Summer ’21 Release Readiness for ISVs
Get ready for summer with a whole new set of Generally-Available ISV-Ready features! In this blog post, you will find a comprehensive overview of new features made available in the Salesforce Summer ’21 Release broken down by individual product areas with links after each feature that dives into more details. The comprehensive release notes in their entirety can be found here.
Let’s dive in and explore these impactful new ISV-ready features.
Apex
If there is one product that almost all ISVs utilize, it’s Apex. Apex is a programming language widely used by developers to create custom code implementations that run natively inside of the Salesforce Platform. Our commitment to innovation on the platform has remained unchanged with these new features being introduced in Summer ‘21:
- Transaction Finalizers are now Generally Available! The Transaction Finalizers feature allows developers to specify actions to Asynchronous Apex jobs that execute when Queueable jobs succeed or fail. Developers no longer need to constantly poll for the status of Asynchronous Jobs using SOQL queries or rely on BatchApexErrorEvents when a batch Apex method encounters an unhandled exception. Learn more.
- Changes have also been made to Namespaces and Functions (Beta), check out the full list of changes here: Learn more.
- Apex reference content has now moved from the Apex Developer Guide into the new Apex Reference Guide. All conceptual information is retained in the Apex Developer Guide.
Flows
Salesforce is continuing to invest heavily in Flows by adding new functionality, quickly closing the gap between legacy tools like the Process Builder and Workflows. As a result, Salesforce Admins are increasingly using the feature to automate complex business processes declaratively without having to write any code.
- Build Multicolumn Screens in Flow Builder. Learn more.
- Set a Default Value for Any Screen Component That Displays Choices. Learn more.
- Place Fields from Your Salesforce Objects Directly on Flow Screens. Learn more.
- Use ISCHANGED, ISNEW, and PRIORVALUE in Record-Triggered Flow Formulas. Learn more.
AppExchange ISV Packaging
New tooling and additional features have been added in Spring ’21 to improve the experience and provide additional security measures for partners who build and distribute First or Second Generation Managed Packages
- Distribute Access to Features with Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups. Learn more.
- Do More with Branches in Unlocked and Second-Generation Managed Packages. Learn more.
- Create Package Versions Based on the Upcoming Release. Learn more.
AppExchange Partner Program and Tooling
It’s safe to say that all ISV Partners will use AppExchange at one point or another during their application’s lifecycle. As such, Salesforce is committed to improving AppExchange features every single release. In the Summer ’21 release, Salesforce has made it easier to:
- Optimize your AppExchange App Analytics query strategy scheduling refresh jobs to run throughout the day, week; reducing time spent retrieving data and increasing the amount of data captured. Learn more.
- Usage Metrics Is Being Retired in favor of App Analytics, which provides richer usage data about how subscribers interact with your AppExchange solutions. Learn more.
- Support US sales tax collection for Checkout-enabled purchases as mandated by local tax authorities. Learn more.
In-App Guidance
In-App guidance gives ISVs the ability to help new users learn more about their application and spur feature adoption. In-App Guidance is available for free to all signed and executed ISV partners with Security-Review passed Managed Package integrations.
- A feature that was overlooked from the Spring ’21 release was the ability to add Images to In-App Guidance, allowing ISVs to create In-App Guidance prompts that are even more engaging. Learn more.
- This Trailhead is a great resource for you to learn more about In-App Guidance. Learn more.
Einstein Search
All Einstein Search features are now Generally Available at no extra cost! So what exactly is Einstein Search? At a high level, Einstein Search is a smarter search powered by Artificial Intelligence. So let’s delve a little deeper, there are two main features: the Natural Language Search, and the actionable UI.
- The Natural language search (NLS) feature allows users to type common words and phrases in their queries to filter search results. Learn more.
- While the actionable UI lets your users accomplish tasks directly from the search box (i.e. logging a case, creating a contact). The best part about Einstein Search is the ability to enable all of the features at the org level in just a few clicks! Learn more.
Tableau CRM (Partners Selling Tableau)
*Please note as a partner these new features are available to your customers with the Growth or Plus licenses*
Tableau CRM is jam-packed with new and exciting features for Summer ‘21!
- First, we want you to feel at home on the new Tableau CRM home page. With its new intuitive and personalized interface, you will automatically get updates of the latest item changes that you’re following, and get smart recommendations of new items others are viewing. Admins can build and pin curated items to the home page, while users can build their own set of collections for that personal touch! Learn more.
- The next feature is the ability to restore recipes with version history. You no longer have to be wary of testing new ideas on recipes and worrying about breaking it. Now you simply revert back to a previous version. You’re also able to collaborate with others and build iteratively. With version history, you are able to see which contributor updated each version in the process. Every time you save a recipe, a version is created. Learn more.
- My personal favorite is the ability to copy and paste widgets across dashboards, making it a whole lot easier to create and maintain your dashboards. You are able to copy one or more widgets, and they will keep their original layout, styling, and underlying queries. Learn more.
- We all love to save time, and now you can save even more time with input caching! When you first run a recipe, Data Prep now caches the input data, and stores a copy of the source data in cached files. This saves time during future recipe runs, since Data Prep uses the cached data instead of extracting the same data again. Input caching is enabled by default, however, you can disable it in Analytics Settings. Learn more.
- Dashboard insights just got a little more stylish with enhanced text formatting! Apply custom colors, italic, bold, sizing, and more to your dashboard text. The text allows your users to understand the data in your dashboard, and emphasize what’s important. Learn more.
- You can now run SQL queries on live datasets, allowing you to extend analysis on your Snowflake data and uncover more insights! This change applies to Tableau CRM in Lightning and Classic. It is easily enabled through Setup in the SQL Settings section. Once enabled, you will open the dataset in Tableau CRM Analytics Studio and click Query Mode and edit the SQL query there. Learn more.
Experience Cloud (OEM Partners)
Experience Cloud (formerly known as Community Cloud) just keeps getting better!
- You’re now able to maintain business continuity with the customizable “Service Not Available Page.” On the rare occasion that your site’s down, you can still keep in touch with customers, maintain your brand, and even create cases. Use the new page in Experience Builder to configure a message and image that fits your brand. Include the Email-to-Case feature so you can continue to receive cases from customers. This page is displayed to customers when your site is down, but it will not change the experience of your customers when your site is available. Learn more.
- You’re now able to redirect your users from a non-Salesforce site URL directly to an Experience Builder site URL on the same domain. This feature also retains the discoverability and SEO equity of your web pages. This change applies to Aura and LWR sites accessed via Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. You can set up URL redirects in Experience Workspaces under Administration. Learn more.
- Now you have the ability to add assistive text to images on Experience Builder sites. Assistive text helps blind and low-vision users with screen readers to better understand an image appearing on your page. Your users can add assistive text when they add an image to an Experience Builder site with forums or feeds via the Assistive Text field. The field is automatically populated with the image’s name, however, users can change the assistive text to add details where needed. Learn more.
Discover more Summer ’21 resources for ISVs:
Release Readiness for ISV Partners Partner Community Chatter Group
Summer ’21 Release Highlights Trailhead Module
Summer ’21 Release Highlight Video Demo (Salesforce Product Center YouTube Playlist)
AppExchange Tech Talk: Summer ’21 Lightning Features
Additional Salesforce Summer ’21 Release Resources
Special thanks to my co-author Jessica Forchione and Christian Connors for the help in writing this blog post, couldn’t do it without your help!
