Development Lifecycle & Deployment

This domain covers project management, testing strategies, governance, environment management, and release management.

Objectives

Project risk identification and mitigation strategies
Technical considerations given customer project environment and development methodology
Recommend comprehensive test strategy
Governance considerations, stakeholders, and impact of decisions
Platform tools for environment management
Source control and continuous integration for release management

Environment Strategy — Sandbox types, scratch orgs, DevHub, refresh planning, data masking, post-copy scripts
CI/CD & Deployment — Git branching, Salesforce DX CLI, change sets, unlocked packages, CI/CD tools, deployment strategies, feature flags
Testing Strategy — Test pyramid, Apex unit testing, integration testing, UAT planning, performance testing, automation tools
Governance Model — ARB, CAB, RACI matrix, Salesforce CoE model, ADRs, compliance (GDPR, HIPAA, SOX), data governance
Risk Management — Risk categories, probability x impact matrix, risk register, common CTA scenario risks, mitigation strategies

Decision Guides — Mermaid decision flowcharts for branching strategy, CI/CD tool selection, sandbox strategy, testing approach
Best Practices — DevOps best practices, anti-patterns, and maturity assessment
Trade-offs — Agile vs waterfall, change sets vs CLI, full vs partial sandbox, manual vs automated testing, centralized vs federated CoE, release cycle length

Development lifecycle decisions depend on what is being built and delivered:

Solution Architecture — The chosen solution architecture determines the complexity of the deployment pipeline
Integration — CI/CD pipelines must handle integration deployments, connected app configs, and API versioning
Communication — Release planning, stakeholder reporting, and change communication are lifecycle deliverables