Mobile, Reporting & Docs: Quick Reference

Three objectives combined into one quick-ref. The CTA principle is the same for all of them: start with the simplest option, escalate only when you can name the specific gap.

Mobile Strategy

The Mobile Spectrum (Cheapest to Most Expensive)

Option	Cost	Offline	Branding	Native APIs	Best For
Salesforce Mobile App	Free	Briefcase (limited)	None (Salesforce branding)	No	Internal users, standard CRM
Mobile Publisher	$$	Same as SF Mobile	Custom icon, splash, colors	No	Branded internal/external app
PWA (Experience Cloud)	Included	Service Worker (limited)	Full web branding	Limited (browser)	External portals, no app store
Mobile SDK (Hybrid)	$$$	SmartStore (full)	Full control	Most (via plugins)	Cross-platform custom app
Mobile SDK (Native)	$$$$	SmartStore (full)	Full control	Full native access	Mission-critical offline, hardware

Default answer

For internal users: Salesforce Mobile App. It is free, zero-development, and covers most CRM use cases. Only escalate when you can name the specific gap (offline sync, native device APIs, branding).

Mobile Quick Decision

Figure 1. The mobile decision escalates on two axes: offline complexity and native API needs. Mobile Publisher adds branding only, not capability; Mobile SDK is the only path when complex offline logic or hardware access is required.

Offline Comparison

Capability	Briefcase (SF Mobile)	SmartStore (Mobile SDK)
Setup	Declarative (clicks)	Custom development
Records	Up to 2,000 per object rule; up to 50K total per org across all briefcases	Device storage limit
Conflict resolution	Server wins (last-write)	Configurable (custom logic)
Custom logic offline	No	Yes (native code)
Encryption	Platform encryption	AES-256
Maintenance	Low (admin)	High (mobile dev team)

Mobile Publisher misconception

Mobile Publisher adds branding, NOT functionality. It wraps the same Salesforce Mobile App experience with a custom icon and splash screen. If the standard app cannot do it, neither can Mobile Publisher.

Field Service Mobile

If the scenario involves field technicians or service workers, evaluate Field Service Mobile first. It is a separate app with much better offline capabilities than Briefcase (offline work orders, knowledge, inventory, signatures, barcode scanning, GPS).

Reporting & Analytics

The Analytics Escalation Ladder

Rule: Start at the top. Only move down when you can name the specific limitation.

Level	Tool	Data Source	Users	Cost
1 (default)	Standard Reports & Dashboards	Salesforce only	Business users	Included
2	CRM Analytics (formerly Tableau CRM)	SF + limited external	Analysts + users	Add-on PSL
3	Tableau	Any data source	Data teams + all	Separate product
4	Data Cloud Reports	Unified cross-system	Marketing + service	Consumption-based

When to Escalate Beyond Standard Reports

Limitation Hit	Escalate To
Need >4 object join	CRM Analytics (dataflows)
Historical trending >3 months	Analytic Snapshots or CRM Analytics
Predictive analytics	CRM Analytics + Einstein Discovery
Non-Salesforce data sources	CRM Analytics or Tableau
Non-Salesforce consumers	Tableau
Enterprise BI governance	Tableau
Dashboard >2,000 row limit	CRM Analytics
Unified customer profile	Data Cloud + CRM Analytics

Figure 2. The key escalation triggers are multi-source data and non-Salesforce consumers. Standard Reports handles most single-source use cases; Tableau is the answer whenever external consumers or enterprise BI governance requirements appear.

Standard Report Limits to Know

Limit	Value	Impact
Dashboard components	20 per dashboard	Split into multiple dashboards
Dashboard row limit	2,000 groups	Use report drill-down or CRM Analytics
Custom report type joins	4 objects max	CRM Analytics for more
Historical trending	5 snapshots over 3 months	Analytic Snapshots for longer
Joined report max	5 blocks	Redesign if more needed

Reporting Performance Tips

Strategy	When
Filter aggressively	Always - minimum dataset
Custom indexes	Fields frequently in report WHERE clauses
Skinny tables	Objects with many fields (request from SF Support)
Scheduled off-peak	Heavy reports during off-hours
Pre-computed rollups	Rollup summary fields or batch Apex for aggregates

Document Management

Storage Decision

Signal	Use Salesforce Files	Use External DMS + Files Connect
Simple attach-and-view	Yes	Overkill
Low file volume (within limits)	Yes	Unnecessary
Heavy co-authoring	No	Yes (SharePoint, Google, Box)
Terabytes of documents	No	Yes (cost-prohibitive in SF)
Advanced compliance (DLP, legal hold)	No	Yes
Non-SF users need files	No	Yes
File access follows CRM sharing	Yes	Unnecessary

Storage Limits Quick Ref

Edition	Base File Storage	Per-User File	Per-User Data
Enterprise	10 GB	612 MB	20 MB
Unlimited	10 GB	2 GB	120 MB
Performance	10 GB	2 GB	120 MB

Knowledge & Document Generation

Need	Tool
Agent-facing knowledge base	Salesforce Knowledge
Customer self-service KB	Salesforce Knowledge + Experience Cloud
Marketing content / multi-channel	External CMS
Simple merge-field documents	Native email templates / Quote PDF
Complex proposals (conditionals, tables, 20+ pages)	Conga, S-Docs, Nintex
E-signature (low volume)	Salesforce E-Signature
E-signature (high volume, complex routing)	DocuSign or Adobe Sign

Reverse-Engineered Use Cases

Scenario 1: Insurance company, 300 field adjusters need to photograph damage, fill claims offline in rural areas, sync when back in coverage.

• Mobile: Mobile SDK with SmartStore - complex offline with photo capture, bidirectional sync, and native camera integration. Briefcase cannot handle custom offline logic.
• Reporting: Standard reports for claims metrics. CRM Analytics (formerly Tableau CRM) only if predictive fraud scoring is required.
• Docs: DocuSign for claim signatures in the field (in-person signing capability).
• Trade-off: Mobile SDK requires dedicated mobile dev team and 2-4x ongoing maintenance cost. Budget explicitly.

Scenario 2: B2B SaaS company, 50 sales reps (internal), 5,000 customer portal users checking invoices quarterly.

• Mobile: Salesforce Mobile App for sales reps (free, standard CRM). PWA on Experience Cloud (formerly Community Cloud) for customer portal (no app store needed, invoices are read-only).
• Reporting: Standard reports for pipeline. If leadership wants multi-source analytics (SF + billing system), escalate to CRM Analytics or Tableau.
• Docs: Salesforce Files for proposals attached to Opportunities. Files Connect to SharePoint for shared contract library.
• Trade-off: PWA has limited offline. Acceptable because invoice lookup does not need offline.

Scenario 3: Healthcare system needs to track patient satisfaction across 12 clinics, combining Salesforce service data with Epic EHR data.

• Reporting: Tableau. Multi-source (SF + Epic), non-SF consumers (clinical staff who do not use SF), enterprise BI governance needed.
• Why not CRM Analytics: Clinical staff are not Salesforce users. Tableau serves both SF and non-SF users.
• Trade-off: Tableau is a separate product with separate admin. Justified by multi-source requirement.

Sources

• Salesforce Help: Salesforce Mobile App
• Salesforce Help: Briefcase Builder
• Salesforce Architects: Mobile Architecture
• Salesforce Architects: Analytics Architecture
• Salesforce Help: Reports and Dashboards
• Salesforce Help: Salesforce Files
• Mobile Strategy Deep Dive
• Reporting & Analytics Deep Dive
• Document Management Deep Dive