Salesforce Operations Governance and Architecture Framework (SOGAF) Overview

Salesforce Operations Governance and Architecture Framework (SOGAF) applies the MIT‑CISR enterprise architecture framework to Salesforce implementations and programs.

Introduction

Defining a Common Entity (CoE) for a shared services organization is challenging because the entity is known by many names, such as “Center of Excellence”, “C4E”, “Professional Center”, “Expert Network”, as well as “Design Authority” or “Platform Authority”, which can cause confusion and mismatched expectations.

“Center of Excellence”, “C4E”, “Professional Center”, “Expert Network”

The terms “Design Authority” or “Platform Authority” are also used, adding ambiguity.

Different descriptions lead to different expectations, causing frustration when unmet.

These issues are common for entities that are hard to classify as transformation, capability, or best‑practice centers.

A Common Entity can play any number of these roles, increasing the confusion:

In practice, a CoE does everything.

It is the closest thing to a transformation program, working across departments.

Sometimes it acts as a referee, ensuring business and IT follow platform “rules”.

Sometimes it is a broker, negotiating compromises between lines of business or markets.

From some LOB or market perspectives, it is a resource that follows their priorities.

In SOGAF, the Common Entity’s mission revolves around four components and twenty activities, emphasizing the establishment of an operating model’s purpose, vision, values, roles, processes, and metrics.

Key considerations

Establish sequences that help the organization learn a digital mindset.

Design, build, implement, and support experience strategies and definitions.

Share practice groups and create guidelines for standardization and reuse across similar groups.

Focus on continuous improvement through expertise and guidance to raise team capability.

Test new business models, processes, and features to eliminate friction and identify new customer experiences.

Components

The diagram below describes four components (Project & Product Management, Platform & Product Support, Product Development & Platform Optimization, and Adoption & Operations) and their primary responsibilities.

Activities

The table below expands each component’s responsibilities into key activities for success.

CoE Component

Key Activities

CoE Management & Salesforce PMO

Set CoE objectives, scope, plan, budget, scale, risk management, staffing/team management, onboarding, and reporting.

Business Requirements, Value & Change Control

Requirements management, project scope governance meetings, change control board meetings, stakeholder escalation.

Product Portfolio & Innovation

Establish innovation labs/centers, manage product portfolio releases, build proofs‑of‑concept and prototypes.

Security & Compliance / Regulations

Align with corporate security guidelines, implement security guardrails, provide compliance training for staff and contractors.

Architecture Oversight

Govern strategy, configuration, code quality, integration, data volume, archiving, backup & recovery, CI/CD supervision and expertise.

Design Authority

Establish, own, and apply principles, standards, policies; ensure compliance and quality (UX, applications, data, security, reuse, scalability, sustainability); maintain flexibility for business needs and leverage new technologies including AppExchange.

Product/Platform/CoE Standards

Define specifications and SOPs for platform and application implementation, deployment, and maintenance; promote repeatable methods.

Roles & Skills, Communications

Define roles and skills, training paths, certifications, toolkits; communicate new features, planned upgrades, and service interruptions.

Internal Projects Consultancy & QA

Project QA methods (Agile, hybrid, waterfall) and tools for discovery, design, build, test, deployment; provide reviews and expertise.

Shared Service for Product Development

Provide resources, teams, organization (including PO) and toolkits to deliver products in a factory model, either standalone or with system integrators.

Best Practice Community

Define, validate, and disseminate processes, ways of working, lessons learned, and solution configurations (mandatory or temporary).

Reusable Assets Management

Collect, centralize, manage, and circulate potential assets (solution configurations, code, integration patterns, documentation).

Environment Management

Support all environments—from sandbox to production and marketing BU—monitor status and quality; handle data and metadata migration.

Release Management & Integrations

Establish major and minor release schedules using tools; supervise version control, frequency, components, and integrations.

Data Migration & Quality Management

Oversee data models and metadata, update production data quantity and quality, ensure compliance, and produce data reports.

License & Usage Management

Monitor Salesforce license usage and regularly update usage statistics; select appropriate tools.

Deployment, Training, Adoption, NOE

Handle end‑user deployment and training for processes/LOB/markets; drive application and business adoption; manage Center of Excellence network.

Administration – App, UI, Data, Platform

Operate applications – UI and usage (Lightning/Mobile), automation, standard/custom objects, reports, dashboards, Chatter, data; run platform environments, archiving, backup & recovery; monitor security, releases, and roadmap (SF).

Access, Identity, Authorization

User configuration, authorization, and access (Profile & Permission Set); identity and SSO; authentication, certificates, de‑provisioning.

End‑User Support & Ticketing

Run ticketing process; resolve Level‑2 (admin) issues and coordinate with Level‑3 (development) and Level‑4 (Salesforce) for support.

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