Salesforce Classic is on the verge of ending. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally happening. You didn’t know Classic if you bought certain Salesforce licenses after July 2018.
Every Salesforce release makes the future of Classic look grim — and that’s a good thing. Lightning is the next generation Salesforce. It’s a collection tools, services and components that reinvent the Salesforce user experience. Salesforce Classic has not gone extinct – yet.
You are being pushed to take the plunge
Salesforce calls Lightning “a completely different Salesforce and a completely different way to sell,” and this can be scary for organizations that have been doing well using Classic.
Salesforce Classic is a popular investment option for many of its customers, including large clients. They have spent time and money creating profiles and customizations, acquiring third party AppExchange apps, writing custom code, and many other things. Users and administrators have also become proficient in using the old interface.
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Start trainingFor such customers, moving to Lightning will require significant effort. Salesforce will continue to support Classic for many years to come.
There are more and more people urging you to migrate to Lightning. In July 2018, Lightning Experience was the only option for new users of Essentials, Professional, and Service Cloud. To allow end-user access, such orgs must request an exception from Salesforce Support.
Sunsetting is a great reason to be happy
Salesforce Classic UI feels old and clunky compared to dynamic user interfaces that use modern design.
Any company with a significant market share needs to face the reality of aging. If you don’t innovate your product, someone else will. Salesforce felt that pressure. Salesforce was beginning to feel the pressure. But, will your customers accept a radical overhaul of your product?
Classic was the only version that had significant features when Lightning first appeared. Gradually, Lightning is complete. Salesforce’s Winter 2019 release shows that Lightning is on the rise. It has built the Lightning-Classic connective feature and slowly removed Salesforce Classic.
Here is a breakdown of the features for each user interface.
Feature ChangesLightning experience only109Lightning experience and Salesforce Classic89Salesforce Classic exclusively12Notably, the Salesforce Classic-only release note includes:
Lightning Experience – Edit meetings
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Lightning Experience is now easier to switch from Salesforce.
Salesforce no longer offers full file previews
Nearly every feature update since the last release has removed functionality from Classic.
Salesforce is carefully encouraging customers to switch to Lightning to ensure that Classic can be phased out. Salesforce has already defaulted new customers from Classic to Lightning, besides promoting Lightning’s benefits, providing tools and helping you plan and execute your migration.
Parallel running
Organizations that take advantage of Lightning’s intuitive, intuitive UI, and a range of new tools, and services, will see long-term benefits. In the short-term, however, it may seem daunting to make the transition.
Salesforce makes the transition as simple as possible by running both versions simultaneously. It’s more difficult for admins. For smaller teams, you can simply flip the switch after receiving Salesforce training. Administrators of larger teams should identify groups that can migrate together, if there is a business case.
There’s always a chance for cha