Salesforce Lightning – A new and better way to build Salesforce apps by Mansa Systems
One of biggest complaints of Salesforce users has been that the UI is clunky. As the web moved to responsive design, the Salesforce UI did not evolve as fast as it should have. This has pushed Salesforce to rethink the way their platform is designed, and the way apps are built on it. This move has led to the launch of Lightning, a new platform that Salesforce calls ‘The future of CRM”.
Lightning is a completely new implementation of Salesforce that’s designed to bring additional analytics and in-line intelligence to drive more sales. Salesforce does this by putting the focus on the application logic, and democratizing app creation on the platform.
Here are the major changes with the Lightning platform:
1. A new information architecture
With Lightning, relevant information is surfaced for each screen, streamlining processes and workflows. For example, the ‘Activity Feed’ surfaces the latest updates from all accounts assigned to a Sales Rep. With ‘Contextual Hovers’ you can see everything going on with a customer without going to different pages in the application. Similarly, the ‘Opportunity Board’ gives you the complete picture across all of your deals. And finally, customizable dashboards let you pick and choose what data you’d like to have at your fingertips even if it’s not available by default. Lightning puts more power in the hands of end-users, and this will only translate into a more satisfying experience for the Sales team.
2. A new design language
With all the new features available within the UI, it’s important that all features work the same irrespective of which device they’re viewed on. This requires a new design language, which Lightning delivers. It promises a ‘consumer-like experience’ across every device, browser and OS. This greatly simplifies development, and customization, and makes Salesforce a responsive platform.
3. A new way to build apps
With Lightning, Salesforce is looking to boost the number of custom apps developed on its platform. To do this, Salesforce has greatly democratized the app development process, making it possible for even non-developer users to create applications. Any user can start to build apps using the drag-and-drop visual interface of Lightning Components. What’s more, Lightning apps can be built as standalone apps or on top of existing Salesforce applications or Salesforce1 mobile applications. This brings great flexibility into how your system is designed, makes previously complex workflows now a breeze.
Lightning can make a big difference to your Sales operations. While it’s very easy to do simple customizations, and build basic applications, as a business, you often need complex applications with intricate application logic, and you may not have the talent or bandwidth internally to develop these apps on your own. If done wrong, you could end up with applications that don’t work with each other, and end up costing your business dearly. Because of this, it makes sense for you to work with a consultant to do your Salesforce Lightning development.
Mansa is a Salesforce consultancy with over a decade of experience implementing and integrating Salesforce for companies from every industry. You can count on our ability to build custom applications for you on the Lightning platform, or handle custom development for you. Get in touch with us today to discuss what you’d like to get out of the Lightning platform, and how we can help you achieve your goals.