becoming a salesforce.com technical architect
DESCRIPTION
Presented to the Sydney SF Developer User Group 13 February 2013 Video of this presentation is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-oVBgRVzBM from about the 23 minute mark to the 39 minute mark.TRANSCRIPT
Becoming a Salesforce.com Technical Architect
What is it?• The Salesforce.com Certified Technical Architect
program is designed for technical architects who want to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and capabilities to assessing customer architecture; designing secure, high-performance technical solutions on the Force.com platform; communicating technical solutions and design tradeoffs effectively to business stakeholders; and providing a delivery framework that ensures quality and success.
Put another way
By the numbers*
• Around 45 TA’s worldwide – From zero about 2 years ago
• 6 in Australia – 5 at Salesforce.com–Me*As far as I know
What are the steps?
• 3 parts– Self assessment (Online, Free)–Multiple choice exam (Proctored, $500)– Review Board presentation
(Presentation/Discussion, $6000)
Candidate background…(From Salesforce.com’s Study Guide)
• 5+ years of implementation experience, including development, across the full software development lifecycle
• 2+ years of experience in an architect role • 1+ years of experience with Force.com as a technical lead • Experience with other development platforms, preferably .net, java, and ruby • General experience with real-time integration; experience with integration on the Force.com platform • Experience with multiple, complex, and at least one large Salesforce implementation project involving
multiple releases, change management process, and/or multi-locale deployment • Understanding of best practices and design trade-offs, with the ability to communicate design choices • Experience with multiple, and at least one object-oriented, development patterns/principles • Awareness of mobile solutions and considerations • Awareness of data migration considerations, design trade-offs, and common ETL tools • Awareness of common third-party solution providers for Salesforce • Experience designing test plans and evaluating effectiveness • Experience with lifecycle methodologies • Participation in knowledge sharing and mentorship • Proven success with projects involving the skills and technologies above, with a portfolio of references to
speak for the work • Knowledge of internet and cloud architecture paradigms
My Formal Preparation• Self assessment
– None
• Multiple choice exam – ~24 hours reviewing Salesforce documentation
• Review Board presentation– 2 x ½ day group workshops at Salesforce offices– 1x 1:1 coaching with Salesforce– 1 x dry walk through with Salesforce.com staff– 40+ hours self study– 2 x Sleepless nights.
Also• ~16 years of Software
Development/Integration/Project Management• 2 years project experience with Salesforce technology• Other certifications
– Developer Certification (Pre-requisite)– Advanced Developer– Admin– Advanced Admin– Sales Cloud Consultant– Service Cloud Consultant
My Timeline• 25 October 2011– Passed Self Assessment
• 8 July 2012– Passed Multiple Choice
• 29 October 2012– Cleared 5/7 competency areas, invited back for
abbreviated session
• 28 January 2013– Passed Review Board, Granted Certification
The Review Board
Start Time End Time Session6.00 AM 6.05 AM Check-In
6.05 AM 7.20 AM Hypothetical Scenario Prep
7.20 AM 7.30 AM Break
7.30 AM 8.00 AM Hypothetical Scenario Presentation
8.00 AM 8.30 AM Hypothetical Scenario Q&A
8.30 AM 8.45 AM Break
8.45 AM 9.15 AM Case Study Presentation
9.15 AM 10 AM Case Study Q&A
My Review Board was in Sydney via Video Conference with San FranciscoAbout 4-5 people were ‘Judging’
What was hard• The Hypothetical
– 7-8 pages of requirements– 1 hour 20 minutes to design and present
• The Uncertainty– Knowing (really knowing) all the areas they could ask you questions
on.– Knowing if my Case Study was going to be ‘big enough’– Was I hitting the right mix of pragmatism and Architectural theory?
• The reputation of the Review Board– 4-5 people who probably know more than you know
• Waiting for the results– 1-4 week wait.
In SummaryIt’s not an certification that’s about cramming facts or the giving the right canned answer….
…It’s about being able to get up in front of a Salesforce.com customer and deal with all
their project needs at an Enterprise Architecture level
Questions?