Sitecore, Salesforce and Complexity

Technology can easily add complexity when it should do the opposite! This is particularly true in the software integration space where connector tools promise simplicity but typically add complexity as you navigate the constraints of the tool. By aiming for simplicity, you have introduced another technology to further muddy the waters.

The good news is integration is not rocket science but you do need to "school up" on your requirements and study what is available before you commit to an approach.

Our S4S customers have a biological-like diversity of needs that require S4S to be used in a multitude of different and unexpected ways! This is often driven by their requirement to:

• Preview remote data before overwriting it.
• Push data from Salesforce to Sitecore instead of pulling data from Salesforce.
• Support new technologies being like Sitecore Identity Server or Salesforce Lightning Web Components.
• Support Marketing Automation Platforms like Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Pardot, and Marketo.

Using S4S, it's only a few lines of code to support these examples but it's not out-of-the-box. Why? Because the next customer will want a feature that is "obvious" to them, and to us once we understand their business case, but hitherto never been required by anyone else on the planet, ever! Integration is like that. Instead, we provide out-of-the-box extensible features for mainstream use and make it very easy to build new features with S4S.

The key is to fully understand the business requirements first. The elephant in the integration room is the decision to use blind syncing to replicate data (as with Sitecore Connect™ for Salesforce CRM) or, alternatively, access data in real-time from a single source (S4S). These are two very different animals and the use cases need to be thought out in detail.

Unfortunately, the term syncing is often misused to describe the generic transfer of data.  For example, the syncing tool, Sitecore Connect™ for Salesforce CRM can regularly replicate Sitecore contacts to Salesforce (contacts only) but cannot work in real time or query Salesforce before making an insert/update decision.

For a successful Sitecore Salesforce integration we suggest the following process:

• Get integration product demos to expand your ideas in this space.
• After the demo, list everything you want to do with the connector e.g.
  • When a visitor submits a Sitecore web form, the form fields, and behavior data is pushed to a Salesforce lead record in real time. If the email the address exists then update the lead
  • During a sales call, a Salesforce operator can show a prospect hidden Sitecore pages comparing competing products in real time
• Determine what objects need to be transacted e.g.
  • Contacts and Tasks only (Sitecore Connect™ for Salesforce CRM)
  • Leads, converted leads, contacts, opportunities, related lists, etc. (S4S)
• Consider complexity and timeliness
  • Do you need a granular control e.g. related lists, complex inserts, real-time interactions
• Consider the data source and data quality
  • Do you really need to replicate?
  • Do you need the accuracy you get from a single source of data?
• Consider the data direction
  • Transact with Salesforce from Sitecore
  • Transact with Sitecore from Salesforce
  • Both directions
• Determine other systems that need access (e.g. Authentication services, Pardot, Marketo, etc.).
• Get technical demos and sign off the functionality with the vendor.

S4S is a real-time integration that lets you do intelligent syncing, or even better, enable a real-time single source of data, and provides a host of out-of-the-box features. If you need help or need to learn more about how to add value to your business in this way please contact us for more information or a product demo.