It's a funny thing about Salesforce developers. Many of us really dislike change, even when we know very well it's necessary and worthwhile.
Why? Too often, changing an application is like re-routing plumbing after the house is built: making a change that looks small can take a whole lot of effort with a whole lot of risk for collateral damage.
Can software replace my job? It's a concern with roots going back centuries to the arrival of the first automated power looms in 18th-century England, continuing into more modern times with the large claw-like robots that build automobiles. Today it seems there are hundreds of websites making their living pushing clickbait headlines describing the perils of the coming Robopocalypse of software automation replacing human workers, and I often see those fears bubbling to the surface when working with clients. Fortunately, in my experience, those fears are often overblown, and I'm not alone in thinking so. Wired's James Surowieck agrees that we have nothing to fear.
The automation jitters usually start to come out during discovery. I talk with clients to clarify the business logic, workflow rules, or other automated features, and I'll use the term "robot" to describe the software we're building. After all, "if I can't tell the robot what to do, how will it know how what to do?" It's somewhere around here when we're asking somebody to explain their whole job function that somebody on the client's team will mutter, half-jokingly, "So I guess I better start looking for another job, huh?" It's not hard to understand where that thought is coming from. After all, if we can completely strip away the human layer and turn their job into a series of rote, mechanical steps, what role is left for them? I quickly try to assuage their fears.
On the one hand, they're pretty mean-spirited (but kinda funny). On the other hand, who can blame user support techs for being exasperated when rude, frustrated users scream at them to solve problems that aren't their fault. Yes, some support techs really do have to walk users through the most basic of operations. REALLY basic, like making sure the computer and monitor are plugged in and powered on. On the OTHER other hand, it is the job of support techs to bridge that knowledge gap.
As consultants, we are often called upon to support our own or someone else's software. We have to be the opposite of that acronymic stereotype. Users aren't idiots; they're experts in something we are not proficient in and vice versa.
Once in a while, we are on the receiving end of user support, and these experiences can be real eye-openers. I remember one instance where we found an undocumented limitation of a mature third-party application.
DISCLAIMER - this article applies to mainly to Organizations without business analysts and programmers on staff.
A few years ago, we were asked to quote a small automation for an existing, repeat client. They wanted help streamlining a spreadsheet-based process that took about 1/2 day of a high-level employee's time each week.
Client: Can you help us save some time by writing some Excel macros?
Susco: Of course we can develop some Excel macros for you. But first, why do you need them?
I'm not sure if there's any consensus on the definition of an emergent workflow. It's a term that I use to describe a pattern I have witnessed in business software. To me, an emergent workflow is a workflow that was not designed explicitly into a piece of software, but slowly evolved via users' usage of the system, and the development of conventions to support workflows as they develop. If you have ever developed a piece of business software that manages any form of workflow, and that software has been in production for more than a year, you can be certain that there is an emergent workflow within that software – whether you realize it or not.
Let me take you back to the year 2011. This was a big year for us, as Susco had made a big name for itself as one of the first movers in mobile app development studios in the State of Louisiana.
We were growing revenue at 50% per year and collecting awards like they were going out of style.
At the time I was a babe at 33, not a grey haired 39 year old – so needless to say, the success started going to my head. I thought of myself as being very emotionally intelligent with how I dealt with people, but it’s very easy when growing a company to do a great job focusing on the way you treat your clients and referral sources but not apply the same effort with your staff. This blind-spot almost cost me one of my best employees at the time. In the interest of protecting the innocent, I’ll refer to them as “Bob”. So, here we go…
We get this question a lot from business owners in the middle of a growth phase. Often, they are already using systems for accounting and CRM (Customer Relationship Management), and they are not sure what processes could be improved, and if there is a business case to improve them.
Over the years, we've identified a number of clear indicators that it's time to invest in technology. This can be in the form of implementing a pre-existing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), implementing a platform solution, or developing a custom software solution. We'll elaborate in an upcoming post on which of the 3 solutions is the right fit for you, but for now let's focus on the "smell test" of determining if there is a need. Some are obvious, while others are more subtle.
How do you take your app to the next level?
The French Quarter Task Force app was created so that the same people living in and visiting the French Quarter could report a crime in progress. The first version of the app was a success and the new version named App Task Force tries to be more user friendly and expand its user base.