Best Practices for Implementing Salesforce CRM - Cloud Experts

Using data access design patternsDefining the role hierarchyThe role hierarchy is the third component of the data access model. It’s as important as sharing rules fordetermining record access in private or hybrid models. Users are assigned to a branch in the role hierarchyto give them the proper default access to records owned by other users.Users at any given level in the hierarchy can view, edit, and report on all data owned by or shared withusers below them in the hierarchy, regardless of the organization’s sharing model. This approach ensuresthat managers can always access the same data as their employees, regardless of the organization-widedefault settings.Your role hierarchy usually mirrors your sales organization structure or your support center structure, but itneed not match your organization chart exactly. For examples of common role hierarchy design patterns,see the table below.ExampleDescriptionOperations users need access to all records, so theyare assigned to the same node as the CEO. Users whoneed access to the greatest number of records,regardless of object, should be assigned to a role nearthe top of the hierarchy. This requirement oftenresults in a role hierarchy that puts analysts aboveSVPs, but that’s a perfectly acceptable design.Users in the CFO node own confidential records suchas contracts and business development plans, so theyhave their own role node. These users can accessprivate records owned by sales users via sharing rules.To grant the SVP Customer Service and Supportaccess to all sales-related records, sales & marketingroll up to customer service and support.Every user must be assigned to a role or his/her datawill not display in opportunity reports, forecast rollups,and other displays based on roles.The sales organization uses both direct and indirect(channel) sales roles because each group submitsindependent sales forecasts.Representatives can only be assigned to a singleregional sales team.Members of the East Team can view all theopportunities owned by users with the East role, butWest Team users cannot view those roles, thanks tothe role hierarchy.It’s also common to create a separate role for eachunique sales territory within each sales region.For additional configuration information about role hierarchy functions, see Help and Training.Role hierarchy design considerationsBecause the role hierarchy is so critical to your data access design, be sure to address the considerations inthe following table before moving forward.Research shows that customers who are trained by salesforce.com achieve a 52 percent higher adoptionrate. Be sure to take advantage of the free training available from the Help & Training links in yourapplication and on the Salesforce.com Community Web site.BEST PRACTICE 4