DEV Community

Cover image for The Top 7 Salesforce CRM Integration Techniques
Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor

Posted on

The Top 7 Salesforce CRM Integration Techniques

For users of Salesforce to make quick and informed business choices, there must be seamless data sharing from other sources. This necessitates integrating Salesforce's capabilities and data with other systems. Salesforce Integration Development systems may appear to be difficult because many company apps are decentralized and hosted on several platforms.

Thankfully, Salesforce Integration Service Providers offers a variety of methods for importing and exporting data from external platforms. While some of these techniques only need the straightforward loading and extraction of data, others can be more difficult and may call for complicated API creation or code alterations. The code alterations you make while integrating systems frequently hurt system workflow, making it challenging to configure updates and further integrations.

It would be best if you had the appropriate integration tools and methods to smoothly link your ERP systems, supply chain management tools, email marketing solution, and social media apps with Top Salesforce Integration Company. This blog will discuss several integration types, their applications, drawbacks, and other vital details that can help you with any future integration need.

1. Data Loading

As the name implies, data loading is used to push data into Salesforce. This method can add, delete, and change thousands of records from one format to another. Use Data Import Wizard or Salesforce Data Loader, the platform's built-in data loaders, to push data into Salesforce. Dataloader.io has also been integrated into the Salesforce platform due to MuleSoft's acquisition. In addition to these two tools, several other third-party data solutions are available on AppExchange, including XL Connector, Proudly, and Dataimporter.io.

a. Data Import Wizard

Non-technical users love this simple application since it is so straightforward to use. It supports data load in many everyday objects and permits data import (up to 50,000 records) into bespoke objects. Although it is a valuable tool for simple data import and loading, complex data loading activities are not advised.

b. The data loader

Another built-in tool, called Data Loader, can use to load enormous amounts of data into both every day and unique objects. After choosing a batch size, serial and parallel migration procedures can performed. Depending on the volume of data and migration requirements, the Data Loader tool can automated and customized. Please verify that the data is valid and tidy before adding much of it to Salesforce.

2. Salesforce Connect

Users of Salesforce applications can access and manage data stored in external sources (both on-premise and in the cloud) without leaving the Salesforce native environment thanks to Salesforce Connect, a powerful app cloud connectivity solution. You can use Salesforce Connect to generate reports and dashboards and search data from remote objects. External objects do, however, have integration restrictions. Therefore, this approach shouldn't be viewed as a replacement for standard or unique objects.

If you intend to use Sales Force Integration Company Connect, be prepared to purchase two different licenses. Making Salesforce Connect your integration solution can help you save money on licensing and database expansion fees because it considers your expanding data needs.

3. Entities entering Salesforce

When a tech partner is the sole data flow source, integration is consider inbound. Two reliable instances of this integration technique are the automatic delivery of emails via MailChimp and the automatic syncing of Type form responses with your Google sheet.

Let's focus on incoming Salesforce integration especially. Salesforce's REST and SOAP API endpoints must use to perform inbound integration. Top Salesforce Integration Services Company In India can conduct CRUD actions (create, read, update, and delete) on Salesforce data by integrating these endpoints with external systems.

By developing an integrated app inside the Salesforce environment, Salesforce Integration Services Consultants In India connect these endpoints. The linked app can share data using JSON, XML, and other data formats and use various authentication methods, including passwords or JWT.

You can take this approach into account if you need real-time or batch inbound integration. However, the request or the answer message could be lost if connectivity is lost because this integration technique is synchronous. Therefore, carry out rigorous testing and exception handling before deploying solutions in the production environment.

4. Exit from Salesforce

In an outbound integration, data is only sent from Salesforce to an external application to carry out particular tasks.

You must utilize REST Endpoints and GET calls to get data out of Salesforce. Additionally, you can utilize Salesforce outbound message, a no-code method for posting common or unique information on an object of a URL. Outbound messages can deliver data in an XML format compatible with SOAP endpoints and used as workflow actions.

5. Integration of Publish-Subscribe

You must take into account the Publish-Subscribe API connectivity if you utilize Salesforce. It can improve user convenience and change how you connect with customers. It would be best if you first comprehended the Publish-Subscribe to comprehend Publish-Subscribe API integration.

It is a communications pattern in which message senders (also known as publishers) do not set up the messages to deliver to subscribers for a specific occurrence. Without the subscribers' knowledge, they classify communications rather than using programming. Similar to subscribers, publishers are not always aware of their expressed interest in one or more classes.

As shown in the figure above, you use specific APIs to carry out different events in your CRM (platform events, data capture events, real-time monitoring events, etc.). Custom coding and maintenance support are need to manage these APIs. Additionally, users must go to a different API to complete a specific task in their CRM, which consumes a lot of their time.

However, Salesforce provides access to the Publish-Subscribe API, which combines the functionality of multiple APIs into a single, all-encompassing API. This eliminates the need for users to create their CometD Streaming API client, which is difficult for developers without CometD experience. Instead, users can publish events, subscribe to events, request schema, and post subject information.

6. Third-Party Integration Instruments

There are various third-party Salesforce CRM Integration tools to consider if built-in technologies and native APIs cannot meet your data needs. MuleSoft is one such product, and Salesforce now owns it. With the help of the MuleSoft Any Point platform's numerous connectors and accelerators, you may begin integrating third-party products.

You may use it to design, run, and evaluate all of your APIs, deploy apps to the cloud, change application networks, create integrations using XML, debug with XML & Java, personalize built-in apps, and do much more. In addition to MuleSoft, integration partners favor third-party solutions like Informatica, Dell Boomi, Jitterbit, etc. You may pick the best integration platform by considering its data mapping, versioning, price model, ease of development, and other aspects.

7. Online Integration

Virtual integration can be a valuable technique for system connectivity if you want your staff to use a single software platform with little to no switching. With this approach, Salesforce users can interact with data in external systems without copying it there.

You can link with external browser-based systems using the platform's built-in connector "IFrames" to build a one-stop shop for data CRUD (create, read, update, and delete). Visualforce pages and lightning components can extract data from other systems and give users access to Salesforce functionality.

Use the Canvas app if you're a Salesforce developer. Developers can create a canvas app coupled with a third-party solution using the canvas set of components. Because many external apps have sophisticated sharing and security requirements, contact a tech architect or product consultant before using this strategy.

Conclusion

The efficient exchange of data is essential to company success. The business process execution will improve as more users can access your corporate data. There are many options for loading, synchronizing, and extracting data in Salesforce. Choosing the appropriate tools, techniques, and Salesforce Integration Services Company may have a convenient and complexity-proof data integration.

Top comments (0)