Dreamforce 2021 – The Architech Club Round-Up

Dreamforce n chill

Dreamforce 2021 – The Architech Club Round-Up 

 

Dreamforce 2021 – we were ready for you! And boy, were you ready for us! From a small invited, and carefully tested audience in San Francisco to limited in-person watch parties – it didn’t feel so much like we were ‘back-to-normal’, but certainly moving forwards into a new, more inclusive normal. 

More people than ever got to experience Dreamforce via Salesforce+ and if you missed any, it’s all available to view on demand along with a whole host of great content. If you want to know more about what happened at Dreamforce itself, we’ve rounded up our ‘best bits’ below.

Dreamforce 2021 Highlights

  • Salesforce Co-Founder Parker Harris announcing that he will take personal responsibility for all things Salesforce Architect. That means a lot to us. What it means for the ecosystem is that the importance of involving an architect in Salesforce projects is about to move into the spotlight in a big way. And we’re here for it!
  • Slack = Your Digital HQ. It certainly is at TAC. If you thought Slack was pretty cool before it joined Salesforce, wait till you see the glow up it’s had (and it’s not over yet) – the new Slack and Salesforce integrations are a whole blog in itself, but highlights include: a digital deal room so that you can carry out your whole Sales process through Slack, including inviting your customer in to chat, Slack-first marketing, bringing Marketing Cloud and Datorama insights into Slack, and Slack-first analytics, giving you Tableau’s data-driven insights and notifications right there in Slack. 
  • Workflow rules and Process Builder are being retired in the Winter ‘23 release. The future is Flow. If you’ve been paying attention, the writing has been on the wall for some time. Here at The Architech Clubhouse, we’ve made sure that our Admins and Consultants are all comfortable with Flow. If you’d like help, let us know! 
  • LucidChart templates and shapes, built specially by the Salesforce Architect Success team and made generally available! These cool features are definitely going to make our jobs easier 
  • Native Backup & Restore (the return!). We know a lot of people have been asking for this, and, like a favourite Uncle at Christmas, Salesforce has made it happen this year. It’s still in pilot, and won’t be commercially available until next month, but it’s sure to be a game-changer. In the meantime, there are some great solutions out there on the AppExchange like Dreamforce sponsors OwnBackup and DevOps one-stop solution Gearset – it’s worth checking all of your options to see what suits your needs, so if you’d like help making an assessment then give us a call. 
  • Lionel Richie scolding Marc for a noon appearance! Clearly, he’s a night owl.

 

Dreamforce 2021 Lowlights

  • Like last year, the online Chat facility didn’t run entirely smoothly. Every time the Mods removed some spam it made the stream freeze and lag.  This also affected the watch party we attended in London, hosted by OwnBackup & Copado, and we missed some key parts of Marc’s keynote. We made up for it in networking though!
  • A lot of people were very invested in the Disney+ offer…until they discovered it was only available in certain countries. 
  • Missing our friends and customers. Dreamforce has always been an experience – and whilst it’s a full-on week, it’s not the same when you can’t experience the sideshows of the Trailhead camp, meet for a coffee and a chat, or discover new innovations in the Dreamforce Expo. We very much hope to experience Dreamforce in San Francisco in 2022.

 

The Architech Club’s Take

For us the renewed commitment to all things Architect is a powerful signal. It shows that Salesforce intends to advocate that customers make sure they’re making good design decisions early on in their projects for long-term success.

To help make sure customers get the quality of service that The Architech Club has long championed, Salesforce has developed a whole suite of tools, templates and guidance. We’re really proud to have been Trailblazers in using these as part of how we work at TAC, adding our own sprinkling of TAC disco glitter along the way. 

We’re also thrilled to hear that Salesforce has successfully achieved Net Zero. Proof that a global multi-billion dollar business can operate on 100% renewable energy, and deliver a carbon neutral cloud to its customers. We believe wholeheartedly in sustainability at TAc and encourage people to think about it not just in terms of CO2 emissions generated by data flow (definitely that though), but in terms of the effort expended to make sure you get a solution that’s fit for your future needs. 

 

What do YOU think?

That’s our summary, but we want to know what it means to you? Tweet us and let us know! What are you excited about? What do you want to discuss making part of your solution? Book a call to talk about the possibilities and building your dream inspired by Dreamforce 2021.

About the Author

Gemma Blezard

CEO and Salesforce MVP

Gemma is Founder and CEO of The Architech Club and a great inspiration to anyone dealing with life’s challenges. Gemma is also co-founder of Ladies Be Architects and an Award-winning advocate for diversity.
She is in demand as a conference speaker at Dreamforce, World Tour and Community events. She is open about living and working with breast cancer, and balances being a mother, with her roles as a Salesforce MVP, 18 x Salesforce Certified Solution Architect and leading The Architech Club.

The Architech Club Ltd is a limited company registered in the UK, under Companies House registration number 12248208.
Registered at 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1N 3AX. VAT number GB 334188303.

© 2020 The Architech Club. All rights reserved.