Sharing Model
The overall Salesforce sharing architecture for an org that includes org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, sharing rules, manual sharing, Apex sharing, and teams, collectively defining record-level access for all users.
Definition
The overall Salesforce sharing architecture for an org that includes org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, sharing rules, manual sharing, Apex sharing, and teams, collectively defining record-level access for all users.
In plain English
“The Sharing Model is the overall Salesforce sharing architecture for your org. It includes org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, sharing rules, manual sharing, Apex sharing, and teams, collectively defining how record-level access works across the whole organization.”
Worked example
Brookford Capital's Sharing Model is the architecture that determines record-level access for all 800 users. The Sharing Model layers: Org-Wide Defaults (Account = Public Read Only, Opportunity = Private as the floor); Role Hierarchy (managers see their teams' records); Sharing Rules (regional teams share Account access with each other); Manual Sharing (record owners grant exception access); Apex Managed Sharing (custom sharing logic for the compliance team). Together these layers compose the org's complete access model. The Sharing Model is the umbrella term for everything that determines "who sees what."
Why Sharing Model matters
The Sharing Model is the overall Salesforce sharing architecture for an org that includes org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, sharing rules, manual sharing, Apex sharing, and teams, collectively defining record-level access for all users and all records. It's the complete picture of how data access works in your Salesforce implementation.
Designing a sharing model is one of the most consequential decisions in any Salesforce implementation because it affects every user's daily experience. A well-designed sharing model provides appropriate access without being overly complex; a poorly-designed one either blocks people from data they need or exposes data they shouldn't see. Mature implementations document their sharing model and review it as the organization evolves.
How organizations use Sharing Model
Designed their sharing model during implementation and documents it for ongoing governance.
Reviews their sharing model annually to ensure it matches organizational changes.
Treats sharing model design as foundational architecture work.
Trust & references
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Sharing Model.
- Sharing and Record Access FeaturesSalesforce Help
🧠 Test your knowledge
Q1. What is the Sharing Model?
Q2. Why does it matter?
Q3. When should you review it?
Discussion
Loading discussion…