Every company has different processes, so the Salesforce platform frequently needs to be customized or integrated with custom solutions and third-party apps to incorporate business-specific needs that the platform and its modules do not cover. Salesforce AppExchange was created with this viewpoint in mind.
What exactly is Salesforce AppExchange?
When it comes to Salesforce Ohana members, AppExchange is like our Amazon. It is the go-to place for Salesforce customers to discover amazing apps and other solutions for their Salesforce extension and implementation needs, whether they are looking for pre-configured solutions for their custom processes or identifying the right CRM consultant.
Salesforce AppExchange is the world’s leading enterprise marketplace and the heart of the Salesforce ecosystem, with over 5,000 listings, approximately 8 million customer installs, and 90,000 reviews. Indeed, more than 88% of Salesforce customers and 95% of the Fortune 100 have at least one AppExchange app installed.
Salesforce AppExchange Solutions
Though it began as an app marketplace, AppExchange now provides solutions to most Salesforce customer’s needs across all industries and budgets. It is very simple to test these solutions before purchasing them, and you can be confident that Salesforce’s security team thoroughly evaluated each offering.
Ready-to-install solutions
Over 5,000 pre-configured solutions are available on the Salesforce AppExchange and can be directly added to your Salesforce org or used in your existing configurations.
- Apps: Apps are ready-to-use solutions that can be installed in your Salesforce org. AppExchange offers a plethora of free and paid apps that are organized by solution use case, industry, and business process.
- Components: Because Salesforce customers benefit from Lightning-based development and UX, AppExchange offers hundreds of predefined Lightning components that can be dragged and dropped into your apps and pages, reducing development efforts for your team.
- Bolts: Salesforce communities enable businesses to provide an unprecedented experience for their external and internal stakeholders, and AppExchange provides Salesforce Lightning Bolts to assist with this. These are Industry solution templates created by a partner ecosystem to help you get to market faster. Lightning Bolts include industry process flows, Apps, Lightning Components, and Communities, all of which are fully integrated with the Salesforce platform and CRM. The services agreement with the listed SI Consulting Partner includes bolts.
- Lightning Data: Lightning Data offers pre-integrated, approved, and scalable data solutions for automating data operations such as filtering, scoring, and deduplication. As a result, end users can focus on improving their business rather than identifying relevant data.
- Lightning Flows: Lightning flows offer pre-built and configurable process automation flows that can be directly added to your workflow automation logic without the need for code. You can download and install standalone building blocks with flow actions as well as configurable pre-built business processes with flow templates.
Industry-specific solutions
Every industry has its own set of requirements. AppExchange allows users to search all industry-specific solutions to extend your Salesforce org in one place to help you find what’s relevant for your business. There are industry-specific Bolts, process automation tools, process apps, and components available.
Categories of Salesforce AppExchange Solutions
AppExchange solutions are classified according to how they are built and managed. All solutions fit into one of the following categories:
- Native Apps: Native apps are built and hosted within Salesforce using the Lightning Platform. A native app lives within Salesforce and does not require a separate integration. All of your app data is securely stored in Salesforce when you use native apps.
- Non-native Apps: A Non-native App is an app built outside of Salesforce that integrates with Salesforce via the Salesforce API. The app will be hosted outside of the Salesforce platform, and data may be stored in locations other than the Salesforce servers.
- Managed Packages: Managed packages are full-scale installable solutions in which the provider customizes and upgrades the apps for optimization. Customers only need to install the package in the org in order to leverage the desired business outcome.
- Unmanaged Packages: Unmanaged packages are distributed as open-source solutions that developers can use as a starting point when developing functionalities. Developers can use these packages and build/modify them to meet project objectives. Customizing or upgrading such a package is not the responsibility of the providers.
How to Use Salesforce AppExchange?
Now that we’ve discussed the offerings and benefits of using Salesforce AppExchange, here’s a concise but comprehensive list of reasons to use AppExchange:
Step 1: Log in to Salesforce AppExchange with your Salesforce credentials to get a truly personalized experience tailored to your specific requirements.
Step 2: Intelligent recommendations: On the “Recommended For You” page, you can find solutions to your business challenges. AppExchange tracks your business problem, search history, and similar searches to recommend top picks that meet your requirements. The more you use AppExchange, the more accurate these recommendations become.
Step 3: Research industry or solution-specific products and/or consultants that meet your requirements.
Step 4: You can search for a solution/service provider using the search tile, which includes information such as cost, business use case, demo, customer reviews, website address, rating, and more.
Talk with your Salesforce administrator
Keep in mind that only administrators can install apps and configure them to your specifications. As a result, make sure to contact your Salesforce administrator ahead of time and let him/her know which apps you’d like to try for your specific need.
The AppExchange’s Future
Salesforce’s large acquisitions such as Tableau and MuleSoft, as well as its proclivity toward technology trends such as Artificial Intelligence (Einstein) and personalization, create enormous opportunities for app developers to bring new customizations into Salesforce via AppExchange.
