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In recent years, numerous reports have emphasized that achieving DevOps success is not solely dependent on tools and processes—culture plays a pivotal role. DevOps is fundamentally about people, and while the right tools and processes are critical, it’s the people utilizing them who determine the success of a DevOps implementation. Consistently, data reveals that expecting DevOps success without shifts in attitudes, values, and work practices is a significant oversight.
Salesforce development teams are no different. This article delves into the Salesforce DevOps culture, drawing on findings from recent Codleo’s State of Salesforce DevOps surveys. These surveys have shown that the cultural traits of DevOps are the strongest indicators of high performance.
The latest report, which includes comprehensive data on DevOps adoption and performance along with expert insights, is now available for reading.
Defining DevOps Culture
To understand DevOps culture, we can examine the traits of high-performing teams. Elite Salesforce DevOps teams typically exhibit three key characteristics:
1. Buy-in for DevOps
For a development process to succeed, it’s crucial that the team fully supports and understands the value of Salesforce DevOps as an approach to release management. Merely knowing how to use tools or follow processes isn't sufficient. True buy-in ensures team members adhere to the agreed processes and resist the temptation to cut corners. A single disenchanted or confused team member can disrupt the entire team's efforts, making it essential for everyone to appreciate and value DevOps.
Achieving buy-in when introducing DevOps involves ensuring everyone comprehends and believes in the benefits of DevOps, as these serve as the motivation for adopting new practices. Forcing changes is generally ineffective, so it's better to embark on the journey together and recognize the positive impacts of specific process changes. For instance, while version control might initially seem more complex, its advantages become apparent once fully implemented.
2. Close Collaboration
Collaboration is a fundamental principle of DevOps. Elite teams communicate clearly and work to eliminate silos, ensuring everyone understands how projects are delivered. The entire team operates within an agreed DevOps framework, sharing responsibility for development and releases. This is increasingly important with the growing complexity of Salesforce releases.
Effective use of tools and processes is crucial to maximizing their potential. Version control, for example, can facilitate effective collaboration by creating an audit trail that shows who made changes, when, and why. However, this is only effective if team members write clear commit messages, label and explain pull requests, and tag relevant people as needed.
3. Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is another hallmark of DevOps culture. Teams should always be open to identifying areas for improvement. This trait is closely linked to collaboration, as team members must feel comfortable admitting what they don’t know and pointing out mistakes. Learning from each other is embraced, fostering a culture of trust and collective growth.
The team is committed to ongoing learning and optimization of the release process. There is little inertia or resistance to change, and doing things simply because "it works" or "we've always done it this way" is not considered sufficient. The team stays updated on the latest tools and best practices, continually seeking incremental process improvements as part of their DevOps approach.
By embodying these traits—buy-in for DevOps, close collaboration, and continuous improvement—teams can cultivate a DevOps culture that drives success and innovation in Salesforce development and operations.
Achieving Buy-In for Salesforce DevOps
For Salesforce DevOps to reach its full potential, it’s crucial that teams embody the traits of buy-in, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Even the most advanced tools and processes cannot compensate for a lack of these foundational cultural elements.
Where do most Salesforce teams stand today? Many have successfully cleared the initial hurdle of gaining buy-in and recognizing the benefits of DevOps. Teams that find DevOps aligns well with their broader company culture are well-positioned to adopt more automation and increase their release frequency.
However, if your team is struggling with buy-in, consider watching Dan Appleman’s insightful talk on building a DevOps culture. He discusses effective strategies for encouraging cultural change, and helping teams to embrace DevOps more fully.
Enhancing Collaboration in Salesforce DevOps
Salesforce teams recognize that collaboration is a fundamental aspect of DevOps culture. According to recent surveys, 46% of respondents highlight collaboration as one of the most valuable benefits of DevOps ROI. Many Salesforce developers and administrators believe they are performing well in this area, with most teams rating their collaboration on releases as ‘fine’, ‘good’, or ‘excellent’. This positive perception is likely due to improved visibility into team activities, with 59% of teams using version control to facilitate collaborative efforts without overwriting each other’s work.
However, despite these advancements, many teams struggle with effective collaboration during the release process. This indicates a need for better-defined processes and a deeper understanding of how to enhance teamwork. Ideally, collaboration should be integrated into every part of the process. Assigning specific responsibilities to a single person can create bottlenecks, slowing down projects and the transition to a DevOps culture.
Our 2024 report reveals a strong correlation between the quality of team collaboration and a company’s DevOps ROI. It is clear that buy-in for DevOps must extend beyond the immediate team to the broader organization to support cultural traits like collaboration and continuous improvement.
Training for Salesforce DevOps Success
While many professionals are eager to upskill, they often lack the time and opportunities for training. Salesforce teams, in particular, see DevOps training as a significant challenge. Survey respondents identified release management and DevOps culture as key areas where additional training would be beneficial.
DevOps aims to unify everyone into a shared process. Effective training should involve the entire team because DevOps is inherently a team effort. If any team member is unfamiliar with the processes or workflows, it can undermine the entire initiative.
Teams that receive monthly training sessions release to production more frequently and report a more collaborative culture than those with less frequent training. Thousands of Salesforce professionals have utilized free courses on DevOps Launchpad to learn essential DevOps concepts and implementation strategies.
See the Full Picture
The cultural traits of buy-in, collaboration, and continuous learning are crucial for any team aspiring to reach elite DevOps performance levels. Data clearly shows that teams want to work in such environments but need guidance on the day-to-day practices that foster this culture.
To gain a deeper understanding of why improving your Salesforce team’s DevOps performance is important and how to achieve a cultural shift, read the latest State of Salesforce DevOps report.
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