Overview

DMI Finance, a leading financial services company, wanted to improve their Salesforce deployment and release management process. Initially, their operations were manual and lacked centralized control, leading to inefficiencies and potential security risks. 

This case study explores the transition from their previous setup - Change Sets to the streamlined processes enabled by Flosum, highlighting the significant improvements in security, efficiency, and overall operational control.

Challenges before Flosum

Before implementing Flosum, DMI Finance relied on manual processes using Salesforce’s native Change Sets for code deployments. Key challenges were:

• Lack of Control: The customer relied on Change Sets for deployments. Deployment processes were unstructured with no centralized control, leading to multiple uncontrolled code changes.

• Security Concerns: Anyone with access could move code to production without oversight, increasing security risks.

• No Version Control: Change Sets lacked a code repository, making it difficult to track changes and revert to previous versions.

• Manual Processes: Tasks like dependency identification and impact analysis were manual and time-consuming. Error logs were not available easily.

Implementation of Flosum

When Sanjay Sapra joined DMI Finance as a release manager, his primary goal was to establish control over the release process. Although DMI had already procured Flosum, it was underutilized. Sanjay undertook learning and implementing Flosum, leveraging resources from Salesforce’s success community and training sessions with Flosum’s customer success team.

Key Features:

• Ensured security and control: Sanjay’s first step was to eliminate Change Sets and centralize the deployment process using Flosum. Flosum provided granular access control with roles and permissions, ensuring only authorized personnel could move code to production.

• Automated Workflows: Flosum replaced manual Change Sets with predefined workflows. Flosum automated deployment workflows, reducing manual tasks and accelerating deployments.

• Salesforce Native Version Control: Flosum introduced a built-in repository, enabling DMI Finance’s team to track code changes, revert to previous versions, and collaborate effectively.

• Impact Analysis: Flosum's impact analysis feature allowed the customer to assess the potential impact of changes before deployment.

• Pre-Deployment Fix: This feature helped identify and resolve dependency issues before deployment, saving time and effort.

• Rollback Feature: Flosum allows for rolling back specific changes if needed, minimizing disruption.

• Training and Knowledge Sharing: Continuous support from Flosum’s team and certification programs helped Sanjay and his team at DMI Finance gain a deep understanding of the tool, maximizing its utility.

Benefits Realized

• Increased Release Frequency: DMI Finance increased their production deployments from 15 to 35 per month, demonstrating a 133% improvement in their release cadence.

• Improved Developer Productivity: By automating manual tasks and streamlining workflows, Flosum freed up developer time for more strategic work resulting in increased productivity.

• Enhanced Collaboration: The platform facilitated better collaboration between development, release management, and other teams.

• Reduced Risk: Granular access control and rollback features minimized the risk of errors or security breaches. The implementation of a code repository enabled detailed tracking of code changes, making compliance audits more manageable and transparent.

• Easy to use: The Release Manager from DMI Finance found Flosum's interface easy to use despite not being a developer. Peer review can be done manually by sharing branch links for code verification.

• Global Rollouts: Flosum facilitated a new branch set up in Indonesia with dependency identification without hiring more resources or getting technical support.

Summary

DMI Finance’s journey with Flosum exemplifies how a well-implemented DevOps tool can transform release management and deployment processes. By leveraging Flosum’s features, DMI Finance not only enhanced their operational efficiency and security but also positioned themselves for future growth and agility. The partnership with Flosum enabled DMI Finance to overcome initial challenges, leading to a robust, scalable, and secure deployment framework that supports their dynamic business needs.