IN A NUTSHELL
With Salesforce officially moving Heroku into a “sustaining engineering model,” the platform has entered a state of managed decline. While existing applications remain functional for now, the end of new features signals a critical turning point for your business. In this update, I strip back the corporate double-talk to explain why standing still is a major risk as technology moves forward. Learn why the internal focus at Salesforce has shifted, the specific risks facing salesforce ecosystem ISV partners, and how to move to a new platform that prioritises security, reliable data sharing, and expert human oversight.
Quick Takeaways from the Podcast
In this episode - “Tech Roundup: Heroku’s demise…”, I break down the reality behind Heroku’s recent “sustaining engineering” announcement and why “business as usual” is a dangerous assumption for enterprise teams.
The “Death Warrant” of Maintenance: In tech, standing still is the same as moving backward. By stopping new features, Heroku is effectively entering a slow decline.
The AE Gap: Salesforce’s focus has shifted entirely to Agentforce. Because Heroku is “Pro-Code,” it no longer fits the sales mental capacity of the core Salesforce team.
ISVs at Risk: Partners relying on Heroku Connect and App Link are on a clock. These proprietary bridges won’t be the priority in a maintenance-only world.
Don’t Panic, but Plan: There is no need to migrate tonight, but you must start planning while the senior talent and support still exist.
Video Guide: Key Moments & Highlights
If you’re short on time, use the timestamps below to jump to the sections most relevant to your stack:
01:08 – The “Sustaining” Reality: Errol translates the official statement. Why “maintenance mode” is effectively a death warrant for a modern platform.
03:28 – The February Deadline: Critical dates for Enterprise accounts and what “End of Sale” means for your current contracts.
04:10 – The Salesforce Perspective: Why Salesforce is prioritising Agentforce over Heroku and the reality of shareholder responsibility.
05:29 – What Went Wrong: A look at the 10-year history of the acquisition and why the developer-focused nature of Heroku never fit within Salesforce’s total product lineup.
08:06 – The Rise of Agentforce: How the push for AI effectively crowded out the mental capacity of Salesforce Account Executives to sell Heroku.
10:42 – Proprietary Features at Risk: A deep dive into Heroku Connect and App Link. Why ISV partners and AppExchange builders should be concerned.
12:10 – Don’t Panic, But Plan: Why you shouldn’t rush your migration, but why you need a roadmap while senior architects are still on the team.
13:08 – The Trailblazer Paradox: Did you know Salesforce’s own internal tools (like Trailhead) run on Heroku? What this means for the brand’s longevity.
The Deep-Dive
Building on this discussion, we’ve analysed the specific ramifications for your 2026 roadmap. If the magic is gone, what comes next?
Heroku is Sunsetting. It’s Time to Move with Intent.
For fifteen years, Heroku was the gold standard. It was the “just push code” magic that let us build without worrying about the pipes. But Heroku’s announcement - sugar-coated in terms like “sustaining engineering model” - is a clear signal: The lights are being dimmed.
We’ve all seen this playbook before. “Sustaining” is corporate-speak for “maintenance mode.” It means no more innovation, a shrinking team, and a platform that will slowly drift away from the needs of modern, high-performance teams.
The community sentiment on X and Reddit and other socials such as daily.dev, to mention but a few is unanimous: The writing is on the wall. For those of us who grew up on Heroku, it’s a sad moment. But for those of us running enterprise-grade systems, it’s a call to action.
The Problem Isn’t Today. It’s Tomorrow.
If you’re on Heroku Enterprise today, your apps won’t stop tonight. But the “Sustaining” model creates three immediate risks for your business:
1. The Talent Drain: The top-tier engineers who built the magic are moving on. You aren’t just losing features; you’re losing the expertise behind the platform.
2. The Stagnation Trap: In a world of 2026 agentic AI and rapid infrastructure shifts, a “maintenance-only” platform is a bottleneck. Your competitors will be moving faster on modern stacks while you’re stuck on a legacy one.
3. The Connectivity Clock: Heroku Connect is the lifeblood of many Salesforce integrations. Relying on a “sustaining” bridge for your most critical data is no longer a safe strategy.
Don’t Just Migrate. Upgrade.
At reinteractive, we aren’t just “Heroku Experts.” We are developers who understand the intent and taste required to build great software.
Moving off Heroku shouldn’t be a panic-driven “copy and paste” to AWS or Azure. It’s an opportunity to re-architect for the future - to build a stack that is secure, AI-ready, and fully integrated with your Salesforce “Source of Truth.”
We’ve spent the last year preparing for this shift. We know what breaks, we know what needs to be protected, and we know how to move you to a platform that is actually growing, not just “staying on.”
The magic is gone. Let’s build something better.
If you’re ready to map out a migration that actually improves your system, let’s talk: https://reinteractive.com/contact-us
Ps. if you have any questions
Ask here