Salesforce Technical Debt (and How to Avoid It)

As a leading Salesforce consulting and implementation partner, we understand the critical importance of maintaining a healthy Salesforce org. One of the biggest challenges organizations face is Salesforce technical debt. This includes the hidden cost of quick fixes and suboptimal solutions that accumulate over time, hindering performance, scalability, and innovation.

In 2025, with Salesforce’s rapid evolution and the growing adoption of AI-driven features, addressing technical debt is going to be a big push. This article will explore what Salesforce technical debt is, its impact, and actionable strategies to manage and reduce it effectively.

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What is Salesforce Technical Debt?

Salesforce technical debt refers to the inefficiencies and complexities that build up when short-term solutions are prioritized over sustainable, long-term configurations. As noted by McKinsey, 10–20% of technology budgets for new products are often diverted to resolving tech debt, which can represent 20–40% of an organization’s technology estate value before depreciation. Debt in Salesforce manifests in multiple forms:

Code Debt: Poorly written or hard-coded Apex, Visualforce, or Lightning Web Components that are difficult to maintain.
Configuration Debt: Cluttered metadata, such as unused fields, objects, or redundant workflow rules, which contribute to performance bottlenecks.
Architecture Debt: Inefficient data models or tightly coupled integrations that limit scalability.
Governance Debt: Poor documentation, inadequate change management, or overly permissive access controls that increase risk.
Process Automation Debt: Overlapping or outdated automations (i.e. legacy Process Builders) that result in unpredictable behavior.
Data Debt: Duplicate or incomplete records, inconsistent entry practices, and unreliable reporting.

These issues typically stem from rushed Salesforce implementations, evolving business needs, or lack of governance. Tech debt slows innovation, increases maintenance costs, and complicates upgrades—ultimately impacting ROI and user adoption.

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Why Salesforce Technical Debt Matters in 2025

The Salesforce ecosystem is advancing rapidly, with tools like Agentforce, Data Cloud, and AI-powered automation transforming CRM. A recent Salesforce survey found that 91% of SMBs using AI reported revenue growth—making it clear that a clean, optimized Salesforce org is critical. However, Salesforce technical debt can derail even the most strategic investments:

Performance Bottlenecks: Cluttered metadata and outdated apex triggers lead to slow page loads and frequent errors.
Reduced Agility: Excessive customization makes every change a risky endeavor, undermining the agility Salesforce is known for.
Increased Costs: Protiviti reports that tech debt consumes 31% of IT budgets and 21% of IT resources, diverting funds from innovation.
Security Risks: Legacy permissions, deprecated APIs, and mismanaged governance expose vulnerabilities.
AI Limitations: Tools like Agentforce rely on clean data and efficient processes—both of which are degraded by outdated automations and poor documentation.

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Organizations relying on Salesforce Classic or plagued by inconsistent page layouts often experience user dissatisfaction and poor adoption. Ultimately, the cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy approach that would take longer becomes unsustainable.

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The Cost of Ignoring Tech Debt

Ignoring technical debt is like ignoring compound interest on a credit card—the longer you wait, the more painful the outcome. A 2025 prediction by Anablock AI indicates that companies actively addressing technical debt can release new features 50% faster than those weighed down by legacy issues. The consequences of inaction include:

Slower Releases: Technical blockers slow down deployments, making agility nearly impossible.
User Frustration: Broken automations, confusing page layouts, and inconsistent UX reduce adoption.
Missed Opportunities: Legacy workflows prevent adoption of next-gen features like Flow or predictive analytics.

By contrast, organizations that prioritize reducing technical debt free up their teams to spend more time on innovation rather than remediation.

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How to Identify the Problem

Recognizing Salesforce technical debt isn’t reserved for developers—it affects admins, users, and executives alike. Common symptoms include:

Outdated interfaces (i.e. Salesforce Classic)
Cluttered metadata: Unused fields, objects, or stale reports
Frequent performance issues and apex trigger failures
High effort required for minor enhancements
Inaccurate or incomplete reports stemming from poor data hygiene

Tools like Salesforce Optimizer, Org Check, and Hubbl Diagnostics are essential. Salesforce Optimizer offers a free report on storage, code, and configuration issues. Org Check identifies unused workflow rules, process builders, and permission sets. Hubbl scans metadata to help prioritize technical cleanup.

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Strategies to Address Salesforce Technical Debt in 2025

At Gerent, we’ve helped countless organizations eliminate Salesforce technical debt and future-proof their platforms. Here’s our proven approach:

1. Assess

Run Regular Audits: Use tools like Salesforce Optimizer, Gearset, or Org Check to flag technical inefficiencies.
Engage Stakeholders: Business alignment ensures you're not removing fields or processes still in use.
Prioritize High-Impact Debt: Target items where the cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy approach that would take longer is highest.

2. Plan and Execute

Create a Technical Debt Backlog: Dedicate 20% of each sprint to tackling known issues.
Refactor Strategically: Replace legacy process builders with Flows, consolidate redundant apex triggers, and streamline data models.
Leverage Declarative Tools: Prioritize low-code wherever possible to reduce future tech debt.
Document Everything: Good records prevent rework and reinforce long-term governance.

3. Maintain

Establish Governance: Implement a Center of Excellence to oversee standards, testing, and consistency.
Monitor Releases: Track Salesforce’s triannual updates to prevent feature deprecation issues.
Invest in Training: Certifications like AI Associate (free in 2025) help internal teams keep pace.
Use Managed Services: Gerent’s managed services reduce the internal burden and prevent the accumulation of Salesforce technical debt.

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The Role of Change Management

One of the most overlooked contributors to Salesforce technical debt is ineffective change management. Without a structured process for managing updates, enhancements, and new feature deployments, even the most well-architected Salesforce org can degrade into a patchwork of outdated automations, undocumented changes, and short-term fixes that hinder long-term scalability.

Organizations often assume that technical debt is purely a system or code issue—but in reality, it’s a people and process problem just as much as a technology one.

Short-Term Fixes vs. Long-Term Sustainability

Many teams default to the "easy solution" during urgent releases or stakeholder requests—deploying a quick workaround to meet a deadline without evaluating the impact on existing workflow rules, apex triggers, or data models. While expedient, this approach often skips essential steps like documentation, testing, and stakeholder alignment. Over time, these short-term decisions accumulate, increasing the cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy approach that would take longer to implement properly.

Without clear accountability or approval protocols, it's easy for teams to unknowingly introduce overlapping automations, redundant fields, or security vulnerabilities. The absence of governance doesn’t just create inefficiencies—it fuels the kind of tech debt that compounds with every sprint.

Key Elements of Effective Salesforce Change Management

A robust change management strategy prevents this buildup by ensuring that all modifications are intentional, tested, and documented. Here are the core components every Salesforce organization should adopt:

Centralized Governance: Establish a Center of Excellence (CoE) that oversees org health, enforces naming conventions, and reviews all proposed changes for alignment with business goals.
Impact Analysis: Use tools like Salesforce Optimizer, Gearset, or Elements.Cloud to assess the downstream effects of changes before deploying them to production.
Documentation Discipline: Every field, object, and automation should have a clear purpose and documented history. A shared Confluence or Notion repository can centralize tribal knowledge and prevent future rework.
Release Cadence and Testing Protocols: Implement a structured release cycle with sandbox staging, regression testing, and stakeholder UAT. This not only improves quality but boosts user trust.
Training and Adoption Support: Changes should be accompanied by enablement efforts. If end users aren’t trained, features go unused—creating wasted effort and compounding complexity.

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The Organizational Cost of Poor Change Management

When change management is absent or reactive, Salesforce implementations often become bloated and fragile. Admins are forced to spend more time troubleshooting obscure bugs, reversing rushed changes, or deciphering legacy processes that were never properly documented.

Common symptoms of poor change governance include:

Inconsistent field naming conventions that confuse reporting logic
Shadow IT or rogue enhancements outside of official sprint cycles
No clear ownership of key objects, flows, or roles
Multiple disconnected process builders trying to automate the same object
Low user confidence due to frequent system changes with no communication

Over time, these inefficiencies prevent orgs from adopting high-value Salesforce innovations like AI, automation, or analytics. Worse, they drive up operational costs while lowering platform ROI.

Our Approach to Change Management

At Gerent, we see change management as a critical lever in the battle to address technical debt. We work with clients to implement structured frameworks that enable fast, high-quality changes—without sacrificing control or transparency.

Our approach includes:

Governance Modeling: Designing a scalable change process with role-based responsibilities, approval flows, and deployment stages.
Toolchain Optimization: Helping clients integrate DevOps tools (e.g., Copado, Gearset) with their Salesforce environments to streamline change tracking and rollback.
Stakeholder Workshops: Facilitating sessions to align IT, business, and end users around change priorities and org health goals.
Training Programs: Equipping teams with the skills to adopt new Salesforce features correctly—reducing reliance on hard-coded customizations or ad-hoc solutions.
Documentation Systems: Building knowledge libraries that preserve institutional knowledge and reduce dependency on individual contributors.

Our clients consistently report faster release cycles, cleaner metadata, and improved collaboration between technical and functional teams—results that translate into measurable reductions in Salesforce technical debt.

Building a Culture of Responsible Change

Ultimately, the only way to prevent tech debt from recurring is to embed change management into the culture. Leaders must reinforce the idea that stability, documentation, and planning are not bureaucratic overhead—they’re strategic enablers of agility and scale.

By investing in thoughtful governance, organizations can break the cycle of rework and accelerate the adoption of new Salesforce capabilities. A disciplined change process doesn’t slow things down—it creates a foundation where innovation can thrive without chaos.

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Why Partner with Gerent?

As a strategic Salesforce partner, we specialize in transforming cluttered Salesforce orgs into high-performing, scalable platforms. Our Triple Point Inspection and AI Liftoff programs offer:

Comprehensive Audits: Identify and quantify tech debt across your org.
Tailored Roadmaps: Focus on high-priority rework, automation upgrades, and data quality.
Ongoing Support: Managed services that keep your org clean and scalable.
AI Readiness: Clean data, modern architecture, and best practices ensure your org is ready for the next generation of Salesforce tools.

Salesforce technical debt is unavoidable—but manageable. With the right strategy, tools, and partner, you can minimize risk and maximize return. A clean, scalable Salesforce org accelerates time to value, enhances user adoption, and positions your business for long-term growth.

Let Gerent guide your journey from technical debt to technical excellence.

Ready to optimize your Salesforce environment? Contact us today for a free technical debt analysis and discover how we can help you streamline your systems, reduce risk, and accelerate growth.

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