department to establish a process for which you are notified when an employee leaves the company or is no longer a Salesforce user.
Writing that post got me thinking about about what the “typical” relationship between a Salesforce administrator and the IT / Security department might be like. I would imagine that it’s easy to engross yourself so deeply in the world of Salesforce, that it’s easy to forget to look at the bigger technology picture that your Salesforce implementation lives in at your company.
You may wonder what you have to gain from investing in this relationship. After all, you are busy and are being pulled in several different directions at any given time. The way I see it is, why not make it easy on yourself by having relationships in place that will help you get your job done and make you successful in the long term? There are three key reasons this relationship with IT and Security are key to your success:
Some administrators are surprised when they learn that security is part of their job. In fact, security will become more and more a part of your job over time. As you know, Salesforce is built with security as the foundation for the entire service. This foundation includes both protection for your data and applications, and the ability to implement your own security scheme to reflect the structure and needs of your organization. The security features of Salesforce provide both strength and flexibility. However, protecting your data is a joint responsibility between you and Salesforce. The security features in Salesforce enable you to empower your users to do their jobs efficiently, while also limiting exposure of data to the users that need to act upon it. Implement security controls that you think are appropriate for the sensitivity of your data. Your data is protected from unauthorized access from outside your company, and you should also safeguard it from inappropriate usage by your users. This will require, from time to time, discussions with IT so that you can properly and effectively set security controls for your organization.
The day will come that you and your internal customers will decide to expand the Salesforce footprint at your company – either the number of licenses will increase, or your company will decide to purchase licenses for another product line. One thing we can do as Admins is to lay the groundwork so that security isn’t a barrier or is less a barrier when you decide to expand the Salesforce footprint at your company. When I first met Mike Gerholdt, he told me his personal story about his life as an Admin and how there came a time that he wanted to expand the Salesforce footprint at his company…and as he pursued this vision, his efforts caught the attention of his IT department. And IT had some questions for him, especially about the security implications of customer data residing in Salesforce and in the cloud. Mike told me that had he been prepared from the beginning by enabling security controls and by starting a dialogue with IT earlier, that he wouldn’t have experienced such delays in meeting his goals.
Do your part in securing your org and decrease the likelihood of security incidents by ensuring that your Salesforce Security Controls are configured properly. The easiest way to get started with this is to check out the Security Implementation Guide or other implementation guides that focus on specific topics, such as Identity Confirmation and SSO in Help & Training. Just scroll down to the section “Security and Data Management”. This things may become technical at times or touch upon areas where networking expertise is needed. Having relationships will be critical in enabling you to set these controls.
The job of an Admin goes way beyond managing users and data. There is an inherent responsibility to understand the security implications of providing access to customer and company data in Salesforce. But there is also a great opportunity for you as an Admin to continually build your skills, especially when it comes to customizing Salesforce. The more you are able to utilize these aspects of Salesforce, the more valuable you will be to your business partners. And from time to time, when you create new tools to address your users’ business needs, or want to use analytics to supercharge your understanding of customer data, you will need to partner with IT to get the job done.
A great way to expand on your Salesforce skills is to check out the Admin trails and especially the Data Security Module in Trailhead, a new, fun and interactive way to develop your skills. Trailhead provides a guided learning path, with points and rewards built right in, so that you can learn the basics of customizing Salesforce and supercharge your skills by using point-and-click tools to solve common business needs. Check it out!!
One thing to remember when building any new relationship at work is to think about how the relationship you are investing in could be beneficial to both sides. Understanding where your colleague comes from and what motivates him or her is a great skill to have, and will help you get what you need in the long run. For example, you can think about what might motivate or excite your IT colleague. Put yourself in their shoes. For example, folks in IT are continually faced with how to service their internal teams within budget and with limited, or even shrinking resources. Be sensitive to that.
Here are some key things you can talk about with IT:
As foreign as it may seem to some, there is a lot to gain from building a relationship with your IT department. Think of it as an investment in your future, and I am certain it will pay off.
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