Salesforce Admins are the (unsung) heroes of the ecosystem. They keep orgs running smoothly by resolving issues at lightning speed, and ensure the business is utilizing every Salesforce feature to the max. But behind the scenes, it seems that admins are often spread thin – jacks of all trades, juggling a wide range of responsibilities.
The Salesforce Ben Admin Survey reveals just how much is on their plate, and the numbers speak volumes. Let’s take a look at the top seven key struggles for Salesforce Admins in 2025.
1. Managing Duplicate Data
51.2% of Admins report that identifying and merging duplicates is a recurring task that eats up valuable time.
Duplicate records may seem pretty harmless on the surface, but they can quietly wreak havoc on your org by having an impact on reporting, automation, and overall user experience. For example, imagine you’re an end user trying to follow up with a lead, only to find three nearly identical records with different activity histories. Confusing, right?
But apart from the confusion, it also risks unintentionally reaching out twice, or worse, missing follow-ups and inaccurate reporting.
Cleaning up duplicates goes beyond just data hygiene, as keeping up with it becomes essential to running the business smoothly and making the user experience consistent. Without dedicated tools or a clear process for cleaning up or preventing duplicates, admins are often left to tidy these up manually.
2. Profile-to-Permission Set Migrations
Only 34% of profiles have completed the transition to permission sets.
Salesforce’s recent communications make it clear that profiles are not being removed entirely, but they will play a much smaller role in permissions. While Salesforce hasn’t given an exact cutoff date, it is still officially recommended to move to a permission set-based model over time.
The move away from permissions on profiles, though, is a massive undertaking as years of layered profile configurations must be restructured to align with a permission set model. The cross-team collaboration and meticulous change management that comes with this is all to avoid disruption, and without a solid migration strategy, this could easily become a long-term initiative, and one that admins are only beginning to navigate.
3. Flow Migrations
71% of Flow migrations have been completed.
Understandably, the retirement of Workflow Rules and Process Builder will not be a simple move. Years of automation will need to be rebuilt in Flow, and that’s far from just a “lift and shift.” It involves rethinking logic, testing thoroughly, and managing user expectations, especially in complex orgs where automations are deeply embedded in business processes.
When asked about the biggest obstacle to a successful Flow migration, nearly 30% of Admins pointed to the sheer complexity or volume of existing automations. This was followed closely by a lack of resources or capacity (28%) and gaps in technical knowledge or skills (20.1%). It’s striking how almost evenly these top three challenges are distributed.
Flow has its own learning curve, and when paired with reported confidence gaps in programmatic tools (2.7/5 average), it’s clear why many admins find this migration time-consuming and, at times, even overwhelming.
4. Data Backups and Archiving
30% of admins report having no backup solution, and 65.5% have no archiving process or tool.
Without automation or third-party tools in place, backing up or archiving data manually can become a major time-eater, as well as an additional risk of data loss and compliance. What’s surprising is that in both cases, more admins selected a flat “no” vs. “no, but planning to”, which suggests that for many, backups and archiving simply aren’t even a priority.
Given how critical Salesforce data is to day-to-day operations, this oversight could lead to bigger problems down the line, and Salesforce admins are very likely to be the ones who deal with the fallout.
5. Supporting Multiple Teams with Limited Resources
43.7% of admins work in teams of 2-4 people, while 15% work alone (solo admins).
The data makes it evident that there are more admins working solo or in small teams than in large or well-resourced groups. Without the advantage of specialized roles or dedicated support, these admins are often handling requests from many departments, such as marketing, sales, and service.
Small teams and solo flights mean that every request, bug, or ticket lands on the admin’s desk, leaving little room for prioritizing and making every day a never-ending balancing act between reactive support and proactive improvement.
6. Lack of Internal Dev Support
63.2% of admin teams consist primarily of Admins with only a few developers (if any).
Admins frequently have to stretch beyond their declarative toolkit in the absence of in-house developer resources. This can greatly slow down delivery and add to the workload. As a result, many admins (75.2%) turn to external partners and SIs for help when developers aren’t available.
Although this can be effective, it also tends to introduce more back-and-forth regarding clarification requests, handovers, and evaluations. That extra layer of communication can sometimes be counterproductive, potentially slowing down delivery and turning what should be quick fixes into long-running mini-projects.
7. Budget Constraints That Impact Efficiency
Only 50.4% of admins have any control over their Salesforce budget.
About half of the admin respondents are responsible for platform maintenance and delivering value, but without the authority to approve the tools or resources that would make their jobs easier. When this is the case, admins tend to turn to time-consuming workarounds or manual processes.
Imagine, instead of optimizing, these admins can get stuck improvising, leading to less time for innovation or strategic growth. In the long run, this lack of budget access slows admins down, limiting the business value they could be delivering.
Final Thoughts
These stats paint a clear picture: Admins aren’t just busy – they’re overloaded. The effort is real (and growing), ranging from platform upkeep and user support to major transitions like Flow and permissions.
It’s now more important than ever for businesses to understand the breadth and depth of the admin role, not just as “support,” but as strategic operators that help maximize everything Salesforce has to offer.
Check out the Salesforce Ben Admin Survey to explore more trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the future of Salesforce Admins.
