Salesforce DevOps solution offered free

Source:-enterprisetimes.co.uk

Copado has added its name to the list of companies offering free access to their platform to a subset of global organisations. Copado offers a native DevOps solution for organisations using the Salesforce platform. It adds mature development tools to Salesforce development suite that include version control, source repositories and more.

This latest announcement sees it offer free access “to its platform for anyone working on applications to fight COVID-19”. The offer sees Copado waive its platform fees for six months, presumably until 6th October.

Under the auspices of its Copado Cares initiative, Copado is also promising further benefits for customers and prospects alike, it has:

Launched a virtual DevOps training centre.
Opened its DevOps community to anyone in the Salesforce ecosystem.
The Copado Cares program will also make DevOps certifications free for 90 days.
Host three virtual “DevOps Days” each month in North America, EMEA, India and Asia. ​

Ted Elliott, chief executive officer for Copado commented: “We are living through an unprecedented global event and now is the time for us to come together to fight COVID-19. Our team has been affected by this virus, as have our customers, partners and the community at large. Enabling the technology industry to respond quickly to this pandemic will bring forth new, creative solutions. Copado has the tools, training and support to accelerate the development of high-quality applications to tackle this complex problem. We will continue to look for opportunities to engage with our partners to provide support to this mission.”​

This initiative was inspired by the Salesforce response to COVID-19, which includes free access to some applications to 90 days for new customers.

Copado Cares 100,000 target
Copado launched Copado Care with the intent of training 100,000 people using Salesforce in DevOps. To achieve this Copado created four components, these are now opened up more so people can take advantage of them, especially if furloughed or laid off they can improve their skills for when the job market resumes.

Virtual DevOps Training Center: includes virtual events, certification courses and a weekly live webinar to support training on DevOps methodology, metrics and best practices for Salesforce. ​
Open Salesforce DevOps Community: offers collaboration and support to anyone in the Salesforce ecosystem from the largest Salesforce DevOps community​
Free Salesforce DevOps Certification Days: Copado will waive the $250 certification fee and offer weekly Certification Days where individuals can learn and certify to be a Salesforce DevOps professional. ​
Free access to Copado DevOps Native Platform: provides the leading native DevOps tools for Salesforce to ensure rapid, high quality delivery of apps for organizations working on a COVID-19 project.​
Further information is available here.

DevOps days
Copado has already announced the first three virtual events which will include: Keynote sessions, hands-on training, and the ability to connect with DevOps experts.

Copado DevOps Days (North America) April 22, 2020, 12PM (EST) – 4PM (EST).
Copado DevOps Days (Europe) May 6, 2020, Time to be confirmed.
Copado DevOps Days (India) May 13, 2020, Time to be confirmed.
Interested people can register here.

Enterprise Times – What does this mean
What isn’t completely clear is whether the free platform access offer is only open to new customers, similar to the Salesforce one. Many of the initiatives announced by companies are similar in nature. They offer free access to training material, free services to help companies onto the platform or free access to the platform for a period. They do not see to be offering assistance to existing customers who may wish to flex their payments in order to survive. Other examples include:

Bill.com is offering to waive three months subscriptions new customers, if they have suffered a drop in revenues.
BlackLine is to offer several complimentary solutions to customers.
BMC is offering three months free subscription to new customers.
Ceridian has made available free learning content related to COVID-19 and has made a new tool Dayforce Safety Monitor available free of charge.
Conga is offering Conga Sign to Non Profits globally at no charge until September 30, 2020.
Icertis is offering a 24×7 support service free of charge to customers.
Nintex is offering several services free during the coronavirus crisis.
Oracle is to offer free access to its Workforce Health and Safety solution to current Oracle Human Capital Management Cloud customers.
The exception to the above is Zoho. It launched Zoho Remotely, a mix of apps available initially free of charge. It has also committed to reducing subscriptions for some existing customers. While Copado and others are making huge efforts to support themselves, new customers and charities. One would hope that more should look to help out existing customers as well. Some industries have been virtually shut down at this time. One of the benefits of cloud software is that subscriptions should be able to flex. It will be interesting to see what flexibility there is for some organisations. Likewise, SaaS companies need to protect themselves to prepare for when companies return to work.