For many organizations, the Salesforce.com Administrator role involves setting up new users, adding a few custom fields, and resetting passwords when needed. Since these duties require only 5-8 hours a week, the role is usually assigned to a current team member.
This works just fine in smaller companies with only 3-10 Salesforce users, but companies that want to add more users and take advantage of the more advanced capabilities of Salesforce will want to hire a dedicated Salesforce.com Administrator.
Before you begin looking for a Salesforce.com Administrator, it’s best to determine exactly what duties and responsibilities that person will own. Salesforce.com Administrator’s typically own the following areas and tasks:
Finding the right skill set in a Salesforce.com Administrator can be a challenge. The following are a few things to consider when determining if a candidate is a good fit:
As your organization grows and incorporates new processes, you will most likely need to add custom objects. Has the candidate created custom objects in the past? Are they fully aware of the differences between 1-to-1, 1-to-Many, and Many-to-Many relationships? Formula fields can be a wonderful resource for an organization. Is the candidate comfortable creating and editing formula and roll-up summary fields?
Salesforce.com’s standard reporting functionality is a wonderful asset but as your organization grows you may find areas where custom reports are needed. Has the candidate created custom reports? Do they understand the reporting constraints with custom object relationships? Choose an existing report that is important for your organization, and work with the candidate to re-create it. This can demonstrate their comfort with report creation and structure.
A Salesforce.com Administrator is a key role inside your organization. They will need to learn your current process and work closely with all users as updates continue to be developed and rolled out. Good communications skills are a must, as they must be able to clearly communicate ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. They should be easy to talk to, and able to work with Salesforce users at all levels (from first time Salesforce users to experienced developers).
Finding a Salesforce.com Administrator can take time, but do not get discouraged. The perfect Salesforce.com Administrator for your organization is out there and you will find them! To learn more, contact us directly.