It’s the time for the Salesforce Spring ‘24 release:
This means a wave of updates, additional automation, and enhanced features, Which aim to bring improvements and innovations to empower Salesforce users administrators, and businesses further.
For major releases, the dates vary according to the Salesforce instance, but the major updates are scheduled to happen from the first week of January to mid-February weekends. Major releases started on January 5th, and many are scheduled on
January 23rd, 24th, and 29th, as well as
February 2nd, 9th, 10th, and 17th.
You can find out more about a specific date for your Salesforce instance on Salesforce Trust under the Maintenance tab.
After determining the timing of your instance release, it is important to review all notifications related to the updates, thoroughly test all primary use cases, and resolve bugs within your org before the specified date.
Let’s dive into the major release updates that are coming to our orgs:
End of Ant Migration Tool
To manage metadata changes, the use of the Ant Migration Tool comes to an end. For the latest updates, you need to switch to Salesforce CLI. The tool functions for future API versions but isn’t updated with new functionalities.
Flow – Updates
- Send Data to the Data Cloud using Flows: Now Flow actions can be used to send data to Data Cloud via Ingestion API, and the best part about it is that it can be done without writing a single line of code.
For example, You can use the Send Data to Data Cloud action in a flow to create an automation that automatically sends archival data to Data Cloud, or use it in a screen flow to send engagement data directly to Data Cloud.
- Predictions from Your AI Models in Flows:
- Now Flow builder actions can be used to consume predictions from your AI models. Once you activate the AI model, the records scoring and outputs provide you with some actionable insights that can be used for decision-making.
- When you create an auto-launched flow in Flow Builder, you can add an action that invokes the model endpoint.
- Save the progress of your flow as you build
- With this update, flows can be saved at any point in the building process without finishing the configuration for all elements except for Screens and Action. Errors that did not let the flow to be saved, now they are just warnings, and to save a flow required values don’t need to be completed.
- Other than these flow features, Flow Builder extends the enhanced resource selection experience beyond Create Records to the Delete Records, Get Records, and Update Records elements. This improved grouping makes it easier for you to scroll through and find the resources that you need.
Data, AI, and CRM Updates
- Einstein Copilot
- Utilizing Einstein Copilot, a conversational AI assistant increases productivity for teams across all Salesforce applications. Companies now can automate steps or tasks using pre-built actions or create customized actions that invoke Flows, Apex, or MuleSoft APIs.
- It will also empower sellers to be more productive at every step of the sales cycle as they research customers and prospects, follow up after meetings, and keep their CRM up-to-date.
- Prompt Builder becomes more User Friendly
- With new updates, the Salesforce platform will become more user-friendly, since it will allow users to create, test, and improve prompt templates without the need for code.
- It will become easy to search for answers via the Community Portal or Agent Console, using generative AI.
Improved Salesforce Performance On More Record Home Pages
Spring ‘24 brings more objects built with Lightning Web Components (LWC)-enabled, where you can create, view, or edit the record home pages with improved performance, stronger accessibility support, and better service availability with an enhanced look.
Create from Lookup
Now, you can create a record from the lookup field sandboxes and production orgs in all editions. There are some changes to the record create modal as part of Salesforce’s record home page enhancements. Initially, this feature applied only to Lightning Experience sandboxes across all editions. The record creates modal no longer includes the Save & New button when initiated via a lookup field on all record pages. However, this button remains visible on Create and Edit modals that aren’t opened through a lookup field.
Enhancements to Dynamic Forms
- Spring ‘24 brings enhanced dynamic forms-enabled lightning pages. They enable record page users to look for more of what they need, where and when they need it.
- For example, Quick access to invoice, payment, shipment, and return data in Snowflake more easily using the Salesforce Connect adapter for SQL.
- Even users can search for fields from related objects if it has a lookup relationship with the current object.
Transfer Lightning Dashboard Ownership
Now you can transfer Lightning dashboard ownership, in the scenarios when responsibilities change or the current owner leaves your organization, Even new updates enable you to change ownership of multiple dashboards at one time and can send email notifications to the new owner. Earlier the dashboards needed to be cloned or recreated to provide access to a new owner.
Dashboard views available on Mobile
The recently introduced Save View feature allows you to store dashboard views on your mobiles, allowing for the creation of snapshots like a daily performance overview. Before this update, dashboard views could only be generated on desktop devices. Alongside the ability to create views on your mobile device, effortlessly you can switch between other saved views linked to the dashboard.
MFA enablement by Default Starting April
- To enhance security, Salesforce now mandates multi-factor authentication (MFA) for direct login to production orgs created on or after April 8, 2024, and for existing orgs not auto-enabled from Spring ’23 to Spring ’24. This applies across Lightning Experience, Salesforce Classic, and all mobile apps in all editions, starting April 8, 2024.
- The first time each user logs in to their org, they’re guided through the steps to register a method. There’s a 30-day grace period for the org during which users can log in without MFA if they’re not ready to set up a verification method.
- Although admins can temporarily disable MFA, it is contractually required and should be re-enabled promptly.
Create Rich Visualizations
- Now, in all Salesforce Editions, you can create more compelling visualizations by using images, rich text, and dashboard widgets. Enhance the explanation of charts, articulate metrics, and KPIs, and provide clarity to tables with rich text placed precisely where users require it.
- You can customize your dashboards by adding company logos, branding elements, flow diagrams, and embedded images. Effectively guide users through their data using section titles, narrative text, and even animated GIFs. In a notable change, Lightning dashboard components are now universally referred to as widgets.
- Dashboards now support up to 25 widgets, comprising a maximum of 20 charts and tables, 2 images, and 25 rich-text widgets, earlier the limit was 20.
- Notably, this feature was previously exclusive to Unlimited Edition and Performance editions.
- To utilize this feature, click +Widget while editing a dashboard and choose the desired widget type.
Conclusion
In summary, the Salesforce Spring ’24 release ushers in a host of enhancements, from retiring the Ant Migration Tool to introducing advanced Flow features, improved AI capabilities, and better dashboard customization. With a focus on user-friendliness, enhanced performance, and heightened security measures, Salesforce continues to evolve, promising a more efficient and dynamic CRM experience for users.
