Navigating the Salesforce Advantage with Trailhead!

I am one of the very fortunate people in life who absolutely loves their job. Friends and family sometimes ask me "What is this Salesforce thing your always talking about? Whats that cloud that is on all your clothes? What does Salesforce do?" Usually, thats the point I shout "What can't it do!" and start rambling about the awesome community, free training resources (Trailhead!!), cloud technology, conferences, and all the cool development stuff you can do. Sometimes in all my enthusiasm I forget the basics of what makes Salesforce as a technology so effective and such a fantastic tool for any business. Very often as developers, admins and users of Salesforce its easy to forget the fundamental principles and technology the company and its success was built on.

Well the amazing people over at Salesforce have introduced a brand new Trailhead trail that covers the fundamental benefits of using Salesforce and the founding principles the company is based on. The trail is primarily aimed at those relatively new to Salesforce, but it definitely doesn't hurt as a refresher for everyone else! The Trail has a very nautical theme, hence the following ridiculous picture:

The trail is made up of 4 individual modules (which yes means 4 new badges for all you fellow badge addicts!):

Name	Overview
Salesforce Success Model	Provides a view of who Salesforce are as a company, including the simple ideas the company was built on, and the four tiered vision of everything the company stands for today. Explains how Salesforce leads innovation and ensures to always give back to the community.
Salesforce Cloud Benefits	The first thing anyone new to Salesforce will notice is the cloud logo. Well its not just a logo, its also the technology delivery model that the whole company was built upon. This module explores the benefits of the cloud multi-tenancy approach, and demonstrates the success it has brought to customers.
Salesforce Technology Basics	Security, efficiency, speed of change, innovation; all important factors in the success of enterprise applications. This module covers how Salesforce addresses these factors. It also provides an excellent explanation of the metadata architecture that makes Salesforce so dynamic as a platform.
Salesforce Ecosystem	Salesforce is more than just a technology, its a whole amazing community of users, admins, developers and entrepreneurs. This module lifts the lid on the 1.9 million + members, including the amazing user groups, super active MVPs, and Dreamforce: the annual Salesforce super conference!

So the next time I get asked "What exactly is Salesforce?" I will be able to explain it clearly and simply, and then hit them with the overloaded levels of enthusiasm, definitely an advantage!

Adding a series of modules like this is really to me a sign of where Trailhead is heading. What started out as a means to train developers and admins on how to create apps on the platform, is now spreading into other areas, such as company philosophy, effective management, and diversity. There is even a module featuring the features of the latest Salesforce release, Spring '16 (could this be the start of the end for video release training?). It's in this manner that Trailhead itself is starting to become not dissimilar from its original subject matter; an effective diverse platform that allows for different stories to be told through a solid, dynamic base technology.

Speaking of Trailhead, this month I am completing a module every day! I've found it a great way to catch up on all the content I've missed out on. Follow me on twitter as I #MarchTheTrail