See How Salesforce.org Helps You
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Identify the key differentiators of working with Salesforce.org.
- List three benefits of the Salesforce Platform.
Working with Salesforce.org means that not only do you get access to the innovative technology, culture, and core values of Salesforce, but you’re also a partner in Salesforce.org’s larger mission to empower changemakers with the tools and technology they need to make a better world.
Similarly, Education Cloud is built on top of the Salesforce Platform, which means that your institution has access to everything the Salesforce Platform has to offer in addition to the purpose-built apps and unique programs and services from Salesforce.org.
So what makes the platform that powers Education Cloud so special?
It All Begins and Ends with Trust
Data privacy is critically important to your constituents so we know that system and data security is especially important to your institution. At Salesforce, trust is the number one priority. Salesforce is committed to providing secure access for all customers, and they spend an incredible amount of time and resources on a world-class data security program. In fact, you can head over to the Salesforce Trust website site (conveniently included in the Resources section at the end of this unit) to see the status of Salesforce availability and performance.
This means that whether you’re a student, staff, faculty, or alumni, if you see a Salesforce login page, you can know that your data is secure, private, and accessible 24 hours a day. That’s because Salesforce runs on a trusted multitenant architecture, which means that all the institutions that use Salesforce run on the same version. Your education institution is actually running on the same platform, with the same level of security and performance, as some of the largest companies in the world.
This concept is important because it means that your institution can stay focused on the demands of innovating and scaling to meet the needs of your students, while Salesforce manages the infrastructure needed to keep your system safe, secure, and up to date.
Continuous Innovation and Flexibility
On top of the Salesforce multitenant architecture sits a single, secure, and scalable platform that’s easy to customize and upgrade without anything breaking.
Configuring Salesforce to meet the specific requirements of your institution is a big reason the Salesforce Platform is so powerful. Salesforce separates your customizations into a special metadata layer, so platform updates and improvements happen in the background without touching any of your data or customizations. This allows Salesforce to innovate continuously and deliver the results directly to your institution via three free upgrades per year.
Finally, with Salesforce, additional users and functionality can be added with a few clicks—no extra hardware, no extra risk. If you need to scale up or restructure in the future, Salesforce effortlessly changes with you.
Note
In times of crisis and unexpected change, the ability to innovate and pivot quickly with clicks, not code, becomes especially valuable. During the onset of COVID-19, Babson College went live in just 48 hours with an app built on Salesforce designed to track online learning engagement. Read the full blog post here to learn more about how Babson used Salesforce to provide immediate support to students, faculty and staff during a time of unprecedented change.
Unlocking the Connected Experience
The flexibility of the Salesforce platform also means that all your data doesn't need to live in Salesforce. Unlike many point solutions, Education Cloud is a unified platform that brings data together across your SIS, ERP and LMS systems into a single pane of glass so your entire institution can create a connected experience. Integration across systems is made possible by open APIs and helps create the 360-degree view of each constituent.
Partner Apps
Building custom apps is a part of our DNA at Salesforce, and the same is true for the partner ecosystem. The AppExchange is the world’s largest marketplace for partner apps that integrate with Salesforce. Whether you choose to work with one of our partners in the ecosystem or decide to create completely custom applications from the ground up, our ecosystem provides the capability to interact with the system the way you need to.
The Power of Community-Driven Innovation
At Salesforce.org, we know that when our community of education innovators get together, their ideas change the world. With thousands of education institutions using Education Cloud, our collective goal is to help you get the most out of the Salesforce platform while creating opportunities to learn, grow, and innovate together. We are dedicated to helping institutions streamline processes so they can improve the student experience and help shape social mobility within the broader communities in which they serve. But we know we can’t do it alone. By consistently bringing together our community of customers, partners, and developers, we drive continued innovation from one school to the next.
In fact, Salesforce.org is incredibly proud to support groups of thought leaders who advocate for and serve the Salesforce education community. These education Trailblazers give their time and talents serving on customer advisory councils such as the Higher Education Advisory Councils (AMER & EMEA), Higher Education CIO Council, Higher Education CMO & Marketing Leaders Council, and the K-12 Advisory Council.
Note
The Higher Education Advisory Council (AMER), the first Salesforce.org advisory council, was started by a group of committed customers, and it continues to be member-driven to this day. They are a working group of evangelists committed to helping the higher education Salesforce ecosystem by hosting office hours, leading user groups, participating in referral calls, sharing demos, speaking at events, and lots more.
We are proud that these Councils and the more than 40,000 nonprofit and education members in the online Power of Us Hub community are the backbone of customer innovation. With open source community sprints for EDA and events like the Higher Ed Summit, we depend on our community-driven innovation and feedback to drive our overall strategy for success.
When you combine the top-rated tools of the Salesforce platform with Salesforce.org's philanthropic mission and strategic focus on education, you can see why more and more education institutions are choosing Education Cloud to help them become a connected campus.
