Developing a Security and Sharing Overview can help your project team clearly articulate the object permissions, record sharing, data visibility, and data security policies in your Salesforce org.

In this article, I share a template that you can use to fast track your Salesforce Security and Sharing Overview.

Template Salesforce Security & Sharing Overview

Use the outline below as a starting template for your Salesforce Security & Sharing Overview:

**TEMPLATE**
Salesforce Documentation Strategy

Document Control:

- **Version:**
- **Authors:**
- **Last updated date:**
- **Change history:**

1: Executive Summary

   1.1: Overview
   // Summarizes the approach to data security and sharing implemented in the org. 
  
   1.2: Audience
   // Explain the intended audience for the document (i.e. admins, devs, client, etc.)

2: Object permissions 
// Summarize the overarching object permission policy.

   2.1 Profiles
   // Define the Profile strategy and what permissions are provisioned using Profiles.
  
   2.2 Permission Sets 
   // Define the Permission Set strategy and what permissions are provisioned using Permission Sets.

   2.3 Permission Set Groups
   // Define the Permission Set Group strategy and how PSGs are utilized and assigned.

3: Record sharing
// Summarize the overarching record sharing policy.

   3.1 Organization Wide Defaults (OWDs)
   // Summarize the OWD strategy and any exceptions to OWD norms

   3.2 Role Hierarchy
   // Confirm if the Role Hierarchy is in use, and if so, briefly summarize the roles and hierarchies.

   3.3 Sharing Rules
   // Confirm if Sharing Rules are in use, and if so, briefly summarize the relevant objects and intentions behind the rules.

   3.4 Manual Sharing
   // Confirm if Manual Sharing is utilized in the org, and if so, why and on what objects.

   3.5 Apex Managed Sharing
   // Confirm if Apex Managed Sharing is utilized in the org, and if so, summarize why it was required and what the sharing logic is.

   [OPTIONAL] 3.6 External sharing
   // If an Experience Cloud site is used, explain the external sharing mechanisms used.

4: User Access Policies 
// Confirm if User Access Policies are used to automate the assignment of Public Groups or Permission Sets/Permission Set Groups, and if so, outline the assignment logic.

5: Data visibility 

   5.1: User interface 
   // Confirm if any mechanisms in the User Interface are used to control data visibility (i.e. dynamic forms or conditional visibility components)
  
   5.2: Restriction and Scoping Rules  
   // Confirm if Restriction and Scoping Rules are configured on any objects to limit data visibility.
  
   5.3: Reports and dashboards  
   // Summarize report and dashboard visibility norms and export rules.
  
   5.4: Content
   // Summarize content (i.e. Files) visibility norms and visibility rules.

   5.5: Event monitoring
   // Confirm if Event Monitoring is used in the org, and if so, which events are monitored to protect sensitive data.

6: Data security 
// Summarize any key data security considerations.

   6.1: Data sensitivity  
   // Summarize any potential personal or sensitive data that may exist in the org and explain any mechanisms used to protect Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
  
   6.2: Encryption
   // Summarize encryption requirements and any standard or additional tools leveraged to encrypt data in Production or sandbox environments.

   6.3: Session Security Settings
   // Summarize session security requirements and outline any implemented session security settings (i.e. restricted IP ranges).

   6.4: Compliance
   // Summarize how various data protection policies (i.e. GDPR) may affect your org and briefly summarize how users' data is protected according to the policy.

How to use the template

A comprehensive Salesforce Security and Sharing Overview helps stakeholders understand, debug, and enhance the the model over time, without having to sleuth through the org and various technical artifacts.

To use this template effectively, apply it to all of your Salesforce implementation projects consistently, modifying the template structure only when required for each unique project.

Make the strategy your own

The template above isn't intended to be rigid. Customize it to meet your own use case and remove any sections you don't need to keep it brief.

Increase buy-in through collaboration

Help foster collaboration by circulating the Security and Sharing Overview throughout your project team so that all stakeholders understand this crucial part of the system architecture.

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