Three Best Practices for Salesforce Application Integration

To get a 360-degree view of your customers, you'll likely need to share information between multiple systems. A Salesforce application integration helps realize this 360-degree view by helping you integrate data between systems and streamline workflows.

This holistic view of your customers provides actionable information for informed decision-making. We're going to discuss the top three best practices to help your next project.

1. Select Integration Points Carefully

Many times, organizations implement Salesforce to complement key systems:

Given the extensive integration options available with Salesforce, it can be tempting to "jump right in." Unfortunately, this approach does more harm than good.  

Where Will You Get the Most Value?

First, determine the pain points in your current process. Identify processes that are time-consuming, tedious, repetitive, manual, etc. Evaluate your customer's needs and see if you can find some options to improve the customer experience.

Start Small Then Scale

Keep in mind that you can always scale and do further integrations. The point is to start with the "quick wins" so that you can see immediate success, learn from the process and implement improvements for the next project.

Avoid Complex Monolith Applications

Monoliths are complex systems in which the user interface, data access, and business logic reside in a single platform. As a result, monoliths are tightly coupled. It is extremely difficult to separate components to use for an integration option. That's not to say that you can't integrate such a complex application. The point is that it is a much more complex endeavor.

2. Prioritize Data Quality in Salesforce Application Integration  

Having clean data reduces the risk of errors. It also helps ensure correct information is available for informed decision-making. Here are a few things to consider to ensure clean data:

Timeliness

Data should reflect real-world events. Information should be recorded as soon as the event happens. As information ages, it becomes less useful and less accurate. Outdated information causes inaccurate reporting and misinformed decision-making.

Completeness

Capture all required information. If someone submits incomplete information, it could cause problems to other apps downstream that may need it. Not only that, incomplete information makes the data less useful.  

Accuracy

Any information used in the system should accurately describe the real-world condition in which it is used. Similar to incomplete data, inaccurate information affects downstream apps and becomes less useful.

Consistency

When comparing information across multiple data sets or databases, it should be the same. Inconsistency leads to inaccurate decision-making.

Relevance

Every field should have a useful purpose. Don't migrate information simply for the sake of "just in case." Each field must have a specific function. Gathering irrelevant information is a waste of time and money. You can always go back and integrate the field if you decide you needed it down the line.

3. Apply a Structured Approach

Using a structured process ensures you don't miss anything along the way. It also helps ensure you gather all the requirements, gather the correct requirements, and validate that there are no errors in the process.

Build a Team

You will need the right players involved in the project. It is important for the end-users to be involved as they are most knowledgeable of the process. Additionally, you should involve people who will support the system long-term. Having them involved upfront helps them get an intimate look at the integration and how things work.

Product Owner

The product owner oversees the entire integration. They establish the integration strategy, create guidelines for the team, and coordinates resources to execute the strategy.  

End Users

Involving end-users is critical. They will have the most expertise on the workflow and the information involved. End-users should be involved in the requirements gathering phase. They should also be involved in testing to ensure the system works best for them.

Systems Admin

This role is fundamental in supporting business users. They are the go-between to ensure the business gets maximum value out of the system. It is a hybrid role that involves creating dashboards and reports, managing configurations, and communicating updates.

Business Analyst

The business analyst works with the business to identify opportunities for automation and gather requirements for new features and integrations. Sometimes, the business analyst will also perform testing.

Developer

Developers help with the integration, write custom code when needed, and make configuration changes.

QA Analysts

Testing is vital at each stage of the integration. QA analysts set the testing approach, write test cases and execute testing.  

Define Scope

As mentioned earlier, plan carefully to select the best application for your integration project. There are also other items to consider. For example, will you integrate all functionality from the source system?

Or will you integrate key workflow items? It is important to know this information to avoid wasting time and resources on things that may not be necessary.

Requirements Gathering

A solid set of requirements is critical to successful integration. The requirements stage is where the team works with the business users to define workflows and determine what information is needed to support those workflows.

A successful Salesforce application integration gives you a 360-degree view of your customer. With this holistic view, you can make highly informed decisions based on real-time data. As a result, you will ultimately improve the overall user experience.

If you are planning to integrate or you are already facing with issues that are preventing you for a faster and easier salesforce integration, reach us and we will take care for a professional and successful integration of Salesforce Application.