Comparison between Platform Developer I and Salesforce Administrator Exam

Platform Developer I and Salesforce Administrator Certification have similar course contents. But there are some high level differences that you should know:

  1. Platform developer I certification assumes candidates should know when to apply each of these - triggers, Visualforce, Workflows, Apex. Although no coding expertise in Visualforce and Apex is required.
  2. Salesforce Administration certification requires higher business knowledge: expertise on standard objects, standard sales, services and marketing applications.

The below table is showning more detailed analysis:

Points Developer Administrator Comments
Salesforce CRM Overview No Yes Standard objects, Standard Applications are part of Admin certification
Identity Confirmation Yes Yes Authentication is in scope for both exams
Navigation - User Interface settings No Yes Details on end-user user-interface settings are not required for Developer exam
Organization Administration No Yes Configuring time zone, currency, locale, fiscal year, email templates & language are out of scope for Developer
Customization Yes Yes
Security & Access Yes Yes
Workflow Yes Yes
Workflow Approval Processing Yes Yes
Data Validation Yes Yes
Data Utilities Yes Yes
Analytics Yes Yes
Marketing Administration No Yes Details on campaigns and leads not in scope for Developer certification.
Service & Support Administration No Yes Functionality of Case and Solution not in scope for Developer exam.
Salesforce Console Yes Yes Basics of Console are required in both the exams.
Custom Objects, Applications, & Tabs Yes Yes
The AppExchange Yes Yes
Activities No Yes Comparison of tasks and events, managing public calendars etc. not in scope of Developer certification
Advanced Configuration Options No Yes
Application Design Yes No Concept of Model-View-Controller is not included in Administrator exam
Data Model Yes No Management of custom objects, fields is in scope for both exams. But details on types of objects relationships not in Administrator exam.
Overview of Force.com platform Yes No
User Interface Yes No Overview of VisualForce and Sites not in Administrator exam
Business Logic Yes No Overview of Formulae, Apex, debugging not in Administrator exam.
Data Management Yes Yes
Reporting and Analysis Yes Yes