Planning for Salesforce Industries Auto Upgrades

Historically, Salesforce-managed packages, such as Vlocity, have operated under a pull model. This approach allowed customers to upgrade at their own pace to leverage new features and enhancements. However, this has required managing multiple versions across client bases, adding complexity to the Salesforce ecosystem.

Recently, Salesforce initiated a transformative shift by aligning industry-specific vertical solutions with Salesforce's thrice-yearly core upgrades. This strategic move transitions upgrades from a pull to a push model, where clients automatically receive the latest updates. This shift not only streamlines the adoption of new functionalities but also enhances productivity and synchronizes industry solutions with Salesforce's upgrade cadence.

In 2023, Salesforce introduced automatic upgrades for its Industries applications covering Insurance, Communications, Media, Energy, and OmniStudio managed packages for each seasonal release (Summer, Winter, and Spring). The upgrade dates for sandboxes and production for the industry clouds are based on the Salesforce release calendar, which is published one year in advance. Starting with the Summer ’24 release (v250), all customers are required to receive automatic upgrades.

This paper outlines the methodology to ensure seamless auto upgrades for Salesforce industry cloud customers. Planning is crucial for customers to evaluate new features in upcoming releases, understand the impact of enforced changes, and establish timelines for testing the new features. Additionally, planning for BAU releases and hot-fix deployments during this window is essential. Effective and timely communication with business stakeholders about any observations or changes introduced with the upgrade is critical to the successful adoption of auto upgrades.