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Value of Queues in Salesforce

Value of Queues in Salesforce

Salesforce Queues serve as a streamlined and collaborative solution for the management of records and tasks. The value of queues in Salesforce is the ease of access they provide for records. They offer an organized and automated method to structure, distribute, and assign work items among users or teams efficiently. Visualize a Salesforce Queue as a virtual container or repository that holds a collection of records or tasks. These items encompass leads, cases, opportunities, or any standard/custom object in your Salesforce org. Instead of manually assigning individual records to specific users, the queue becomes the focal point for distributing work seamlessly. Value of Queues in Salesforce The utility of Salesforce Queues shines in situations where multiple users or teams collaborate in handling incoming requests or overseeing a specific record type. For instance, a customer support team may utilize a queue for incoming cases, allowing any team member to access and work on cases from the shared queue. Significance of Salesforce Queues: In sales and support teams, the influx of leads and issues demanding resolution is often substantial. Without proper assignment of this workload, inefficiencies and mismanagement can arise. Salesforce Queues play a pivotal role in addressing this challenge. A queue acts as an orderly arrangement of records, especially leads, ensuring systematic prioritization and handling. Through the use of queues, collaborating team members can efficiently distribute and manage the workload associated with these records. This collaborative framework empowers employees to share responsibilities and address tasks as they become available. Records remain within the queue until claimed by an individual user. The implementation of queues benefits both the organization’s workforce and its customers. It prevents employee overload by ensuring a balanced distribution of tasks while ensuring prompt attention to customer concerns. As a result, this approach guarantees that no records are overlooked or left unattended. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Salesforce Success Story

Case Study: Service Cloud Marketing Cloud Hospitality

Resort company builds loyalty and drives sales increase across all sites using data and segmentation. hospitality salesforce service marketing case study. Industry: Hospitality Located at the epicenter of Honolulu’s most exciting neighborhoods, resort offers guaranteed oceanfront panoramic views in guestrooms and luxury suites. The hotel also has its own golf course. Problem: Implemented : Technologies integrated : Our solution? Results: Tectonic has assisted customers in generating a live view of their visitors so they can pleasantly surprise and amuse them with customized service during every engagement. Salesforce offers customized solutions for the travel and hospitality industries, assisting companies in this field to provide outstanding client experiences, optimize workflows, and spur expansion. These solutions make use of the Salesforce Customer 360 platform to improve communication, organize data, and give visitors a customized experience. Salesforce offers digital transformation technology for travel, tourist, and hospitality industries. If you are considering a Salesforce hospitality implementation, contact Tectonic today. Like2 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Connected Culture

Creating a Connected Workplace Culture

Creating a Connected Workplace Culture: Bridging the Physical and Digital Divide In today’s workplace, fostering genuine employee connection is no longer a luxury—it’s a critical business imperative. With the widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work models, organizations face mounting challenges in creating meaningful employee experiences and cultivating team cohesion. Yet, the need for connection has never been more urgent. The Cost of Disconnection Recent findings reveal a stark reality: over half of U.S. employees report feeling disconnected. This issue extends beyond personal dissatisfaction, becoming a crisis for organizations striving to attract, engage, and retain top talent. Employees who feel connected to their workplace culture are: The Challenge of Distance and Distraction Physical Separation Remote and hybrid work environments have minimized the spontaneous interactions and informal conversations that naturally foster camaraderie. This lack of face-to-face contact can lead to feelings of isolation and fragmented workplace cultures. Technology Overload At the same time, the explosion of workplace apps has created a disorganized digital landscape. With countless tools for HR, benefits, payroll, learning, and more, employees often struggle to navigate an overwhelming maze of applications. This fragmentation not only hinders productivity but also amplifies cognitive overload and decision fatigue, further diminishing the employee experience. So, how can organizations overcome these barriers and build a connected workplace culture in an age of physical distance and digital distractions? Building a Connected Workplace Strategy Connection doesn’t happen by chance. It requires deliberate planning, adaptability, and a deep understanding of the evolving workplace dynamic. Here’s how organizations can take intentional steps toward fostering meaningful connections: 1. Act with Purpose 2. Leverage the Right Tools 3. Prioritize Clear and Open Communication 4. Embrace Feedback 5. Commit to Continuous Improvement Moving Forward: Connection as a Competitive Advantage A connected workplace culture isn’t just about improving employee satisfaction—it’s a strategic advantage that drives engagement, productivity, and retention. By bridging the physical and digital divide with intentional actions and meaningful tools, organizations can foster stronger, more connected teams prepared to thrive in a modern, dynamic work environment. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Salesforce Sales Enablement

Customers Re-Evaluate Their Priorities

Compounding factors such as inflation and technological advancements are prompting individuals to reconsider their priorities. While impacting how and where they allocate their finances, it directly impacts businesses as well.. A substantial 62% of consumers have recently reevaluated their priorities, with the cost of living ranking as the primary influencer and obtaining better deals being the most common reason for brand switches. Customers Re-Evaluate Their Priorities and vote with their money. While financial considerations remain a focal point, customers are not solely driven by the pursuit of cost-effectiveness. Other crucial factors include product quality and the overall customer experience. Remarkably, 80% of customers emphasize that the experience provided by a company is as significant as the products and services offered. While companies are burdened by this trend it also emphasizes the need for technology. Marketing automation and personalization. Knowing enough about your customer to reach them with the right message at the right time on the right channel. Enter Salesforce Salesforce Omnichannel is a flexible and customizable Salesforce feature. It helps businesses to seamlessly connect with customers across multiple channels, be they physical stores, email, chat, social media, phone, or SMS. And best of all, anyone can implement the omnichannel approach without coding knowledge! Salesforce Personalization learns everything about your customer and presents them with personalized offers and messaging how they want it when they want it where they want it. Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides marketing automation power. Salesforce Sales Cloud serves customers with ease. Salesforce Data Cloud stores the customer information from all business sources and drives interaction powered by AI. Attitudes Shift Over two years into the global pandemic, a shift in attitudes towards work, home, spending, interactions, and well-being is evident among many Americans. The majority now express a preference for spending on experiences rather than products, with a focus on home-centered activities. Additionally, there is a notable inclination towards in-person interactions rather than substituting them with digital services. This “great rethink” emphasizes that post-pandemic society is unlikely to revert to its previous state. A pivotal aspect of this great rethink is the evolving attitude towards work. While the initial stages of the pandemic saw individuals deprioritizing work due to stress, burnout, and remote work, new economic realities have set in. Customers Re-Evaluate Their Priorities Rising living costs and the possibility of a recession are causing a shift in sentiment, with fewer Americans viewing deprioritizing work as an affordable luxury anymore. Consumer sentiment regarding an improved work-life balance is showing signs of reversal, with the percentage of those feeling they have more time to enjoy today decreasing from nearly 70% in September 2021 to 51% in May 2022. A recent survey conducted by Accenture, encompassing 25,000 consumers across 22 countries, sheds light on how the pandemic has prompted a reevaluation of consumer purchasing behavior. Accenture identifies a segment of consumers called “Reimagined,” representing those who have changed their buying habits across various industries. These consumers expect companies to understand and address their changing needs during disruptive times, with a significant portion expressing disappointment in companies that have not provided adequate support. Considering these insights, Accenture identifies five purchasing motivations that align with consumers’ desires for improved well-being and confidence in the products, services, and companies they engage with. These motivations – health and safety, service and personal care, ease and convenience, product origin, and trust and reputation – carry implications for businesses, including those in the events industry. Impact on Events Applying these motivations to the context of business events, event organizers must prioritize safety protocols, personalize communications, provide digital and hybrid event options, incorporate sustainability practices, and build trust through consistent alignment with organizational values and mission statements. As consumers remain open to new experiences, now is an opportune time for experimentation and innovation within the events landscape. Salesforce to the Rescue If amidst this great re-think you are re-thinking how you do business, contact Tectonic today to learn how Salesforce could be the solution you need. Content updated November 2023. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Cloud Managed Services

Page Layout in Salesforce

Page layouts in Salesforce are essential for controlling the arrangement and organization of various elements on object record pages in Salesforce. These elements include buttons, fields, s-controls, Visualforce, custom links, and related lists. Page layouts play a crucial role in determining the visibility, read-only status, and required fields, allowing customization of record pages tailored to user preferences. Required Editions: Page layouts can incorporate s-controls and Visualforce pages, adjusting their size and deciding whether to display labels and scroll bars. Salesforce provides two tools for editing page layouts: the original page layout editor and an enhanced page layout editor. The enhanced editor, enabled by default, offers additional functionality and a user-friendly interface compared to the original editor. Within a page layout, users can access a mini page layout, defining hover details when mousing over a field in the Agent console or Recent Items section in Salesforce Classic. Salesforce automatically generates a default page layout for custom objects, and if unused, Lightning Platform API can still interact with the object or build a custom user interface. Create Page Layouts: Utilize the enhanced page layout editor to tailor record page layouts to meet user needs effectively. Enhanced Page Layout Editor: This tool, enabled by default, enhances the customization of page layouts in Salesforce, the Self-Service Portal, and the Salesforce Customer Portal. It combines the functionality of the original editor with additional features and an improved interface. Assign Page Layouts to Profiles or Record Types: Define which page layouts users see by assigning them based on profiles or record types. Profiles determine the page layout for a user, while the combination of profile and record type determines the displayed layout for a specific object. Edit Multi-Line Layouts for Opportunity Products: Customize columns for displaying or editing items in the Products related list on an opportunity detail page. Configure Fields on Multi-Line Layouts for Opportunity Products: Ensure fields are visible on the Opportunity Product page layout before adding them to the multi-line layout, achieved through the Product related list on an Opportunity object page layout. Customize Related Lists: Tailor buttons, columns, order, and record sort order of related lists on record detail pages in Salesforce and the Salesforce Customer Portal. Customize Standard and Custom Buttons on Page Layouts: When customizing page layouts, control the display and order of both standard and custom buttons. How Page Layout Elements Display in Lightning Experience: Customizations made in Salesforce Classic affect object record pages in Lightning Experience. However, the page elements display differently, with some elements not supported in Lightning Experience. Page Layout Tips: Keep page layouts organized and user-friendly. How Page Layouts Work in the Salesforce Mobile App: Use the enhanced page layout editor to customize object record detail pages, configure actions, and determine field and related list visibility in the Salesforce mobile app. Manage Mobile Cards in the Enhanced Page Layout Editor: Enhance the Mobile Cards section of your page layout with expanded lookups, components, and Visualforce pages to display them as mobile cards in the Salesforce mobile app. Feed-Based Layouts in Salesforce Classic: Feed-based page layouts simplify record work by offering separate views for the record’s feed and its details, including related lists. Salesforce Classic Home Tab Page Layouts: Customize the Home tab in Salesforce Classic by including components like sidebar links, a company logo, a dashboard snapshot, or custom components. Different home page layouts can be assigned to users based on their profiles. Customize Page Layouts with the Original Page Layout Editor: Use the original page layout editor for customizing page layouts in Salesforce, the Self-Service Portal, and the Salesforce Customer Portal. Like1 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Cloud First

A Salesforce Architect’s Thoughts on User Experience

The intersection of Salesforce User Experience (UX) Design and Architecture in the Salesforce ecosystem is making traction. As User Experience Designer and Strategy Designer certifications were launched by Salesforce, architects are increasingly venturing into UX to create comprehensive and well thought out solutions. This collaboration, emphasizing the importance of user experience, has the potential to increase project success through efficient, scalable, and sustainable designs, particularly for Certified Technical Architects (CTAs). User Interaction and Adoption are important considerations for architects, requiring a focus on understanding user interactions to guide effective decisions. The method of creating a user story, showing what the user needs to accomplish, assists the designers in creating solutions that are user friendly By mapping the user journey and data flow through process and journey mapping, architects gain insights into necessary objects, relationships, and high-touchpoint objects influencing Large Data Volumes (LDV). Understanding user expectations informs architects about necessary record ownership changes, conversions, security, and data visibility requirements. Salesforce UX Certifications The recent emphasis on UX design in Salesforce, marked by certifications like Strategy Designer and User Experience Designer, has prompted useful discussions within the Salesforce architect community. Personal experience completing these certifications underscores the importance of architects embracing UX design, especially on the path to becoming a Certified Technical Architect. The incorporation of journey mapping into solution design, as discovered through creating process and journey maps from CTA scenarios, has proven invaluable. The synergy between architects and UX designers manifests as they collaborate to seamlessly integrate visual and technical elements. Thus resulting in cohesive, user-friendly solutions. Despite distinct areas of expertise, both roles converge on considering user needs, business requirements, and personas, fostering pivotal collaboration that ensures functional and aesthetically pleasing systems. A user-centric approach is crucial for architects in solving problems and ensuring holistic solutions. Process mapping facilitates identifying record ownership changes, conversions, security, and data visibility requirements. Higher Probability of Success is achieved by considering the users’ interactions. Building solutions that prioritize simplicity, reducing project complexity and enhancing user understanding. Performance, Scalability, and Usage must be factored into architectural considerations. Architects need to understand system usage, scalability needs, and performance to create efficient systems capable of handling increased usage. Additionally, architects should prioritize efficiency by identifying large data volume objects and designing for scalability. Return on Investment (ROI) through Sustainability is a key factor for project success. Architects should consider both adoption and sustainable design, ensuring long-term value. ROI-driven decisions should permeate the design process. Minimizing potential rework and supporting evolving technology and business requirements. Salesforce UX in Design Process Incorporating user experience design early in the design process enhances project success by avoiding costly redesigns and ensuring the final product meets user needs. Architects must prioritize sustainability. Then they can create designs that maximize ROI and provide long-term value to the organization. User experience design is integral for architects. While providing a framework for understanding user interactions and optimizing the Salesforce solutions the arcitects design and build. Embracing UX design and collaborating effectively, architects can create systems that are not only functional and efficient but also intuitive and enjoyable to use. When designing custom Salesforce solutions, the architect should always consider the end user. At Tectonic, our entire team of Salesforce consultants focus on delivering an application that meets everyone’s expectations. Contact us today. Like1 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Box and Salesforce Integration

What is Box and Salesforce integration? Together, Box and Salesforce integration bring you seamless solutions that make it easy for teams to securely collaborate on the most critical content in Box, without leaving Salesforce. It easily connects with other Apps to share and store the data. Box allows users to create, edit, update, and share files/folders with Salesforce. It has a highly secured authentication process and a customizable user permission to access the files/folders. Your teams and customers expect amazing digital experiences, no matter what tools they use — which means you must deliver a consistent content experience across every app. Together, Box and Salesforce bring you seamlessly integrated solutions. The result? Better customer engagements, faster resolution on support cases, and seamless signatures so organizations can quickly go from quote to cash. Content is at the core of business today — and a driving force for your sales teams. Our integration empowers sales reps to collaborate on content directly in Salesforce, while your organization’s documents are centralized in Box to streamline processes, engage customers, and accelerate sales cycles. With Box for Salesforce, account teams can easily and securely access and share relevant files from any device, no matter if they’re at home, in the office, or out in the field. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Salesforce Telephony

Salesforce Telephony

Salesforce Telephony Integration. Get on the phones faster with out-of-the-box telephony integration with Amazon Connect or a range of partners on the Salesforce AppExchange. Embed the phone into your digital channels in Service Cloud to provide a holistic view of your customer conversations. Can we call through Salesforce? A phone lets your team take and make calls alongside their other work in Salesforce. You can create a phone with Salesforce using Sales Dialer or Dialer for Essentials, or you can integrate a third-party phone product. CTI, or computer telephony, is a key element of an omnichannel customer service strategy. Salesforce CTI is one of the most popular methods used to connect organizations’ telephone and computer systems. What is telephony in Salesforce? Telephony integration enhances communication and streamlines workflows by allowing users to handle calls, track call data, and access customer information all in one place. Telephony in Salesforce is done through a VOIP (voice over internet protocol) service. “With Talkdesk, I can focus on what is important to customers, instead of fighting with our phone system. Not having to worry about your technology is half the battle.” Megan Miles Customer Service Manager at Zumiez Using the Telephony Integration API The Telephony Integration API allows you to programmatically manage a voice call. The provided Amazon Connect Lambda functions automatically use these endpoints to perform telephony functions, but you can also use these APIs separate from the provided Lambda functions. Like2 Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Event Monitoring in Salesforce

Event Monitoring Salesforce

Event Monitoring Salesforce: Leveraging API for Insights Event monitoring, an API-exclusive feature, isn’t accessible via the Setup area; instead, each organization’s event log files are stored in the API object called EventLogFile. Salesforce offers Workbench, an API tool enabling access to EventLogFile objects, facilitating tracking for various event types, including logins, logouts, URI, Lightning, Visualforce page loads, API calls, Apex executions, and report exports. Key Points: Exploring EventLogFile with Workbench: Understanding SOAP vs. REST: Downloading Event Log Files: Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

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Alphabet Soup of Cloud Terminology

As with any technology, the cloud brings its own alphabet soup of terms. This insight will hopefully help you navigate your way through the terminology, and provide you the knowledge and power to make the decisions you need to make when considering a new cloud implementation. Here’s the list of terms we will cover in this article: Phew—that’s a lot. Let’s dig in to the definitions and examples to help drive home the meanings of the list of terms above. SaaS (Software as a Service) This is probably the most common implementation of cloud services end users experience. This is software that users access through their web browser. Some software may be installed locally to help augment functionality or provide a richer user experience, but the software installed locally has minimal impact on the user’s computer. Figure 1 provides a high-level overview of this concept. Figure 1 High-level overview of Software as a Service You are probably a user Facebook, Google docs, Office 365, Salesforce, or LinkedIn either at home or at work, so you’ve experienced SaaS first hand and probably for a long time. What SaaS tools are you using outside of those mentioned here? Reach out and let me know—I’m very curious. PaaS (Platform as a Service) PaaS allows a developer to deploy code to an environment that supports their software but they do not have full access to the operating system. In this case the developer has no server responsibility or server access. When I first started writing about cloud technology three years ago, this was kind of primitive service. The provider would just give you access to a folder somewhere on the server with just a bit of documentation and then you were on your own. Now there are tools, such as CloudFoundry, that allow a developer to deploy right from their Integrated Development Environment (IDE) or from a command line production release tool. Then CloudFoundry can take the transmitted release and install it correctly into the cloud environment. With a little trial and error, anyone with a bit of technical skills can deploy to a tool like CloudFoundry where the older style of PaaS took a lot of skill and experience to deploy correctly. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) Originally IaaS dealt with a provider giving a user access to a virtual machine located on a system in the provider’s data center. A virtual machine is an operating system that resides in a piece of software on the host computer. Virtual Box, Parallels and VMWare are examples of software that provide virtualization of operating systems called Virtual Machines (VM) Virtualization of servers was all the rage for a while, but when you try to scale within the cloud with multiple virtual servers there are a lot of drawbacks. First, it’s a lot of work to make VMs aware of each other and they don’t always share filesystems and resources easily. Plus, as your needs grow, VMs with a lot of memory and disk space are very expensive, and very often an application on a VM is only using a portion of the OS. For example, if you are deploying a tool that does data aggregation and runs as a service you won’t be taking advantage of the web server that might be running on server too. The issues mentioned in the previous paragraph are common headaches for those moving their on-premise implementations to the cloud, and those headaches gave rise to Docker. Docker is a lighter weight form of virtualization that allows for easier sharing of files, versioning, and configuration. Servers that could only host a few VMs can host thousands of Docker images, so providers get better bang for the buck for their server purchases. Further explanation of Docker is an article all by itself, but for now it’s import to realize that Docker needs to be part of any discussion of moving your applications to the cloud. DaaS (Desktop as a Service) Desktop computers are expensive for large corporations to implement and maintain. The cost of the OS, hardware, security software, productivity software, and more start to add up to where it makes a major impact on any corporation’s budget. Then just as they finish deploying new systems to everyone in the company, it’s time to start upgrading again because Microsoft just released a new OS. Another fact with most desktop computers is that they are heavily underutilized, and DaaS allows an IT department to dynamically allocate RAM and disk space based on user need. In addition backups and restores are a breeze in this environment, and if you are using a third party provider all you need to do is make a phone call when a restore of a file or desktop is needed. Plus upgrades to new operating systems are seamless because the DaaS provider takes care of them for you. The main advantage I see with DaaS is security. With one project I was involved with, we restored the state of each Desktop to a base configuration each night. While this did not affect user files, it did remove any malware that might have been accidently installed by a user clicking on the wrong email. Documents from Microsoft Office or Adobe products were scanned with a separate antivirus program residing on the storage system they were a part of, and the network appliance that we used did not allow for the execution of software. That made it very secure for the client I was working with. So what does a user have on their desktops? Luckily in recent years there has been an explosion of low cost computing devices, such as a Raspberry PI, that support Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) so your users could access a windows desktop from the linux-based PI which you can get for a measely . DaaS is awesome for your average information worker, but for a power user like a software developer this setup in my experience doesn’t work well. Your average developer needs

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