I’m Sharon Klardie: The Salesforce Labs Evangelist

Have you searched around on the AppExchange looking for a solution to a business challenge and seen that fun beaker logo? When you encounter this you have entered into a special place in the Salesforce ecosystem. You have found Salesforce Labs. These are close to my heart, and the reason I recently joined Salesforce.

Let me take a step back and introduce myself. I am Sharon Klardie and a longtime advocate for Salesforce. I have been in the Salesforce ecosystem for a decade, almost a quarter of my lifetime, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Over this time my roles have ranged from accidental Admin, Consultant, Director of Business Systems, Product Owner, and Evangelist in organizations of all different shapes and sizes. The constant theme between all of them is that Salesforce is at the center of all of those roles. I have a strong passion for connecting people, process and technology with the goal of making the biggest impact possible. Salesforce has been the key to enabling that to happen.

Early in my Salesforce experience, I wanted to connect with others in the ecosystem, to learn faster and share insights. I found the Trailblazer Community and user group program. It was at a user group meeting many years ago where I first learned about Salesforce Labs apps, and what they meant for the community.

What is Salesforce Labs?

Labs apps and components are free unmanaged packages that are built by Salesforce employees. They can be installed in a few minutes and you don’t have to start from scratch when you need a new dashboard, for instance. Plus, they give you insights into the industry standard KPIs your peers are tracking.

A Labs app might not always do exactly what you are looking for, but since you have access to see and edit the code you will find that a lot of customers start with a Labs app and then make customizations to fit their specific business need.

Salesforce Labs has been around since 2010 and is close to the hearts of many at Salesforce. Lab apps have grown significantly over the years, with hundreds of apps, over 50 components and close to one million installs.

A Few Exciting Labs Apps

I am still learning of all the amazing work my fellow employees have shared with the community but here are a few apps and components that will make a difference in you org today. Check them out!

Lightning Adoption Tracker Dashboard

Let’s say you have made the switch to Lightning, or are in the process of switching over the Lightning. In order to keep track of who is using Lightning, the Lightning Adoption Tracker Dashboard will help you keep up with the users and features that are being utilized by your company’s Salesforce users.

Agile Accelerator

Two of the biggest ways Salesforce stays innovative is our Agile mindset, and the way we use our own products. Core of our process is Agile Accelerator. It helps us manage backlogs, sprints, user stories, defects, and more. With Agile Accelerator, you have the ability to leverage the same Agile app that Salesforce uses.

I’m Out! The Out of Office Case Handler

This is a brand new app on AppExchange, and was one of the other finalists in our Service Labs Apps competition last year. With this app, you’ll have an easy way for an agent to declare they’re out of the office and to make sure all customer cases get assigned to someone else.

Curious about other Salesforce Labs apps and components? Check out all of them here.

The Salesforce Labs Evangelist

In this role, I will sit squarely in the heart of my passion - connecting people, process and technology together to make an impact. By ensuring the quality of the Labs apps, while connecting employees, customer and partners to the Labs apps possibilities, I can help facilitate positive impacts within the whole Salesforce ecosystem.

Here’s how I’ll be helping the Ohana:

• Helping Salesforce employees build and publish quality Lab apps
• Mapping out white space for new Lab apps
• Sharing new Lab apps
• Updating popular Lab apps
• Discussing the Labs program online and offline, from events to the Trailblazer Community to blogs, article code samples, webinars and more

I could not be more excited to start this new adventure with all you! #dreamjob

Let’s stay connected! Follow me on Twitter and @sklardie and the Trailblazer Community to share feedback, learn about new apps, components and updates to the Lab Apps program.


Sharon Klardie is the Salesforce Labs Evangelist at Salesforce.