At its core, Elements.Cloud is a process mapping and documentation tool designed to help Salesforce teams manage change, maintain compliance, and ensure everyone in the organization is on the same page. But it’s more than just a process tool—it integrates seamlessly with Salesforce to provide a deeper understanding of your organization’s data, processes, and architecture. With Elements.Cloud, you can create detailed process maps that link directly to your Salesforce metadata, making it easier to visualize the impact of changes and maintain a clear record of why and how things are set up the way they are.

Basic Scenarios Where Elements.Cloud Shines

So, how can Elements.Cloud be useful in real-world scenarios? Let’s explore a few:

1. Process Documentation: Whether rolling out a new feature or onboarding a new team member, having detailed process documentation is crucial. Elements.Cloud allows you to create detailed, visual process maps that are easy to understand and share. These maps can be linked directly to your Salesforce setup, ensuring everyone can access the most up-to-date information.
2. Compliance and Auditing: Maintaining compliance is non-negotiable if your organization operates in a regulated industry. Elements.Cloud helps you document every change and process, providing a clear audit trail that can be crucial during audits. It’s like having a built-in compliance safety net.
3. Change Management: Implementing changes in Salesforce can be complex, especially in larger organizations. Elements.Cloud allows you to simulate the impact of changes before they go live, helping you identify potential issues and communicate the changes effectively to stakeholders.
4. Technical Debt: Many orgs have seen many admins pass through and often leave behind a mess. Elements.Cloud can really help provide the necessary metadata guidance for cleaning this up.
5. Non-Admin Access: There are always some super users in the company who want to see Salesforce’s behind-the-scenes, but you may not want to grant them access to Setup. This can allow you to bypass that process, as you can grant access to Elements without being concerned about unwanted changes occurring in your instance.

Walking Through the Key Screens

1. This is your home screen that allows you to quickly get to the Salesforce Orgs.

2. This is a list of your Salesforce orgs. It shows the last time they synced and whether any failures occurred.

3. This is the initial view of all of your metadata. You can search any metadata type by Label or API name from here. You can also click through the drop-down menus to find what you want.

4. The right-hand panel shows information about the field, including what type of metadata it is, whether it’s active (when relevant), and even the actual formula (when relevant).

5. When you click into the tree node, you can see where the metadata is referenced, what uses it, and who uses it. This becomes extremely helpful in determining metadata’s importance.

That wraps up a very high-level overview of Elements.Cloud. The following article will explore how I used Elements to handle a large tech debt project.