Grab every technology coming out of Salesforce.com and run with it. I really think that today’s Force.com developers are part of the next technological breakthrough. If you have any chance to stake your career on that, then by all means do it.
From Admin to App Builder:
Force.com Enables Motorola Administrator to Expand Role, Responsibilities
Force.com has made Michael Farrington a force to be reckoned with. As a member of the Sales Technology team at Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility business on Long Island, Farrington began his career as a Salesforce system administrator. But after dusting off the programming skills he acquired as an undergrad and applying them to the Force.com platform, Farrington has expanded his role and responsibilities. His first effort is an innovative user management utility called Draggin’ Role, which Farrington has posted on AppExchange for others to use for free.
Installed at Motorola, Draggin’ Role has helped streamline territory realignments of the division’s sales force and the daily maintenance of the large associated database. The application is used by Farrington and his fellow system administrators based at division headquarters, as well as delegated administrators in the field, who use Draggin’ Role to manage regional personnel. “Draggin’ Role is not only a big time-saver, but it helps keep our sales force information current by making the data much easier to inspect and assess,” Farrington said.
Building that application on top of Force.com has changed how internal customers view the Sales Technology team at Motorola, as well as their own expectations for themselves. “Before, we limited ourselves to what the default configuration allowed us to do. Now, looking not just at a set of applications but an entire development platform, we think we can do almost anything.”
Farrington came to Motorola straight out of Rutgers University, where he studied computer engineering but preferred using his business analysis and design skills. “I found more enjoyment dealing with people than just sitting behind a keyboard pumping out code all day. But I like to think of myself as a creative guy, and if you give me some building blocks, I’ll come up with something that nobody else thought of. That’s exactly what Force.com gives you. And as the platform has grown in capabilities, I’ve come to see those building blocks as a challenge. I’m always asking myself: ‘what kind of killer app can I come up with now?’”
Farrington’s answer became Draggin’ Role, which allows a Salesforce administrator to easily change user roles and the hierarchy into which they fit. Both are key to controlling access privileges to Force.com data. As with other Force.com applications, Draggin’ Role grew out of a real, but overlooked need. “You have to be an administrator to fully understand the problem: it was a pain to rearrange and evaluate our role hierarchy. Now, you just drag and drop your roles to restructure your hierarchy, then drag and drop users from one role to another.”
On-the-job self-training
Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility business (formerly Symbol Technologies) is known for its mobile computing, advanced data capture, wireless infrastructure and RFID solutions. The business unit uses its 1000-seat Salesforce installation primarily for sales forecasting.
As the Force.com platform kept expanding, Farrington’s technical genes got re-energized. He first started learning about s-controls, and when the AJAX Toolkit came out with its s-control extensions, “I dusted off my programming boots, picked up a book and learned JavaScript. And JavaScript, along with HTML, became my gateway into Web development.”
Climbing this learning curve took place in full view on company time. Farrington actually wrote JavaScript and s-control proficiency into his objectives. His supervisor saw the value and signed off, committing Farrington to a serious endeavor. “If somebody were to follow my path, they could do it in less than a year. And if they are already proficient with JavaScript and know the Force.com API, it’s more a matter of months. And now, with Visualforce and Apex code, the learning curve is compressing even further.” In getting up to speed, Farrington calls the Apex Developer Network discussion boards his “biggest ally,” not just as a place to ask questions, but as an experience-rich knowledgebase containing countless potential solutions.
Now that Farrington has completed his first “killer app,” he’s amazed how far Draggin’ Role has traveled. The list of companies using it includes some of the largest salesforce.com licensees. “It’s very encouraging how far you can go with Force.com, starting with just an idea and moving all the way through the cycle until you have actual people who are making good use of your work.”
And what advice would Farrington give to other system administrators? “Grab every technology coming out of Salesforce.com and run with it. I really think that today’s Force.com developers are part of the next technological breakthrough. If you have any chance to stake your career on that, then by all means do it.”
How do I get Started?
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