Introduction

Salesforce environment refers to the customer’s version of the Force.com platform also called an org (Organization). All you need is your laptop and an internet connection to set up your very own version of Force.com, where all the magic happens. The best part is you require absolutely no installation to get started. This environment makes it possible for you to immediately start developing and testing your cloud applications.

What is an Environment?

An environment is used for a specific purpose. An environment commonly referred to as an org, which may be a term you’re more familiar with, is used for development, testing, and production. When you subscribe to Force.com you’re assigned your very own personal, secure version of Salesforce, your own private cloud computing environment, with your very own username and password. Salesforce customers usually have various orgs, one that is used for production(live), and another for development or testing. All non-production orgs are usually housed in one of the Sandbox instances, and they do not contain any live data or customers.

Types of Salesforce Environments in Salesforce

1. Production(live) – This is where all the major action takes place, where the user accesses their business-critical data. This stores the “live” data that is actively used to keep your business moving 24/7.
2. Development Environment – This is where a whole lot of magic takes place without affecting your production org. You enhance, integrate, and develop your development orgs to protect your production org.
3. Testing Environment – These are environments that are specifically used for testing before deploying onto your production org or making available to your customers.

Salesforce Editions

Your Salesforce edition determines how many of the various functionalities of Salesforce are available to you, they may look the same but come with different functionalities and pricing. Depending on your business needs you can steer towards a particular edition that wraps together many functions and features. The available editions are:

• Essentials
• Professional
• Enterprise
• Unlimited
• Developer