# How to reduce Salesforce technical debt, one evidenced item at a time.

> Reducing Salesforce technical debt with SyncOnAI 360 means finding duplicates, overlapping automation, unused metadata and legacy automation from evidence, ranking each item by severity and priced effort, planning the work on a board or in a statement of work, and removing it through proposals that a re-audit verifies.

Source: https://synconai360.com/use-cases/technical-debt

## Key facts

- **6**: Detectors for duplication and overlap
- **$150/h**: Default rate behind each estimate
- **0**: Items called unused without complete evidence
- **Every**: Fix verified by re-audit

## Why Salesforce technical debt survives every cleanup plan

Debt is easy to feel and hard to list. Without an inventory, a price and proof of safety, cleanup loses to new features every time.

- **No inventory.** Nobody can say exactly where the debt is.
- **No price.** Cleanup cannot compete with features without a cost.
- **No proof.** Fear of breaking something stops every deletion.
- **No follow-through.** Nobody checks whether cleanup actually happened.

## How do you find Salesforce technical debt?

Detectors find duplicate validation rules, similar fields, overlapping automation, redundant permission sets, forked components and colliding scheduled jobs. The audit adds legacy Workflow and Process Builder, inactive Flows, undocumented fields and objects, field sprawl and ancient Apex API versions.

- Duplicates and overlap
- Legacy automation
- Undocumented and sprawling metadata

## How do you price technical debt?

Each finding has a severity and an effort band, minutes, hours or days, priced at a stated rate you can change. The assessment models the yearly carrying cost and three-year exposure of leaving it, the business case for the budget conversation.

- Effort priced
- Carrying cost modelled
- A business case

## How do you prove a removal is safe?

Nothing is called unused without complete evidence; otherwise the result is unknown, with the reason. Impact analysis lists what references an item before it is touched, and live queries show whether records still use it.

- Unused only with evidence
- References listed
- Data checked live

## How do you plan the cleanup?

Turn findings into work items on a project board in one step, or into a priced statement of work for a client. Each carries its evidence and estimate, so the plan rests on facts.

- Findings to work items
- Or a priced statement of work
- Evidence carried along

## How do you remove debt and prove it is gone?

Ship each removal as a proposal with checks, blast radius and validation, approved for production by a second admin. One fix can be applied across every affected Flow. Run the audit again: each fixed finding is marked verified fixed, or regressed if it returns.

- Governed removals
- One fix across many Flows
- Verified by re-audit

## How often should you review Salesforce technical debt?

The org refreshes every six hours and the audit can run whenever you need it, so debt can be reviewed on the same cadence as releases rather than once a year. Review history keeps every past review for comparison.

A short review before each release, of new findings and regressions, stops debt accumulating again after a cleanup.

- Review with each release
- Compare against past reviews
- Catch regressions early

## How to reduce technical debt

1. **Find.** Run detectors and the audit.
2. **Price.** Read effort, cost and carrying cost.
3. **Prove.** Check references and data before removal.
4. **Plan.** Put the work on a board or into a SOW.
5. **Remove.** Ship through proposals and re-audit.

## Technical debt, felt versus managed

| Without | With SyncOnAI 360 |
|---|---|
| A feeling the org is messy | A ranked, evidenced inventory |
| No cost, no priority | Every item priced |
| Afraid to delete | Proof before removal |
| No follow-up | Re-audits verify each fix |

## Technical debt cleanup checklist

- [ ] Run the detectors and the audit for a full inventory.
- [ ] Sort findings by severity and priced effort.
- [ ] Use the carrying cost to make the case for the work.
- [ ] Check references and live data before removing anything.
- [ ] Put the work on a board or into a statement of work.
- [ ] Ship each removal through a proposal with its checks.
- [ ] Run the audit again and look for regressions.

## Who pays down debt

- **Salesforce admins.** Clean the org with evidence and a plan.
- **Architects.** Bring the org back to its intended design.
- **Consultancies.** Turn cleanup into priced, provable work.
- **Platform owners.** Weigh debt against features on equal terms.

## Frequently asked questions

### What counts as Salesforce technical debt?

Duplicated rules and fields, overlapping automation, unused metadata, legacy Workflow and Process Builder, and code that ignores best practice.

### How is it prioritised?

By severity and priced effort, with the carrying cost as the business case.

### Can it delete things automatically?

No. Every removal is a proposal you approve.

### How do we know cleanup worked?

Re-audits mark each fixed finding verified fixed, or regressed if it returns.

### Can cleanup be billed?

Yes. Findings become a priced statement of work in one step.

### Does it understand our business rules?

It compares text and structure and explains what looks alike; merging is your decision.

### Can we change the rate?

Yes. The rate is stated and can be changed.

### Is this on every plan?

Yes. Every plan includes every feature.

### Does debt include old Apex API versions?

Yes. The audit flags Apex on ancient API versions.

### Can debt be tracked over time?

Yes. Review history keeps every past review so scores and findings can be compared.

### Can we start with one object?

Yes. Pick the findings for the object that hurts most, clean it up, and show the result before widening the scope.