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How to Create a Trial on AppExchange

Abstract

Critical to a partner's success on the AppExchange is having the ability to clearly and succinctly demonstrate what their application does.

An eligible partner may offer one or both of the following free trial options:

(A) A pre-integrated trial from the partner's website

(B) A pre-integrated trial from the partner's AppExchange listing

For detailed steps associated with option (A), please visit the Trialforce page.

For detailed steps associated with option (B), please continue reading this article.

Trials is an offering on the AppExchange that allows anyone to start a 30-day, free trial of Salesforce and a partner application pre-installed and configured in one step. These trials can also be pre-populated with sample data and instructions, optimizing the trial experience.

For more information on the Partner Program, including eligibility requirements, please visit us at www.salesforce.com/partners.

Why Use Trials on Your AppExchange Listing?

Trials significantly improves the evaluation process for all AppExchange visitors. Whether they are a system administrator, VP of Sales, or brand new to the platform, anyone can now easily kick off a trial with your app pre-installed.

Additionally, by pre-configuring your app and populating it with sample data and "Getting Started" content, you can ensure your prospects will have an optimal trial experience and understand the value of your solution.

The Trial Experience

When someone clicks on the “Get It Now button” on your listing, they will be given the option to start a free trial with your app pre-installed.

After they make this selection, they will be prompted to enter the information we typically collect for Salesforce free-trials. They will also agree to your terms & conditions and our MSA.

After they complete this form, the user will receive an email from Salesforce, prompting them to log in and reset their password.

The rest of this article explains how you can create your Trials so that prospective customers have this great experience.

Requirements to Use Trials

In order to use trials on the AppExchange your app must:

• Auto-Provision: In other words, the user must not need to interact with you at any point to get the application up and running
• Have passed the Security Review
• Be a managed package
• Be managed via the License Management Application (LMA)

• Please note free trials are only available to eligible partners. For more information on the Partner Program, including eligibility requirements, please visit us at www.salesforce.com/partners.

In the next section, we will walk through the steps to create your trial.

Steps to Create Your Trial

In order to use the trials infrastructure, you will need to follow these 8 steps.

1. Build Your Force.com App

It all begins with your Force.com app. You've probably already done this, but you will need to develop your Force.com app using a free Developer Edition (DE) org available here or on the Partner Portal.

2. Create your Managed Package

After you have developed your Force.com app, you will want to package it. Packages are like virtual suitcases that contain the various components and customizations that make up your application. You can upload a Managed Package in one of two states: Beta or Released. It’s very important to test your Managed Package in a Beta state first before uploading it in the Released state. Beta Managed Packages can be modified if changes are required. Once you set your Managed Package to Released status, certain components of your Managed Package become locked down. By locking these components down, you will be able to upgrade them in the future.

Once you have completed your testing, you need to package your Force.com app as a Managed Package in a Release state. This will allow you to provide seamless upgrades for your customers, manage their trials and track their installs via the License Management Application (LMA).

Check out the How to Create and Register a Package step-by-step guide for more information.

3. Create your License Management Org (LMO)

Your License Management Org is where you will manage your customers' access to your application. You should install the License Management Application in to your existing Salesforce CRM org. If you don't already have a Salesforce CRM org, eligible partners should log in to the Partner Portal and create a Case in the "OEM > Request CRM for ISV Partners" category. For more information on the Partner Program, including eligibility requirements, please visit us at www.salesforce.com/partners.

4. Associate your Managed Package to a License Management Org (LMO)

This step is important. It insures that every time someone creates a Trial of your application, your License Management Org receives the updated records. To associate your Managed Package to your License Management Org, you will need to log in to the AppExchange. For information, read the Associating a Package with Your LMO help topic.

5. Customize your Trialforce Source Org

Next, you will need to install your package in to a Source Org. To get a Trialforce Management Console where you can create Trialforce Source Orgs, eligible partners should log a Case in the Partner Portal, and specify the category as "General Portal Request" and the sub-category as "Request Trialforce Management Organization".

Once you've received your login credentials and installed your Managed Package, you can begin customizing the org exactly the way you want your prospective customers to experience it. As a best practice, you should load some data in to your Trialforce Sourceorg so that your prospects have something that they can play with when they first log in to your Trial.

6. Configure your Default License Values on the AppExchange

Even if you're not going to be distributing your Managed Package via the AppExchange, you will need to register your package on the AppExchange because the AppExchange is where you specify the default license values for your Managed Package. You should get in the habit of registering your package every time you upload a new version of your managed package, and especially when you install a new version of your managed package in to your Trialforce Master org. Just log in to the AppExchange and click on the associated "Manage Licenses" link. This step is required to use Free Trials.

7. Create Your Trial Template

In order to link your free trial to an AppExchange listing, you must create a Trial Template. This is a copy of your Trialforce Master Org with your app pre-installed, configured and populated with sample data.

To create a Trial Template, log in to the Trialforce Source Org as System Administrator

• Navigate to: Setup | Administration Setup | Trialforce
• In the Trialforce window click on the button titled Snapshot Organization
• Click Save.

Depending on the size of your org, you will either be presented with a message (see below) or a screen that tells you that you will receive an email when the trial template has been created. It is important to note that either way, your trial template is not ready until you receive the "ready to use" email.

8. Link your Trial Template to Your AppExchange Listing

Now you are ready to link your Trial Template to your AppExchange listing.
Here’s how:

• Log in to the AppExchange with your publishing org credentials.
• Click on the “Organizations” link at the top of the publishing homepage:

• Click on the “Link New Organization” button and enter the credentials for your Trialforce master org.
• Return to the Publishing homepage and click on the Trial Templates tab. Hit the refresh link at the bottom of the page. You should now see your template.

• IMPORTANT: Before you can make the template accessible via your Get it Now button, you will need to have it reviewed by our security team. This review is free and will take considerably less time than the review for your standard package. To start this process, click on “Start Review”.

• Clicking on “Start Review” will prompt you to sign up for your trial template yourself. Type in a unique username for your trial template, then click “Submit”.

• You will receive an email with user credentials to your new Org that is created from your template. Log in to your new Org using the credentials in the email. You will be prompted to change your password and select a security question and answer. Make sure to click on Setup | View Installed Packages to verify that your application was included in your trial.

• Return to the AppExchange security review page and click the “Change Organization” Link. This gives you the ability to associate your new Org with the security review request. Enter your new user name and password. Click on the “Start Security Review” button to submit your security review. You will receive an e-mail confirming your submission with your case number. Salesforce will process your security review and correspond with you via e-mail regarding its status and any next steps.

• Finally, you will go to your listing, click on “edit” and then click on the “Offering” tab. You’ll want to check “enable trials”, then select your approved template and click Save.

You're live! Now anyone can access your trial via your Get it Now button on your listing. You can also point people directly to the URL associated with your trial lead form.

Leads for Trials

Similar to how you receive leads for other actions on the AppExchange like clicks on Get it Now or views of your Demo, you will receive leads for trials.

In the org where you designate that these leads be sent, they will appear with the code "SFDC-TS".

FAQ

How is a trial different from a test drive?

A test drive is a read only version of your application. It is a single org that you configure in a similar way that you would configure your free trial. The main difference is that it is a single org that everyone is using when they click Test Drive.

With a free trial, an app is installed in a net new org and not in a production instance. After initiating a free trial, your customer can either let it expire or purchase it and they can turn it on as a production org. For this reason, it would be appropriate to create a button with a script to clean up the sample data created. Keep in mind that if the free trial org is a professional edition org your customer can only install applications that work in professional edition.

Can I have both a trial and a Test Drive on my listing?

Yes

How are trials different from Trialforce?

Trials are administered from the AppExchange whereas Trialforce is administered from your own website. To learn more about the differences, visit this page on Trialforce.

If I set up an org for free trials on the AppExchange can I use that same org to offer trials from my website?

Yes. You need to make sure that the new permission called "Trialforce Export" has been enabled for you (note that the permission is not per application, it is per org). Once that has been enabled, you can take advantage of free trials on the AppExchange as well as from your website.

With the free trial will someone be able to install a completely configured app into the org?

Yes. The Trialforce Master Org is a fully functioning Salesforce org. Your customer will have your app installed and they can subsequently install additional applications into it as they see fit. It is just like any other free trial of Salesforce.

Summary

Trials on the AppExchange deliver an optimized way for customers and prospects to experience your application. These trials can be pre-configured and pre-populated with sample data, thus removing steps in the typical evaluation cycle and ensuring higher adoption for your product.

References

• View a Step-by-Step Demo Video of creating a Trial.
• How to Create and Register a Package has much more information about creating packages.
• The License Management App 2.1 Administration and User Guide provides more detail about the LMA.
• For great background information, see Releasing an Application on Force.com and Architecting a Commercial Application.