What is a Salesforce Administrator?
Administrators tend to work on bigger picture integration between businesses and Salesforce technologies. They work directly with customers to define build requirements, customization requests, and long-term desired outcomes.
An effective admin knows the ins and outs of the greater Salesforce platform, and can really dig into the specifics of what you and your business needs on a highly-individualized basis. This allows you to get a fully customized plan of integration specific to your business. In a world that is won and lost on the margins, this can prove invaluable.
What do Salesforce developers do?
Developers can best be thought of as builders. They are the “doers” of your integration team, work to bring the vision that you’ve created with your admin to life.
One of the most common misconceptions surrounding Salesforce developers is that they are employed by Salesforce themselves. This is almost always not the case. Countless developers work as freelancers or within consultancy companies (like us here at Ascend!).
They work directly with managers and business owners to work toward solving their problems and improving processes. This small detail is especially important for business owners to be aware of because it ensures that your developers and admins are working for you rather than serving the corporate interests of one of the largest companies in the world.
Why does this difference matter?
As a business owner or manager, it’s incredibly important to consult with both admins and developers (or hiring an outside firm to streamline the process) before moving forward in the integration process.
This is because they serve two distinctly different functions. Administrators think big picture, and tend to have a brain that thinks deeply about long-term efficiency. Developers, on the other hand, build and execute for a living. They take the plan and make it a reality, providing you, the business owner, with deliverables that can begin to directly influence your bottom line.