Lightning has now moved on massively to become the premier interface for Salesforce. As such, there is not even a discussion for new arrivals on Salesforce; Lightning is definitely the best option.
You might wonder why this is and if it is more than just a flashier UI. The truth is that it is definitely a flashier UI, but with a lot of advantages. My top three reasons to move are:
1. Better views due to:
a. Console
b. Kanban
c. Inline Mass Edit
2. Visibility controlled components in pages
(In the below example the Do Not Contact component only appears if the Contact has opted out)
3. Greatly improved dashboards
There are obviously a lot more aspects to Lightning and, in truth, I could write about at least 20 more that could massively improve the productivity of your Salesforce Users.
You can probably tell this from the fact that my first point is actually three. My apologies for this, every time I do a migration or new set up to Lightening I find a new favourite feature.
With this in mind, despite the promise that Classic won’t be turned off until no one wants to use it any more, it really is a case of when you should move to Lightning rather than if you should.
This is backed up by the pushes that Salesforce themselves give you. For instance:
- All new Orgs are put onto Lightning as default
- Over 90% of release items are now for Lightning features only
- As of October 2019 Salesforce will turn on Lightning for all Orgs on a rolling basis and switch over users
- Easy access to the Lightning Readiness Report to find out how much work is required
To summarise…
Lightning offers a lot of advantages but the last thing you want is your Users being thrown into a vanilla version with no training, as could happen in October.
Good Users will work out their own methods and be upset when you later change the setup. Bad ones will use it as an excuse not to use the system at all.
It is often a good idea to phase a release and bring in new features in the future in line with user group feedback or to roll out to different User groups at different times.
No matter how you approach the transition though it is important that you do approach it and I would recommend doing so within the next 3 months so that you are ready in October.