Author: Tim Pash, SVP Salesforce Implementation Consulting
Many companies are scrambling right now to figure out how to remain productive while employees work remotely. A common reason why companies decide to move a solution to a cloud-based environment is due to performance issues encountered with their locally-hosted, legacy-based infrastructure. Even with the workers in the building, those systems oftentimes still have performance issues. Adding in the complexity of remote work often degrades the system further due to the extra VPN load and the sheer number of remote workers hitting the systems concurrently.
Infrastructure is key to remote productivity
HigherEchelon as a company does not have a single on-premise server running any of their mission-critical systems. As a start-up company in 2009, we had the advantage of being able to start fresh and design our operations exclusively on forward-leaning technology. Our co-founders’ faith in Salesforce has also benefitted us. By utilizing a significant extension of the Salesforce Sales Cloud platform to run our core business systems, we have (so far) been unscathed by the current crisis. We share this information not to brag, but to reinforce the fact that our experience and resources may qualify us to help you resolve some of your most pressing current technology issues.
When to invest
These are trying times we know, and the instinct may be to ‘circle the wagons’ and cut off all non-essential projects. However, if there is a system or solution that is getting bogged down in your environment and is causing significant pain, HigherEchelon may be able to help. A Salesforce platform can be purchased and instantiated quickly. Using “clicks not code,” HigherEchelon can rapidly get an alternate operating solution running in the cloud that will be highly performant and work great on all manner of devices including phones, tablets and PCs/Macs.
A typical use case might be a system that is collecting critical data requiring multiple forms to be filled out, with workflows, approvals and other business rules. A solution like this can very easily be extended to user populations outside of your company, so that the public can interact with your company’s solution in an intuitive way. HigherEchelon uses Salesforce in a comparable scenario to post our job openings, collect applications from candidates, and vet them for suitability to join our company. The same solution can be retooled to seek volunteers or qualified personnel to support the needs of our local, regional and national COVID 19 response.
How to start
We have resources available today that can quickly digest your user requirements, mock-up a proof-of-concept solution and upscale it rapidly to be production ready. In addition, Salesforce is making their product Quip Starter available free to any Salesforce customer or non-profit organization through September 30, 2020. In fact, Salesforce is offering many resources in response to COVID-19:
- Free 6 months of Quip (Salesforce collaborative document/slides/spreadsheet tool)
- Salesforce Experts to Help You Through COVID-19
- COVID-19 Tableau Live Tracking
- Resources To Lead Your Small Business Through The Coronavirus Outbreak
Salesforce and HigherEchelon cannot fix everything that is wrong in the world today, but if there are real technology bottlenecks that are hurting your mission, please give us a try – we are here to help. Reach out to us from our website at for an initial discussion.