As you learn about and use Salesforce, you may hear the term “Salesforce Org” and hear questions about how many we use. An Org (Organization) is simply the system where you log in to perform your work. Universities and businesses can decide to use just one Org or they can use multiple orgs. The Salesforce architecture is designed for this flexibility so that each university can implement Salesforce in the way that best supports their business. Each solution comes with advantages and disadvantages, and developing an Org strategy is a key decision when implementing Salesforce. It is the foundation for CRM enterprise architecture, and all other development and integration decisions build on it.
To help us determine the best strategy for Kent State, Salesforce led an on-site Org Strategy Workshop for us in June. During this four hour workshop, a Salesforce Success team led us through an analysis exercise to understand – from a business process and technology perspective - where our strengths lie and where we are aligned. They guided our discussion through four important areas: Culture, Business Process, Technology, and Support. Representatives from Recruitment, Admissions, Student Retention, Student Affairs, OneStop, Institutional Advancement, and Information Services were present. We worked through the questions of understanding where our technology and business processes are common and where they are different, as well as where our data needs are unique and where they are similar. We talked about the University’s technology support model and whether support is embedded in the business or whether it is managed by IS. We reviewed our University culture – do the above areas work completely independently or do they come together to discuss goals and prioritize projects? - and we identified core reporting requirements including external regulatory reporting and president/executive reporting.
At the end of the workshop we came away with a holistic view of our business landscape, from which the Salesforce Success team created a report highlighting pros and cons of both single-org and multi-org strategies. The internal analysis is continuing, as the team works to select a strategy that enables business agility, maximizes data sharing abilities, and minimizes risk.