Salesforce AppExchange is the world’s top cloud computing marketplace for businesses. The store consists of Salesforce applications, partners, consulting services, and components. The apps are tailored for Salesforce and have over 5000 solutions available that help to spread Salesforce and enhance it into any industry or department and run your business smoothly. The marketplace is used by independent software vendor (ISV) partners and developers to vend applications that they have developed in the Salesforce platform.
According to salesforce.com, there are 6.5+ million installs, 80,000 customer reviews, and over 1000 consultants horned with experience ready to attain quantifiable business goals to any business. The customer reviews help you to select the best application that will suit and meet your business needs. It is a good practice to read what other users are saying since it gives you an overview of what to expect from a particular application. Users use Salesforce AppExchange to access, install, and download programs.
AppExchange store offers both free and subscription applications for users. There are three main ways that app are categorized;
- By Type (apps, Lightning Bolt solution, components)
- By Product (sales, marketing, services, etc.)
- Industry (education, government, NGO, etc.)
Below are some key points that you will need to consider before buying or installing any application in Salesforce AppExchange into your environment;
Salesforce Edition Compatibility
Sometimes, you might find that some apps don’t function in some editions. Therefore, you must validate that the personalized application that you plan to install or download consists of all required components compatible in your Salesforce edition.
External Services
Confirm if the personalized application that you plan to install has any external services reference. If so, confirm that you have the authorization to access that service.
Run a Test Drive
The good news is that you will find that most applications offer a demo available to run a test drive. Whether you are a user or an administrator that wishes to install the apps, perform test drives before installation to review the core functionalities.
Installing into Developer Edition
It is advised you run the proposed application into developer edition or any Sandbox edition before installing it into your industry. Further, you can test the platform without restrictions of a read-only user. At that point, you can edit, delete records, or any operation action in the installed application.
Install the Application
Once the functionalities meet your satisfaction, go ahead, and install the application into your business.
The advantage of Salesforce AppExchange is that it offers a functionality whereby you take the application on a test drive or rather watch a demo tour. This opportunity lets you review the apps generally and help you settle on whether to install or buy it, into your Salesforce environment. Whether you need to build a functionality that is not built-in Salesforce by default, or not ready to develop a solution from scratch or short on time, the AppExchange in Salesforce is the place for you.