Why regularly audit your Salesforce Org using MetaFields?

In Salesforce’s dynamic environment, maintaining the security and effectiveness of your Org is essential. Over time, business needs change, and technology evolves, leading to features becoming obsolete or underutilized. Without routine inspections, issues can escalate, requiring costly reactive maintenance to resolve.

Access controls may no longer align with current security policies, or configurations that previously performed well might not meet updated regulatory requirements or key performance indicators. Regular maintenance efforts, including audits with MetaFields, help you adopt a proactive approach to managing your Salesforce Org, preventing potential failures, and ensuring operational efficiency.

By incorporating MetaFields into your audit process, you equip your entire team with data-driven insights to optimize your Org’s performance, extend the lifespan of equipment, and enhance resource utilization.

When to audit your Org using MetaFields?

MetaFields are a powerful tool for managing Salesforce metadata. Think of MetaFields as labels or tags you can assign to Salesforce elements. They help you organize, track, and prioritize them based on business needs.

Using MetaFields enhances your Metadata dictionary with custom information and creates a foundation for effective maintenance planning. The essential steps covered in this guide apply if any of the following scenarios apply to you:

• Quarterly Compliance Audits: You want to regularly review profiles, permission sets, and object access to ensure alignment with organizational security policies.
• Post-Release Adoption: Review if the business is using new salesforce metadata in a week or two after the scheduled release.
• Post-Release Impact: Assess the impact of new Salesforce releases on existing capabilities and create an action plan for necessary adjustments.
• Capability Usage Reviews: Evaluate if existing business capabilities remain effective or are redundant and have become maintenance critical.
• Security Policy Updates: Audit and align Salesforce configurations whenever there are changes to organizational security policies.

Performing audits when the above scenarios occur, ensures you can make informed decisions and act promptly on high-priority tasks to support a preventive maintenance strategy.

Decision Matrix: Unified vs. Specialized Custom Fields

Firstly, you need to decide whether to apply a unified set of fields across all metadata types or to create specialized fields tailored to specific metadata types, such as access controls, objects, and automation. Your decision impacts how you execute maintenance objectives and develop comprehensive strategies.

Unified custom fields

This holistic approach applies a single set of fields across all metadata types. For example, a company conducting quarterly compliance audits may use the same Field, such as “Compliance Status,” across all metadata. This ensures uniformity, streamlines reporting, and reduces administrative effort.

• Pros:
  • Simplicity: Easier to manage and apply consistently across all metadata types.
  • Consistency: Ensures uniform criteria for reviewing all metadata, simplifying reporting and analysis.
  • Scalability: Unified custom fields support broad asset management software and are easier to scale without managing multiple field sets.
• Cons:
  • Lack of Specificity: This may not capture nuances of different metadata types and critical assets, leading to less actionable insights.
  • Overgeneralization: Important details specific to certain metadata types might be overlooked.

Specialized Custom Fields

Specialized custom fields are best for organizations with complex systems or diverse business needs. For instance, a company managing sensitive customer data might use specific Fields for access controls (like “Sensitive Data Access”) to highlight high-risk components while using “Usage Frequency” for automation to prioritize underutilized workflows.

• Pros:
  • Tailored Reviews: Custom fields capture specific details relevant to each metadata type, leading to more accurate insights.
  • Enhanced Reporting: Granular data allows for targeted reporting and decision-making on critical equipment.
  • Focused Audits: This approach enables different teams to focus on their relevant components during audits and aligns with effective communication strategies.
• Cons:
  • Complexity: Managing multiple sets of custom fields increases administrative overhead.
  • Inconsistency: Potential for inconsistent application of audit criteria across different metadata types.
  • Maintenance: Requires diligent maintenance from the maintenance technician and maintenance team as business needs evolve.

Field Definitions

Fields helps organize and manage your Salesforce metadata effectively. Depending on your approach, you can opt for a unified set of fields or tailored, specialized fields for specific metadata categories, which can be created within the metadata dictionary using MetaFields in the Elements.cloud platform.

Unified Approach: Key Fields

Use these Fields consistently across all metadata types to simplify management:

• Business Value: Tracks status as Valuable, Underutilized, or Not Used.
• Compliance Status: Marks as Compliant, Non-compliant, or Needs Review.
• Sensitive Data Flag: Identifies components with sensitive data.
• Last Reviewed Date: Captures the most recent review date.
• Next Audit Date: Schedules the following planned review.
• Impact Level: Assesses potential impact on business operations as High, Medium, or Low.

Specialized Approach: Tailored Fields

Create fields customized for specific metadata categories, such as:

1. Access Controls:
   • Access Level: Admin, Read/Write, Read-Only, or None.
   • Sensitive Data Access: Flags sensitive data permissions.
2. Objects & Fields:
   • Data Sensitivity Level: High, Medium, or Low.
   • Retention Policy: Permanent, 1 Year, 5 Years, or 10 Years.
3. Automations:
   • Automation Complexity: Rates complexity as High, Medium, or Low.
   • Business Impact: Critical, Important, or Non-Critical.

Maintaining your Org using Elements.cloud

Follow these key steps to align with maintenance priorities and drive operational efficiency:

Step 1: Create a custom view of metadata for specified components

Start by creating a custom view of metadata that includes the metadata types and their standard and custom attributes you care about.

Even if you opt to have a unified set of Fields for maintenance across all metadata types, it is still recommended to have separate custom views of metadata for different groupings of metadata types.

Step 2: Classify metadata

Inspect the subset of metadata components defined in your list. Review the adoption data (like record counts), dependencies, and documentation. You can also do that with the relevant business stakeholders. Using a data-driven approach, prioritize audits for critical assets.

Then, it is easy to sit down regularly with key stakeholders and review their usage of the platform.

Then, use the ‘Assessment’ tab in the right panel. Fill the MetaFields that you created above, with appropriate values.

We recommend you classify objects, record types, and major automation by which business function or stakeholder they apply. You can then curate separate custom views of metadata by their respective departments.

Step 3: Taking action

What can you do if you find a metadata component that, upon review, is no longer used or requires an update (for instance, if an API version of automation is outdated)?

Custom views of metadata come equipped with many single and bulk operations. You can raise user stories and document a task to deprecate or work on a given component. You can then pick up that story from your backlog and deliver it when there is capacity.

Step 4: Schedule regular reviews

When you finish the review, if there are many components that are still used by the business and work efficiently, use the scheduling process to set audit reminders, prioritizing critical maintenance items.

Using the ‘Next review date’ field you defined earlier, document when you plan to do the following review.

We recommend performing a maintenance review of your key Org capabilities once a quarter or once every six months. Then, create an event or a reminder in your calendar with that date so you and your team can plan for that review.

You can create a custom view of metadata that includes all components with a ‘next review date‘ scheduled by a specific timeframe. That way, you will have a single list of all your to-dos when the time comes.

By embedding maintenance reviews into your workflow, you future-proof your Org, avoid potential failures, and support a culture of informed decisions and continuous improvement.

Conclusion

Regularly auditing your Salesforce Org is critical to maintaining operational excellence. By integrating proactive inspections with tailored Fields, you can align your maintenance goals with organizational and operational goals, ensuring a well-structured preventive maintenance plan. These audits serve as the cornerstone of your maintenance scheduling and enable you to plan and prioritize

You can track usage and ensure uptime through routine maintenance and real-time monitoring, meeting evolving maintenance requirements while reducing overall maintenance costs. Fields or categorizations empower maintenance managers to make data-driven decisions that support an efficient maintenance plan, streamline workflows, and optimize resource availability.

Careful planning and adherence to maintenance guidelines are essential for achieving cost savings and creating an effective maintenance strategy. This approach ensures that your Org remains functional and adaptable, aligning with long-term objectives.

By focusing on future maintenance planning and adhering to your preventive maintenance program, you can refine your Salesforce environment to meet current and future needs. Synchronizing with maintenance schedules ensures seamless operations and maximizes the impact of preventive maintenance while minimizing the need for reactive maintenance. Ultimately, a well-maintained Salesforce Org supports operational excellence and provides a framework for ongoing success.