What is the Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator Certification?

The Salesforce Advanced Administrator certification is for you if you are a Salesforce professional who can design and implement advanced solutions on the Salesforce platform. This is the second level of certification for administrators after the Salesforce Certified Administrator certification.

It covers the advanced features and functions that help you optimize and maintain your Salesforce operation. To pass the Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator certification, you need to have hands-on experience with the product and be able to solve real-world customer scenarios.

In this post, you will learn more about the Salesforce advanced administrator program and what to expect from the exam.

What is the Salesforce Advanced Administrator certification?

As a Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator, you have the skills and experience of a seasoned Salesforce Administrator. You can master the full range of applications, features, and functions on the Salesforce platform. You can also configure, manage, and extend the platform to meet various business needs.

The Salesforce Certified Administrator program has two levels of certification. The first level is the Salesforce Certified Administrator credential, which covers the basic features and functionality for maintaining a Salesforce implementation.

The second level is the Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator credential for administrators proficient in Salesforce configuration and administration. You can use complex features and functionality to solve business problems and follow the best practices for administration.

About the exam

Here are the details about the Salesforce Advanced Administrator certification exam.

Questions: 60 multiple-choice/multiple-select questions and 5 non-scored questions Time duration: 105 minutes Passing score: 65% Registration fee: USD 200

Target audience

The Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator exam is for you if you are a seasoned Salesforce Administrator who knows how to use the platform to solve various business problems. You should have much hands-on experience with Salesforce and have completed the Administer, Extend, and Automate Salesforce ( ADX211 ) course or something similar. You should also have studied the course materials and other resources provided by Salesforce.

You should know how to use all the features and functions that Salesforce offers to end-users and administrators. You should be able to do advanced administration tasks, such as using Salesforce to automate complex business processes and suggest improvements and best practices for your organization. You should also be curious about new features that Salesforce releases and be able to evaluate how they can benefit your organization.

The candidate should be able to do the following:

• Set up record and field data access based on business needs.
• Define the appropriate relationship types for custom objects.
• Configure the Sales and Service Cloud applications
• Gain an understanding of forecasting capabilities.
• Activate Salesforce Knowledge and configure entitlements.
• Using Salesforce functionality, assess, cleanse, and maintain data quality.
• Learn how to move data between environments using sandboxes and tools.
• Custom report types, reporting snapshots, complex charts, summaries, bucketing, joined reports, and cross-filters help you create reports that meet your business needs.
• Enhance dashboards with dynamic dashboards and dashboard filters.
• Automate complex business processes with flows, workflow rules, approval processes, and formula fields.

Prerequisites

Before you can take the Certified Advanced Administrator exam, you must have passed the Salesforce Certified Administrator exam first. The Advanced Admin exam will help you learn more about Salesforce and how to use its advanced features. It will build on your knowledge as an administrator and make you more skilled and confident.

Exam Outline

If you want to take the Salesforce Advanced Administrator exam, you need to know and be able to use the following objectives. You should also have some practical experience as a Salesforce Administrator and show that you can apply these features and functions in real situations:

Security and Access: 20%

• Given a scenario, determine the implications for record and field data access (Sharing model, controlled by the parent, grant access by hierarchies, dashboard, report folders access, email folder access, Territory Management).
• Compare and contrast the capabilities of custom profiles, permission sets, and delegated administration.
• Given a scenario, determine the implications of user authentication.
• Compare and contrast the capabilities of a complex business model. (Person accounts, Accounts, Contacts, and Contact to multiple Accounts.)

Objects and Applications: 19%

• Given a scenario, determine how to enhance or extend objects. (master-detail, lookup, junction object, related list, record type, schema builder, and object creator).
• Given a scenario, determine the appropriate solution to enhance or extend the UI/UX with applications. (app manager, lightning app builder, dynamic forms, standard lightning page components, console, and lightning page analyze button.)

Auditing and Monitoring: 10%

• Given a scenario, determine the appropriate tools for monitoring and troubleshooting system activity (debug log, set up audit trail).
• Explain how to ensure sensitive data is set up to support a business/legal/compliance use case in production and sandbox environments.
• Explain how to review and troubleshoot security settings, including pending updates that may change system access.

Cloud Applications: 11%

• Describe the Salesforce features enabling Sales users to conduct the sale process, including products, price books, schedules, orders, and quotes.
• Distinguish and understand the implications and capabilities of Forecasting and Territory Management.
• Explain how to create and maintain Salesforce Knowledge (article record types, data categories).
• Explain how to create and maintain service entitlements and entitlement processes.
• Describe the Salesforce features enabling interaction between support agents and customers (Chat, Case Feed, Service Cloud Console, Experience Cloud sites, Omni-Channel).
• Given a scenario, understand the standard Salesforce suite of products that enable extending the core platform.

Data and Analytics Management: 13%

• Explain the tools and best practices for assessing, improving, and enriching data quality. (data types, validation, managing duplicates, enriching, archiving).
• Given a scenario, determine the appropriate analytic tools to meet complex reporting requirements (custom report types, reporting snapshots, complex charting, custom summary formulas, bucketing, joined reports, cross filters, dynamic dashboards, and dashboard filters).
• Understand methods to connect, access, backup/restore, or archive data outside the Salesforce platform. (big objects, data warehouse, external objects, data lakes, third-party solutions, and Salesforce Connect).
• Given a scenario, identify the appropriate tools and methods for importing data into Salesforce. (data import wizard, data loader, and external ID).

Environment Management and Deployment: 7%

• Describe the options available to move metadata between environments (change sets, sandboxes, and AppExchange - managed/unmanaged).
• Describe the capabilities and best practices for using change sets to move metadata between environments.

Process Automation: 20%

• Given a complex scenario, determine the solution using the best combination of tools to solve a business problem.
• Given a scenario, identify the appropriate tool or method for troubleshooting declarative automation.
• Given a scenario, explain the capabilities and limitations of each declarative automation tool.
• Understand the implications of the order of execution when using automation tools.

Difference between Salesforce Administrator and Advanced Administrator

To become a certified Salesforce administrator, you have two options. The first is Salesforce Certified Administrator, which covers the basic features and functions you need to manage a Salesforce implementation.

The second one is Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator, which is for experienced administrators who can use the advanced features and functions to solve more complex business problems. You also need to know the best practices for Salesforce configuration and maintenance. To get this certification, you must first have the Salesforce Certified Administrator certification.

How much does a salesforce-certified advanced administrator make?

The Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator professionals are paid well. According to ZipRecruiter, the average salary range of a Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator in the USA is $90,000 per year.

The role and value of a Salesforce advanced administrator

If you want to leverage the benefits of Salesforce, you need an expert who can use its advanced features and functionality. The Salesforce Advanced Administrators are certified professionals who have mastered the Salesforce platform and can solve various business problems with real-world knowledge and skills.

A Salesforce Advanced Administrator can help you implement Salesforce more effectively and efficiently, and here are some of the ways they can do that:

They have deep knowledge of the platform

A Salesforce Advanced Administrator has extensive knowledge of the Salesforce platform and how it can help you improve your customer relations and sales. They also know how to use various tools you may need to be aware of but can make a big difference in your business processes.

They stay updated with the latest developments

Salesforce changes frequently, adding new features and tools you must learn and adopt. A Salesforce Advanced Administrator is always on top of these changes and knows how to incorporate them into your existing application. They can help you prepare for new releases and ensure your Salesforce solution is always up-to-date and optimized.

They have advanced skills in account planning

Salesforce Advanced Administrator can do more than a primary administrator. They have advanced skills in navigating through the application and handling requests from your customers and prospects. They can also create sophisticated reports and dashboards that give valuable insights into your business performance.

They maximize your Salesforce investment

Many organizations need help to use Salesforce to its full potential because they need a clear plan and guidance on how to do so. They may hire different experts for different Salesforce roles but still need to catch up on some of the platform's benefits. A Salesforce Advanced Administrator can help you optimize and customize Salesforce for your specific needs and advise your managers on best use.

The final words

If you are a Salesforce admin working with the platform for a year or more, you should aim for the Advanced Admin certification. This credential will show that you have mastered the advanced aspects of Salesforce and can handle any challenge.

You must study hard and cover topics you may not use regularly, but it will pay off when you ace the exam. I hope you succeed in your certification journey!

The Salesforce Advanced Administrator certification is a great way to stand out from other admins and boost your career. The software changes frequently and introduces new features and tools you must learn. This certification will ensure that you are up to date with the latest developments and can use them efficiently.

The role of an Advanced Administrator is to create sophisticated reports and solve complex problems related to sales and marketing. The certification equips you for this role by providing you with rich learning resources and practical projects. You will become an expert in this domain by the end of the certification.