Choosing the Right Salesforce App Development Approach 

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Salesforce is the best-in-class CRM tool that does not shy away from extending the capabilities of its platform with annual releases and new features. Therefore, to keep up with the evolving needs of the platform, businesses are finding the best ways to address their evolving needs.  As Salesforce is a giant in the CRM space, it offers both custom and pre-built applications that can easily integrate with its platform. However, businesses often find themselves in a dilemma whether to go with the AppExchange development and integrate functionality that addresses their needs or prefer custom development that offers more app control. 

In this blog post, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of both and help you decide which option you should choose to make the most of your Salesforce instance. So, let’s start. Shall we? 

The What and the Why of Pre-Built Salesforce App

Prebuilt Salesforce apps are ready-made applications that are available on AppExchange. These applications address common challenges and are developed by Salesforce itself or by third parties for easy integration within your Salesforce ecosystem. 

Pros of Choosing a Pre-Built Salesforce App

• Pre-figured features and faster deployment 

• Requires no development from scratch 

• Already tested and comes with reviews and ratings 

• Comes with customer support and frequent updates 

Cons of Choosing a Pre-Built Salesforce App

• May not align with your unique workflow due to limited customization 

• Might not integrate smoothly with your existing system 

• Pre-built apps charge a monthly or annual fee 

The What and the Why of Custom Salesforce App 

Custom Salesforce app development offers a fully personalized solution developed from the ground up to address your unique needs. You can develop these apps with Salesforce development services or with in-house developers.

Pros of Choosing a Custom Salesforce App

• Get more personalized solutions that cater to your unique needs 

• Get complete control over the development process and requirements 

• Easily manage your system and data, and integrate data from multiple sources 

Cons of Choosing a Custom Salesforce App

• Requires a significant amount of investment in development 

• Need  a lot of time for developing, designing, and testing  

• Need to be responsible for all updates, bug fixes, and security patches

Now that we have established the pros and cons of both in-built and custom Salesforce apps, let’s talk about the crucial factors while making the right decision for your business. 

Key Factors to Consider While Choosing

While pre-built Salesforce apps can be available at less investment, they also provide a quick route to app customization. All you need to do is have an adept team that can integrate or build a solution on it. On the contrary, Salesforce custom app development offers you the opportunity to build apps from scratch. Both approaches have their pros and cons, and as a certified Salesforce mobile app development provider, we would like to simplify your decision. So, let’s take a look at the different circumstances that favor pre-built and custom Salesforce development. 

1. Requirement Analysis & Process Complexity

You need to list all the crucial business requirements and determine if they are achievable through the AppExchange application. If you think the answer is below 70-75%, it’s time to shift the route to custom development. Studies show that if a significant percentage of your business processes are not supported by standard tools, you need to consider a custom solution. Salesforce app development companies use best practices, tools, and technologies to find gaps and build solutions that scale according to your business needs. 

2. Budget Considerations

The initial investment to build a custom app is much higher than installing a pre-built AppExchange app. If you go for the AppExchange solution, you only need to pay for the monthly subscription fee, and the user count will be directly proportional to the subscription cost. In addition to that, custom Salesforce apps require timely maintenance, which adds to the cost. To get out of this conundrum, you can extrapolate the cost for both methods for a three- to five-year timeline and conduct a cost-value analysis. 

3. Time-to-Launch & Implementation

Every organization starts a development project with a timeline in mind. Pre-built solutions are faster to deploy due to ease of configuration, and this can be a crucial factor for businesses looking to see immediate results. On the contrary, custom Salesforce app development requires detailed planning, development, and testing phases, which can extend the timeline. If your priority is not speed, you can consider custom development because the extra time taken is justified by the benefits. 

4. Scalability and Future Growth

As your business needs evolve, so should your software. Therefore, the Salesforce solution you develop or customize should meet your existing needs as well as future business needs. For this, you need to discuss your future roadmap with the AppExchange vendor to visualize the long-term goal. On the other hand, custom apps are developed in a more customer-centric manner; they give you more flexibility and control to address the future needs of your business. 

5. Security, Support, and Risk Management

Both approaches must meet the industry’s security and compliance requirements. Also, before making the final decision on both options, you need to check the post-development support and service level agreements of the development companies. For the custom Salesforce development, your partner must have a solid strategic team with a proven track record of project delivery. Salesforce partners with a robust experience that can offer necessary support under flexible agreements. And for the Salesforce AppExchange development, you must carefully review whether the support and SLA provided meet your business expectations or not. 

The Bottom Line

Choosing between pre-built Salesforce apps and custom development is a strategic decision that can impact your business operations. Therefore, development decisions should be made after careful consideration and discussion with all stakeholders. Whether you go for the speed and reliability of a pre-built solution or the tailored power of custom development, ensure that your chosen approach delivers maximum value. 

                                                               FAQs 

Q.1 Can you build apps with Salesforce? 

Ans. Yes, we build custom Salesforce apps. We have an experienced team of Salesforce developers and project managers who can help you from planning to complete app launching, all while offering maintenance and support. 

Q.2 What is Salesforce app development? 

Ans. Salesforce app development entails creating custom applications on the Salesforce platform in two ways. You can use declarative tools like Lightning App Builder to configure pages and workflows without coding. In the second way, you can write custom code using Apex for backend development and Lightning Web Components for dynamic user interfaces. 

Q.3 How much does a Salesforce app builder make? 

Ans. Salaries for Salesforce App Builder can vary based on various factors like location, experience, and company size. If you have the relevant experience and certifications, you can get an even higher salary. 

Q.4 What language is used in Salesforce app development? 

Ans. The key programming language used is Apex. This is specially designed for the Salesforce platform and is similar to Java. To create modern and responsive interfaces, Salesforce uses Lightning Web Components.  

Ready to Get the Best Salesforce App Development Services? Talk to Us! 

Our Salesforce development wizards will help you develop the best custom apps for your business needs. Just drop us a line at contact@360degreecloud.com, and we’ll take it from there! 

Siddharth Sehgal

CEO

Siddharth Sehgal is CEO & Salesforce Communication Guru. He helps businesses grow exponentially by putting their Salesforce CRM on steroids with his unique techniques. He is on a mission to help businesses build deeper relationships with their customers.