Cushman & Wakefield, a global leader in commercial real estate services, faced challenges in managing their Salesforce DevOps processes. With the complexity of multiple projects and strict compliance requirements, the organization wanted a robust solution to streamline their DevOps practices.

This case study explores Cushman & Wakefield's transition from using Jenkins and other open-source tools to adopting Flosum, a comprehensive end-to-end DevSecOps platform for their Salesforce DevOps.

Challenges

The commercial real estate industry is characterized by rapid change, intense competition, and a complex regulatory environment. Cushman & Wakefield recognized that Salesforce development is complex and requires more than just agile methodologies. It identified the need for a simple yet powerful DevOps strategy to accelerate innovation, improve efficiency, and mitigate risks.

The journey to adopting Flosum began with recognizing the limitations of their existing tools, such as Jenkins. Jenkins, while a powerful open-source automation server, is not designed to handle the uniqueness and complexity of Salesforce development. This posed several challenges:

• Technical  Complexity: Jenkins required significant technical expertise, making it difficult for non-technical staff to manage.

• Integration issues: Jenkins was not integrated with Cushman & Wakefield's intake processes, leading to inefficiencies.
• Lack of dedicated Salesforce security management: Without a single owner, security practices were inconsistent, risking compliance gaps and data breaches. Salesforce's built-in security is often over-relied upon, leaving potential gaps.
• Compliance challenges: Open-source systems like Jenkins were hard to control and inspect for SOX compliance (which was necessary for Cushman & Wakefield), increasing the risk of security vulnerabilities.
• Data security risks: Open-source tools were unable to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive client information, potentially leaving the client’s information vulnerable.
• Increasing project volume: The growing number of projects aggravated challenges and complexity, leading to longer development cycles and increased error rates.
• Inefficient DevOps practices: Reliance on open-source tools and manual processes resulted in low throughput, increased costs, and compliance gaps.

Adoption of Flosum

Cushman & Wakefield were looking for a solution to address these issues and support their compliance, security, and operational needs. They chose Flosum for its comprehensive capabilities in Salesforce DevOps.

• Integrated DevSecOps suite: Flosum provides an integrated platform that simplifies the deployment process, reducing the complexity associated with managing multiple tools.
• Simplified processes: Flosum's alignment with established processes allowed Cushman & Wakefield to streamline their DevOps workflows without reinventing the wheel.
• Improved auditing and compliance: Flosum offers built-in compliance features that help trace every component from origination to approval, ensuring all processes meet SOX standards and are easily auditable.
• Enhanced security: By mitigating third-party access risks and ensuring secure data handling, Flosum addresses key security concerns, protecting sensitive information and preventing data breaches.
• Increased collaboration: Flosum acts like a single source of truth for Salesforce development. This led to improved communication and visibility among teams through centralized version control and code review.

"Flosum has crucially improved our Salesforce development process. It has streamlined our workflows, reduced errors, and boosted our time-to-market. The platform's focus on automation and collaboration has been invaluable. Flosum’s emphasis on secured DevOps and robust compliance features have made it easier for us to maintain our high standards. It’s a powerful tool that has become essential to our team’s success."

 - Natalie MacDonald (Salesforce Sr. Product Manager)

Benefits:

Cushman & Wakefield successfully implemented Flosum, transforming its DevOps practices and achieving significant improvements:

• Increased Throughput: A 3x improvement in development and deployment velocity.
• Reduced Audit Time: A 50% reduction in time spent on release to production audits.
• Enhanced Compliance: Effective adherence to SOX and other regulations through robust audit trails and change management.
• Improved Data Security: Stronger protection of sensitive client information through enhanced security measures.

Flosum helped build and document compliance processes, ensuring every change was tracked and approved according to regulatory requirements. Flosum's security features, such as data masking and encryption, ensure that sensitive information is protected throughout the development lifecycle.

Lessons Learned and Future Outlook

Cushman & Wakefield's journey with Flosum highlights the importance of choosing the right tools and partners to enhance operational efficiency, ensure compliance, and maintain security. By leveraging Flosum, Cushman & Wakefield has improved their DevOps maturity by automating processes.

Looking ahead, Cushman & Wakefield plans to further mature its DevOps practices by incorporating DevSecOps principles and expanding the use of Flosum to other Salesforce-based applications. The organization also aims to leverage AI and automation to optimize processes and drive innovation.

Key Takeaways

• The importance of a robust DevOps strategy for organizations in fast-paced industries.
• The limitations of open-source tools for complex enterprise environments.
• The benefits of a platform-based DevOps solution like Flosum.
• The critical role of compliance and security in DevOps success.
• The continuous evolution of DevOps practices to meet emerging challenges.