What Admins need to know about Workflow and Process Builder Retirement

After months of speculation, it is now official; Salesforce will be retiring the Workflow and Process Builder automation features. Don’t worry though, the retirement of these will be making way for a new, much more efficient and capable tool called Flow Builder. 

Say goodbye to Workflow and Process Builder

Both Workflow and Process Builder have been around for some time and each have played a key part in enabling effective automation solutions within Salesforce orgs. During Dreamforce ‘21, the features’ fate were sealed and the Product Manager responsible for the retirement, Patrick Stokes, delivered more detail about what to expect.

You may have noticed that Salesforce has been enhancing Flow Builder’s functionality at a rapid pace, encouraging Admins to migrate from Workflow Rules and Process Builder to the new feature. What’s more, the support documentation available on Salesforce Help or Trailhead has also confirmed the advice on which automation tool to use. This has been updated with impending retirement plans laid out as part of the Spring ‘22 through Winter ‘23 Releases.

• Spring ‘22 Release: Launch migration tool for Workflow Rules
• Summer ‘22 Release: Launch migration tool for Process Builder
• Winter ‘23 Release: Retirement of Workflow Rules and Process Builder

Say hello to Flow Builder

Flow Builder is the declarative interface used to build individual flows. The feature can be used to build code-like logic without using a programming language and also generates a better development process with more functional automation for a Salesforce org.

For all behind-the-scenes automation needs, Salesforce recommends that users utilise Flow Builder from now on. Although the advice available on Trailhead includes a caveat for existing automations to “Use Process Builder only if you’re already familiar with using it and you need to edit an existing process.” It is being heavily encouraged for all new automated processes to be developed using Flow Builder instead.

An important thing to note with the impending retirement of Workflow and Process Builder, is that you won’t be able to create any new automations using these features once the phase out plan has been completed, but the retirement will not have an impact on any old automations – they will still work.

What’s the next step for Admins and Users?

We can imagine that many Salesforce Admins and even users will require upskilling to ensure the effective use of the Flow Builder function and begin using it for new automation requirements within a Salesforce environment. We highly recommend taking a look at the Flow Builder Trailhead to get to know the feature and learn how to automate processes effectively within your org.

There are also plenty of useful resources to take advantage of to further your knowledge on Flow Builder including Salesforce Help and SalesforceBen.

If you require any support with getting to know Flow Builder you can call us on 01242 323623 or email us at support@coacto.co.uk anytime.