How do Salesforce Success Cloud and Trailhead differ?

Salesforce Success Cloud is a team-oriented expert support suite designed to enhance productivity and guide teams in the most effective use of the platform, with some features free with standard Salesforce licensing plans and extra features available for additional fees. It is a 24/7 service to promote the optimal use and organization of Salesforce resources and also offers value-added business best practices guidance in areas such as development, implementation and issue resolution.

Teams of experts populate this service, which is offered at several levels:

• Adoption services -- for using Lightning in application development, booking Accelerators (personalized work sessions to address Salesforce challenges) and using Admin Assist (adding temporary team resources).
• Advisory services -- for technical and strategic support of architecture, design, development and testing efforts.
• Self-guided services -- an array of on-demand support resources for most of the above.

This encompasses a wide range of support, including organizational assessment, strategic planning, technical guidance and one-on-one coaching. Salesforce Success Cloud experts can assist in roadmapping, technology transition, design and development, and performance analytics.

Trailhead, on the other hand, is a no-cost starting point for many of the tutorial and process journeys within general Success Cloud. It is a network of guided paths (trails) covering a broad set of skills, roles and methodologies, made up of learning modules and offered at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

Some trails offered include:

• administrator training;
• using analytics in apps;
• general and highly specific tutorials in Salesforce products;
• explanations of various laws surrounding privacy and data;
• designing and building apps with Lightning;
• functional architecture;
• APIs;
• integration how-to; and
• marketing and sales functionality and practices.

Put simply, Success Cloud is a staffed desk of experts that includes an opportunity to purchase more one-on-one support, while Trailhead is the educational module free to all.