As the world’s #1 most innovative company, Salesforce is focused on the future and helping our customers grow and transform their businesses. The future of innovation lies in the Salesforce Lightning Platform, and Lightning is more than just a technology enhancement - it’s actually an opportunity to review your business processes and drive a cultural change to your business processes that can make your company more productive in the long run.

Think about it: this isn’t just a technology rollout. It’s an opportunity to make a positive change that will make your customers happier. Here are two things to consider:

• First, what would you change if you could completely rethink your business process? The Lightning rollout will likely offer you the opportunity to make those changes at the same time.
• Second, with hundreds of new Lightning-only features, are there new capabilities that your teams can use to get ahead? Which capabilities are needed first - and which can wait?

I think one of the best aspects of Lightning is the hundreds of ways it offers to increase your productivity. For instance, there’s one productivity tool that streamlines your entire sales process. Now, add to that enhanced dashboards and reporting features, a console with nested tabs to accelerate productivity, and a utility bar with customized actions to every page - you’re getting the picture, right? It’s a new — and more effective — way of working and engaging with customers.

At Success Cloud, we work with many businesses who have transitioned to Lightning. Their IT teams have been more productive — and so have their end users. Decreased process time allows all teams to focus on achieving and innovating more every day.

Another aspect of Lightning offers more out-of-the-box configuration, meaning that your IT team can spend less time customizing processes. And when your IT team members can deliver faster, they have more time to focus on innovative solutions and company-specific support. One thing to remember, however: it’s time to stop developing in Classic. If your IT team is still developing in Classic, they may inadvertently be creating additional technical debt that will eventually need transition to Lightning.

One of the questions I get asked most is how to get started, and where all the information is so that companies who are ready to move - or planning their transition - can get ready to roll. And there’s nothing I love more than sharing my sources! So here goes:

• We have an end-to-end guide that supports the process from start to finish
• The Blaze Your Trail to Lightning Trailmix is full of valuable information, from Lightning transition best practices to app development tips.
• Check out the Lightning Events Calendar for in-person events, Virtual Circles of Success, and webinars on Lightning tips and tricks.
• Take the Lightning Readiness Check to understand the effort involved with your Lightning rollout. Evaluate your org — don’t move over applications or custom objects you don’t use.
• Lightning Accelerators provide expert engagements designed to help you move to Lightning.

And of course, understanding what’s worked for other Trailblazers on their Lightning migration journey can really help as you start or continue through the migration from Classic. Brooke Haynes at Dot Foods recently wrote a terrific blog about how she managed the company’s Lightning adoption, including three tips for companies just getting started to take note of.

That said, any transition, even the best one, can cause an organization pain in the short term, and we’re committed to getting you through that adoption journey and staying with you throughout the rollout to help you avoid obstacles and ensure that your company stays in great shape during the adoption period.

So don’t worry - we’re here to help you make this move successfully, and I’m excited to hear more stories like Brooke’s. If you’ve got a great story to share, let me know!

Want to hear more about how Dot Foods accelerated their move to Lightning? Watch the on-demand webinar recording here. And for more on Lightning adoption, visit this calendar of Lightning events.