Ultimate Introduction to Salesforce Integration
ThirdEye Consulting is my Solution Architect. I've been with Salesforce for 9 years and I am a certified System and Application architect. I've been fortunate to be a part of the System Architect Bootcamp in Dreamforce, which taught me a lot about integrations which I had little knowledge of at the time. I've attempted to give here an overview of what I learned however, it is geared towards cloud data replication professionals who are unfamiliar with this.
My aim is not to teach you how to integrate each step. Instead, I want to give you an introduction to understanding integration concepts, in order to allow you to move on to the more difficult aspects later. There are three major areas to be covered such as integration types, capabilities and patterns. Let's start with the basics.
Salesforce Integration What does it mean?
Salesforce Integration allows you to integrate two or more systems. This can help streamline processes.
Imagine scenarios within your own tech stack where information is kept in one system , but needed in another. By integrating these systems, you are able to handle all the data through multiple business processes that run across different systems.
Why is integration important?
Digital technology is becoming a reality. We must constantly improve our efficiency and customer experience in order to remain competitive. It's not common for a system to work independently. Integration is a capability that must be improved to make it easier and more scalable.
What exactly is an API?
API is an abbreviation for Application Programming Interface. It allows two software applications to communicate with each other.
When you use an app on your phone it connects to Internet, pulls information from a Server, then displays it in a clear format. The entire process will go smoothly if you've got the correct API.
There are different types of APIs, which I'll cover later in the 'Salesforce Integration Capabilities' section.
Salesforce Integration Architectures: Types
Each kind of integration architecture has advantages and disadvantages that are worth taking note of. These are the three kinds I'll be discussing:
Point-to-Point Integration
Also referred to a one-to-one connection, a point-to-point system integration transmits a message to a different system using a 1-to-1 relationship. Imagine that you have an application for sales that transmits new orders to an accounting system, to the shipping software as well as a tracking system all separately as a separate integration. If you'd like shipping and tracking to communicate, then that's another integration that must be created.
There are many disadvantages for this type of integration. It's costly to construct and maintain and, if you need to replace one of the systems, you will need to build multiple new integrations for it to connect to the systems again.
Hub-and-Spoke-integration
With hub-and-spoke integration, you have a centralized hub system that allows for the exchange of information between systems. The hub is in charge of routing all traffic, and you only need to establish one connection for each new system this is an impressive improvement over point-to-point integration.
Enterprise Service Bus Integration (ESB)
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) represents the evolution of the hub-and-spoke integration architecture model. The difference is the integration engine used to establish connections between connected software systems and applications.