Salesforce certification is well known for offering high-level skills and enhancing your resume. You will get hands-on experience with Salesforce certifications and a competitive edge that will lead you towards new opportunities. However, you can start preparing for earning a skill-based certification and supercharge your career journey. This allows you to take the skills you have learned and apply them to complex, real-world business problems. But, what about the other processes like maintaining your certifications, checking for updates, and exam retirement process.
Yes, for that, to keep everything on track, Salesforce has to stay up to date with the latest technology and innovations. There is a need to update the certification and its content as per the trending technology including the exam retirement. So that candidates can take advantage by upgrading them with new skills. To get details about this, in this blog, we will talk about all the Salesforce Certifications exams with their updated information. Moreover, we will also cover the process of maintaining the certifications, the exam retiring process, and what’s new in the policy. Firstly, let’s check the exam changes and other important updates.
Salesforce Certification: What’s new?
We know that for validating technical skills and cloud expertise for having a good career, Salesforce certification plays a crucial role. Moreover, this helps professionals highlight in-demand skills and organizations for creating effective teams for cloud initiatives. So, there is a need for changes to stay connected with the latest technologies.
1. Salesforce Certified Administrator – Course Outline Updated
You must know that on June 23, 2021, the Salesforce Credentialing team has made modifications to the Certified Administrator exam.
Updated Exam Course Outline:
- Configuration and Setup: 20%
- Object Manager and Lightning App Builder: 20%
- Sales and Marketing Applications: 12%
- Service and Support Applications: 11%
- Productivity and Collaboration: 7%
- Data and Analytics Management: 14%
- Workflow/Process Automation: 16%
2. Changes in Maintaining Certifications Process
Now, for maintaining your Salesforce certification(s), the certified professionals have to successfully complete Trailhead maintenance modules specific to their certification. However, all certifications now need to complete one maintenance module per year starting with the Spring ’20 release cycle.
And, if you are unable to complete your maintenance module(s) by the deadline, all certification(s) maintained by that module will expire, or become suspended. However, if achieve a new higher-level or advanced certification, then also you will have to complete entry-level maintenance to maintain all of your certifications. That is to say, the Certified Administrator is entry-level and maintains the Certified Advanced Administrator certification.
| Release Cycle | Date Available | Due Date* | Maintenance Modules Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer ’20 | August 26, 2020 | August 20, 2021 | Heroku Architecture Designer Pardot Specialist Accredited B2B Commerce Administrator |
| Winter ’21 | December 9, 2020 | December 2021 | Marketing Cloud Administrator Platform App Builder Platform Developer I Designer maintenance module |
| Spring ’21 | April 14, 2021 | April 2022 | Administrator B2C Commerce Developer CPQ Specialist Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Tableau CRM and Einstein Discovery Consultant |
Complete Your Maintenance and view your status. For more check here!
3. Exam Name Change
Salesforce Einstein Analytics and Discovery Consultant exam is now Salesforce Certified Tableau CRM and Einstein Discovery Consultant.
Updated Course Outline:
- Data Layer: 24%
- Security: 11%
- Administration: 9%
- Tableau CRM Dashboard Design: 19%
- Tableau CRM Dashboard Implementation: 18%
- Einstein Discovery Story Design: 19%
Moving on, in the next section we will cover all the Salesforce Exams.
Salesforce Certification: Roles Based Exam
Talking about the Salesforce certification, it is basically divided into six roles that cover the exam as per the role. This include:
1. Salesforce Administrator
Salesforce Administrators work with stakeholders for defining requirements, customizing the platform, and allowing users to get the most out of Salesforce. The exam covered include:
1. Salesforce Certified Administrator
The Salesforce Administrator certification is designed for individuals with having experience in Salesforce and are looking for ways to assist their companies in getting more from additional features and capabilities.
2. Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator
The Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator program for individuals with having skills as a seasoned Salesforce Administrator.
Course Outline:
- Security and Access: 20%
- Extending Custom Objects and Applications: 8%
- Auditing and Monitoring: 6%
- Sales Cloud Applications: 10%
- Service Cloud Applications: 10%
- Data Management: 10%
- Content Management: 3%
- Change Management: 10%
- Analytics, Reports, and Dashboards: 10%
- Process Automation: 13%
3. Salesforce Certified CPQ Specialist
The Certified Salesforce CPQ Specialist certification is for individuals with having experience in implementing the Salesforce CPQ solution.
Course Outline:
- CPQ Platform: 23%
- Bundle Configurations: 17%
- Pricing: 16%
- Quote Templates: 7%
- Product Selection: 7%
- Orders, Contracts, Amendments, and Renewals: 15%
- Products: 11%
- Approvals: 4%
4. Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Administrator
The Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Administrator exam is for administrators having the ability to configure Marketing Cloud products using industry and product best practices.
Course Outline:
- Digital Marketing Proficiency: 13%
- Subscriber Data Management: 18%
- Setup: 38%
- Channel Management: 16%
- Maintenance: 15%
5. Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder
The Salesforce Platform App Builder certification is for individuals who want to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in designing, creating, and deploying custom applications using the declarative customization abilities of the Lightning Platform.
Course Outline:
- Salesforce Fundamentals: 23%
- Data Modeling and Management: 22%
- Business Logic and Process Automation: 28%
- User Interface: 17%
- App Deployment: 10%
2. Salesforce Architect
Salesforce Architects are the trusted digital advisors and respected team leaders in the ecosystem. However, the Salesforce Architect certification consists of various certification paths that recognize specialized knowledge and skills. This include:
1. Application Architect
The Salesforce Application Architect certification will be given after completing the four prerequisites. The prerequisites are:
- Data Architecture and Management Designer Certification
- Sharing and Visibility Designer Certification
- Platform Developer I
- Platform App Builder
2. Salesforce Certified B2B Solution Architect
The Salesforce B2B Solution Architect certification is for individuals with having knowledge, skills, and experience in architecting and running multi-cloud B2B solutions for delivering business value for the customer.
Course Outline:
- Discovery and Customer Success: 25%
- Data Governance and Integration: 26%
- Design: 29%
- Delivery: 12%
- Operationalize the Solution: 8%
3. Salesforce Certified B2C Solution Architect
The Salesforce Certified B2C Solution Architect certification is for individuals with having the knowledge, skills, and experience in architecting and running multi-cloud solutions for delivering business value for the customer.
Course Outline:
- Discovery and Customer Success: 18%
- Functional Capabilities and Business Value: 19%
- Architecture Design: 23%
- Data Models and Management: 21%
- Integration: 19%
4. Salesforce Certified B2C Commerce Architect
The Salesforce Certified B2C Commerce Architect credential is designed for individuals who have experience in designing global sites that support multiple brands and channels using standard design patterns.
Course Outline:
- Design/Discovery: 29%
- Build: 19%
- Monitoring/Troubleshooting: 14%
- Integrations and Customizations: 22%
- Launch: 16%
5. Salesforce Certified Heroku Architecture Designer
The Salesforce Certified Heroku Architecture Designer certification is for individuals with having knowledge, skills, and extensive experience with architecting scalable solutions, deploying and managing apps, and managing teams and build-workflows on Heroku.
Course Outline:
- Heroku Platform: 10%
- Data: 17%
- Security: 15%
- Heroku Enterprise: 28%
- Architect Applications: 15%
- Integrations: 15%
6. System Architect
The Salesforce System Architect certification will be given after completing all four prerequisites. The prerequisites are:
- Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designer
- Identity and Access Management Designer
- Integration Architecture Designer
- Platform Developer I
7. Salesforce Certified Technical Architect
The Salesforce Certified Technical Architect exam is for experienced Salesforce architects who want to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and capabilities in examining customer architecture and designing secure and high-performance technical solutions on the Lightning Platform.
Course Outline:
- System Architecture
- Security
- Data
- Solution Architecture
- Integration
- Development Lifecycle and Deployment Planning
- Communication
3. Salesforce Developer
Salesforce Developer uses programmatic and declarative skills for extending and customizing applications on the Lightning platform. The exam includes:
1. Salesforce Certified B2C Commerce Developer
The Salesforce B2C Commerce Developer certification is for individuals with experience as developers for Salesforce B2C Commerce Digital.
Course Outline:
- B2C Commerce Setup: 11%
- Work With a B2C Site: 12%
- Data Management Using Business Manager Usage: 24%
- Application Development: 53%
2. Salesforce Certified Industries CPQ Developer
The Salesforce Industries CPQ Developer certification is for individuals with having experience in developing configure, price, quote applications for the Salesforce Communications, Media, and Utilities Clouds.
Course Outline:
- Products: 20%
- Promotions and Discounts: 7%
- Pricing: 17%
- Rules: 12%
- APIs: 12%
- Ordering and Quoting: 12%
- Troubleshooting: 20%
3. Salesforce Certified JavaScript Developer I
The Salesforce Certified JavaScript Developer I exam is for individuals with knowledge, skills, and experience in developing front-end and/or back-end JavaScript applications for the web stack.
Course Outline:
- Variables, Types, and Collections: 23%
- Objects, Functions, and Classes: 25%
- Browser and Events: 17%
- Debugging and Error Handling: 7%
- Asynchronous Programming: 13%
- Server-Side JavaScript: 8%
- Testing: 7%
4. Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Developer
The Salesforce Marketing Cloud Developer has knowledge and experience in configuring and personalizing data for the Marketing Cloud. They have experience with the configuration of data and advanced segmentation.
Course Outline:
- Data Modeling: 14%
- Programmatic Languages: 35%
- API: 22%
- Data Management: 22%
- Security: 7%
5. Salesforce Certified OmniStudio Developer
The Salesforce OmniStudio Developer certification is for individuals with having knowledge, skills, and experience developing cloud applications using OmniStudio declarative development tools.
Course Outline:
- Flex Cards: 15%
- OmniScripts: 20%
- Integration Procedures: 17%
- Data Raptors: 20%
- Calculation Procedures & Matrices: 8%
- Integrated Troubleshooting and Deployment: 20%
6. Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I
The Salesforce Platform Developer I certification is for individuals with having knowledge, skills, and experience in creating custom applications on the Lightning Platform.
Course Outline:
- Salesforce Fundamentals: 7%
- Data Modeling and Management: 13%
- Process Automation and Logic: 40%
- User Interface: 23%
- Testing, Debugging, and Deployment: 17%
7. Salesforce Certified Platform Developer II
The Salesforce Platform Developer II exam is for individuals who want to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in advanced programmatic abilities of the Lightning Platform and data modeling for developing complex business logic and interfaces.
Course Outline:
- Salesforce Fundamentals: 5%
- Data Modeling and Management: 6%
- Process Automation and Logic: 20%
- User Interface: 19%
- Performance: 16%
- Integration: 15%
- Testing: 14%
- Debug and Deployment Tools: 5%
4. Salesforce Marketer
As a Salesforce Marketer has the ability to create targeted marketing campaigns for connecting with customers and delivering effective 1:1 customer journeys. The exam includes:
1. Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Administrator
The Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Administrator exam is for administrators with the ability to configure Marketing Cloud products using industry and product best practices.
Course Outline:
- Digital Marketing Proficiency: 13%
- Subscriber Data Management: 18%
- Setup: 38%
- Channel Management: 16%
- Maintenance: 15%
2. Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Consultant
The Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Consultant exam is for individuals with experience in configuring Marketing Cloud solutions.
Course Outline:
- Discovery and Architecture: 16%
- Integration: 20%
- Account Configuration: 12%
- Automation: 20%
- Data Modeling and Management: 21%
- Messaging: 11%
3. Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Email Specialist
The Salesforce Marketing Cloud Email Specialist certification is for individuals who want to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and experience in email marketing best practices, message design, subscriber and data management, etc inside the Marketing Cloud Email application.
Course Outline:
- Email Marketing Best Practices: 15%
- Email Message Design: 13%
- Content Creation and Delivery: 18%
- Marketing Automation: 19%
- Subscriber and Data Management: 28%
- Tracking and Reporting: 7%
5. Salesforce Certified Pardot Consultant
The Salesforce Certified Pardot Consultant exam is for individuals with having experience in implementing the Pardot application and should be able to describe the Salesforce administration concepts mentioning Pardot features.
Course Outline:
- Evaluation: 17%
- Account Configuration: 20%
- Automating Business Processes: 17%
- Email Marketing: 10%
- Lead Management: 14%
- Personalizing the Prospect Experience: 8%
- Reporting, Metrics & Analytics: 11%
- Salesforce Engage: 3%
6. Salesforce Certified Pardot Specialist
The Salesforce Certified Pardot Specialist certification is for individuals who want to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in designing and creating marketing campaigns inside Pardot.
Course Outline:
- Visitors and Prospects: 8%
- Administration: 11%
- Pardot Forms, Form Handlers, and Landing Pages: 20%
- Lead Management: 24%
- Email Marketing: 20%
- Engagement Studio: 17%
5. Salesforce Consultant
Salesforce Consultants work with stakeholders for defining needs, customizing the platform, and allowing users to get the most out of Salesforce.
1. Salesforce Certified Experience Cloud Consultant
The Salesforce Experience Cloud Consultant certification is for consultants with having experience in implementing and consulting on the Salesforce Experience applications in a customer-facing role.
Course Outline:
- Experience Cloud Basics: 8%
- Sharing, Visibility, and Licensing: 17%
- Branding, Personalization, and Content: 15%
- Templates and Themes: 10%
- User Creation and Authentication: 13%
- Adoption and Analytics: 5%
- Administration, Setup, and Configuration: 25%
- Customization Considerations, and Limitations: 7%
2. Salesforce Certified Education Cloud Consultant
The Salesforce Certified Education Cloud Consultant exam is for consultants with having experience in implementing Salesforce Education Cloud solutions.
Course Outline:
- Domain Expertise: 18%
- Education Cloud Configuration: 22%
- Implementation Strategies and Best Practices: 18%
- Solution Design: 19%
- Integration and Data Management: 16%
- Analytics: 7%
3. Salesforce Certified Tableau CRM and Einstein Discovery Consultant
The Salesforce Certified Tableau CRM and Einstein Discovery Consultant certification is for individuals with knowledge, skills, and experience with data ingestion processes, security and access implementations, and dashboard creation.
Updated Course Outline:
- Data Layer: 24%
- Security: 11%
- Administration: 9%
- Tableau CRM Dashboard Design: 19%
- Tableau CRM Dashboard Implementation: 18%
- Einstein Discovery Story Design: 19%
4. Salesforce Certified Field Service Consultant
Salesforce Certified Field Service Consultant exam will examine and certify qualified implementation consultants, partners, and administrators on their skills for deploying Salesforce Field Service to an organization.
Course Outline:
- Managing Resources: 16%
- Managing Work Orders: 23%
- Controlling Scheduling and Optimization: 28%
- Configuring Mobility: 10%
- Managing Inventory: 8%
- Managing Assets: 5%
- Configuring Maintenance Plans: 5%
- Permissions and Sharing: 5%
5. Salesforce Certified Nonprofit Cloud Consultant
The Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Consultant exam is for consultants with having experience working with nonprofits and implementing Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud and related solutions in a customer-facing role.
Course Outline:
- Domain Expertise: 20%
- Nonprofit Cloud Product Configuration: 22%
- Implementation Strategies and Best Practices: 18%
- Solution Design: 20%
- Integration and Data Management: 15%
- Analytics: 5%
6. Salesforce Certified OmniStudio Consultant
The Salesforce OmniStudio Consultant certification is for individuals with having experience in consulting on creating cloud applications using OmniStudio tools in a customer-facing role.
Course Outline:
- FlexCards: 23%
- OmniScripts: 27%
- Data Tools: 23%
- Best Fit Solutioning: 27%
7. Salesforce Certified Sales Cloud Consultant
The Salesforce Certified Sales Cloud Consultant exam is for consultants with having experience in implementing Sales Cloud solutions in a customer-facing role.
Course Outline:
- Industry Knowledge: 7%
- Implementation Strategies: 12%
- Sales Cloud Solution Design: 21%
- Marketing and Leads: 8%
- Account and Contact Management: 13%
- Opportunity Management: 13%
- Sales Productivity: 9%
- Sales Cloud Analytics: 9%
- Integration and Data Management: 8%
8. Salesforce Certified Service Cloud Consultant
The Salesforce Certified Service Cloud Consultant exam is for consultants with having experience n implementing Salesforce Service Cloud solutions in a customer-facing role.
Course Outline:
- Industry Knowledge: 10%
- Implementation Strategies: 15%
- Service Cloud Solution Design: 16%
- Knowledge Management: 9%
- Interaction Channels: 10%
- Case Management: 15%
- Contact Center Analytics: 5%
- Integration and Data Management: 5%
- Service Console: 15%
6. Salesforce Designer
Salesforce Designers have the ability for solving complex problems and designing ethical, equitable, and sustainable solutions on the Salesforce Platform serving both businesses and communities. The exam includes:
1. Salesforce Certified User Experience Designer
The Salesforce Certified User Experience (UX) Designer exam is for candidates who are experienced designers and want to create and design solutions on the Salesforce Platform.
Course Outline:
- Discovery: 13%
- UX Fundamentals: 16%
- Human-Centered Design: 12%
- Declarative Design: 27%
- Testing: 11%
- Salesforce Lightning Design System (SLDS): 21%
Above we have covered the Salesforce modifications and a list of all the exams. In the next section, we will check the certification expiration policies.
Overview of Certification Expiration
This states that you must complete release-specific Trailhead modules for maintaining your Salesforce Certification. However, if you don’t complete your needed maintenance by the due date, all of your certifications maintained by that module will expire. That is to say, if you have the Administrator credential and it gets expires then, your Advanced Administrator and Sales Cloud Consultant credentials will also expire.
For more information, check the Salesforce Certification Expiration Page.
Salesforce Retired Certifications
As the Salesforce Platform and products continue to evolve, some of the Salesforce Certification programs may retire certifications in order for aligning with present product offerings. However, when certification is retired, it’s no longer recognized in the program, shown on the verification page, or added in Partner Value Scores.
Below is the list of retired Salesforce Credentials:
- Salesforce Certified Consultant
- Salesforce Certified Force.com Developer
- Next, Salesforce Certified Force.com Advanced Developer
- Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Social Specialist
- Then, Salesforce Certified Mobile Solution Architecture Designer
- Salesforce Accredited Sales Professional
How to verify Certification Status?
For checking the certification maintenance status, you can use:
- Firstly, Trailblazer.me profile
- Secondly, the Salesforce credentials verification page
Further, on your Trailblazer.me profile, check for certifications. After that, for every certification, you will see:
- Firstly, certification name
- Secondly, certification dates
- Thirdly, certification description
- Lastly, certification maintenance status
- In the Certification status you can see:
- Firstly, Active. This means certification is up-to-date.
- Secondly, Maintenance Due. This means your certification has maintenance due.
- Thirdly, Expiring Soon. This means your certification is at risk of expiring.
- Next, Expired. This means your certification is expired due to incomplete maintenance.
- Lastly, Retired. This means that the certification is no longer available.
- In the Certification status you can see:
Final Words
Above we have understood the changes and updates related to the Salesforce certification and training. Salesforce performs these modifications with its exams and training in order to stay up to date with the latest technology. Moreover, this further provides benefits to individuals earning this certification by enhancing more advanced skills. Use the above information and get yourself familiar with the latest happenings in Salesforce. And, find out the best suitable exam and start preparing to get certified.
