Earlier today, Salesforce released their SalesforceA Mobile Admin App for iOS devices. Back before my consulting days, when I was only in charge of one org, I tried to administer Salesforce from my iPad a few times, and was never entirely satisfied with the experience. Will the new admin app revolutionize the way you serve your users? Let’s give it a quick run-through and find out.
The Basics
The SalesforceA Mobile Admin App is a new app for iOS and Android that lets you perform some basic user administration tasks on the go. Right from the main screen of the app, you can see quick links to users whose accounts you have frozen, as well as users who have been locked out of your org for things like too many incorrect password attempts. You can also search for other users in your org, modify user data, and even assign permission sets, all from your mobile device. By launching the little rocket on the main screen, you can access quick links to Salesforce Ideas, Salesforce User Groups, the MVP Blog, the Events calendar, and Salesforce Answers. There’s also a link on the main screen to view the latest release notes.
A Good Start
To be sure, there are some nifty features of this application. Just being able to jump directly to a list of your locked-out users can be enough to make this app worth downloading. And the fact that the links to your frozen and locked-out users are huge and on the main screen tell me that managing those two actions was the main point of this app. This seems like it would be fantastic for dealing with sudden user management crises, and just about every admin I know has had more than a few of those.
All I Want for Christmas
That said, SalesforceA has some gaps I’d like to see covered. You can’t create users in the current version. And you can assign permission sets, but they have to be permission sets that you’ve already created. The functionality of the app right now is limited; it does the things it can do quite well, but there are a lot of administrative actions that I think could be added in the future to enhance usability and convenience.
Looking Forward
Giving admins the freedom to run Salesforce from whatever device they have in their pocket is serious voodoo. And for some users, the current functionality might already be plenty. But I’d love the ability to turn my iPad into my Salesforce HQ, and have a single app there that can handle all of my admin needs.
Will we be able to do more things with this app in the future? It’s hard to be sure, but Salesforce has a track record of adding functionality to their products. This app is one to keep an eye on.
