This chapter’s objectives are:

• 15.1- Identify use cases for AppExchange applications

15.1- Identify use cases for AppExchange applications

• The AppExchange is a marketplace to buy, build, sell, and install applications for Salesforce.com.
• It is the App store for Salesforce – some apps are free, some paid
• Ability to expand your platform as the companies who made these Apps spent lot of time developing it
• The AppExchange continues to grow in popularity. If you have a need within Salesforce that will require significant development to solve, there’s a good chance that there is an AppExchange package to meet that need.
• Common use cases include:
  • Marketing automation (Marketo, Silverpop, etc.)
  • Data quality (duplicate prevention, address verification, etc.)
  • Connectors (to variety of external systems)
  • Expense management (Concur, etc.)
• Native or Non-Native? Evaluating Salesforce Apps: A native application is developed entirely on the Salesforce platform – its functionality does not rely on an external system(s).
• Managed vs. unmanaged packages
  
  • Managed:
    • Can be upgraded
    • Does not count against org-wide limits
    • Can be partially customized (source code is not visible, fields cannot be deleted, but picklist values can be changed)
  • Unmanaged
    • Cannot be upgraded
    • Counts against org-wide limits (e.g. max # of objects and fields)
    • Can be completely customized (source code can be changed, fields removed, etc.)
• Force.com Labs AppExchange packages: Force.com Labs releases AppExchange packages for free that provide new functionality, although the packages are not supported. These are done by SF Lab.
• Access App Exchange by going to: Build | AppExchange Marketplace
• Select an App, for example: Salesforce CRM Dashboard
• You can see the details of the App on the top right:
• Click on Get it to get the App
• Login to AppExchange (Salesforce account)
• select where to install: Admin only, All users, selected profiles (select from the bottom) with access level.
• Another good free dashboard app is “Salesforce Adoption Dashboards”
• Now installed. Check it in: Build | Develop | Installed Packages
• Now new dashboards will show in the Dashboard tab!