Come on and let’s go play… It’s the middle of July, so in lieu of a snowman, we’ll build some test orgs. It’s time to graduate beyond your go-to developer edition org. Yes, there are other options, but what are they and which do I choose? Salesforce recently posted a handy table explaining all of the available editions and what exactly you get with each. They even tell you how to sign up for them, so you can get started testing now!
Some common rules to live by are as follows:
- No matter what, you’re going to need a partner development org to do your packaging.
- Depending upon the complexity of your project, you may want to do your development in a partner EE org. You can utilize the three sandboxes and the more generous storage and API limits for unit testing. Then, migrate everything over to a partner development org for packaging.
- Test in EVERY test org that you might imagine your users wanting to use your product.
The Proof of Concept
Don’t limit yourself when it comes to building out a POC for executives, clients, or investors. Choose an environment with all the features you want to show off with Salesforce.com. Consider a partner consulting edition org and utilize as many out of the box features as you can to point out the true value they’re getting with the platform. Open up some additional avenues for product expansion in the decision-makers’ minds. Don’t get stuck showing off something you can’t package either. Keep in mind the limitations of the managed package model and don’t corner yourself by not being able to deliver what’s in your POC. Don’t over-complicate things. Find a balance. COMING UP: Is Salesforce preparing the Tooling and Metadata APIs for PDE migrations?
