Salesforce Winter ’25: Your Guide to Key Updates and Release Strategy Essentials

The Salesforce Winter 25 release brings a series of exciting updates and features that promise to enhance user experience, improve security, and introduce helpful AI-driven innovations. In this video, our Salesforce Certified Architects discuss release highlights to help you prepare for integrating these updates into your org. 

AI Features

Salesforce continues to add new AI features in this release. The Salesforce trust layer ensures AI usage with Salesforce is safe and secure, building trust with users.

Flow and Automation Enhancements

This release brings more power to Salesforce Flow and automation, providing users with the ability to execute complex tasks without code. With a “clicks, not code” philosophy, enhancements to Flow Builder, orchestration, and integration make automation more user-friendly than ever.

Security Improvements

Security is a major focus, with improved encryption for Salesforce Data Cloud and changes to Salesforce Authenticator.

User Experience Enhancements

To streamline daily operations, Salesforce continues to improve the user experience, focusing on reducing clicks and boosting productivity for both regular users and administrators.

Critical Updates

Critical updates that organizations must prepare for include changes in the Salesforce setup domain, email no-reply requirements, and deprecations of older API versions. Ensuring compatibility with these changes will be crucial to avoid disruptions.

1. Setup Domain Change: Salesforce setup screens will move to a new domain, salesforce.setup.com, which should be whitelisted for organizations that restrict general access to the internet.
2. No-Reply Requirement: Outbound emails will require a no-reply email address to avoid failures.
3. API Deprecation: Older API versions, version 30 and below, will be deprecated and organizations should ensure their services use newer versions.

New Features: User Access Summaries

One of the most helpful new tools for admins is the User Access Summary feature. This feature simplifies permission management by displaying all permissions a user has and their sources. It includes the View Summary Button and the Access Granted By feature, which makes diagnosing permission issues far easier.

Object Access and Public Group Improvements

Salesforce’s new Object Access Tab provides an overview of permissions for custom and standard objects, allowing admins to manage access without navigating multiple screens. Additionally, improvements to public groups include an enhanced UI and a description field for added context, making group management smoother.

Lightning Web Component Development

A new beta feature for Lightning Web Component developers allows real-time changes without the need for code deployment. This new feature speeds up development workflows, making it easier for developers to work efficiently.

Demo: Dynamic Forms and Highlights Panel

The video above includes a demo of dynamic forms and the dynamic highlights panel. These features allow users to set visibility rules, add fields, and use dynamic related lists, creating a more customized experience.

Next Steps

Here are some of the key action items you can take now to ensure your org is ready for the Salesforce Winter ’25 updates.

• Test the new setup domain in a sandbox environment.
• Set up no-reply emails to prevent outbound failures.
• Review API versions to ensure compatibility ahead of deprecations.
• Test SSO integrations for services like Duo and Okta.
• Contact us today to discuss your release strategy and how to maximize your Salesforce ROI.