Supercharge Your Salesforce Integration Architecture Exam Prep: Essential Resources and Tips!

The Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer exam is a certification that validates your knowledge and expertise in designing integration solutions using Salesforce. This blog post will provide you with a curated list of sessions, blogs, and links to help you prepare for the exam effectively. Whether you’re new to integration architecture or seeking to enhance your skills, these resources will prove invaluable in your exam preparation.

So without mentioning the exam sections , their weightage and obvious things which are already easily available and coping pasting them 👀, here’s a comprehensive list of resources I used for studying and passing the exam :

📺Sessions:

1. Salesforce Codex (Video Series): This video series on YouTube provides comprehensive coverage of different APIs and integration concepts. Watch it here: [link]

2. LBA Sessions (Video Series): The LBA Sessions video series on YouTube delves into various integration topics. Check it out here: [link]

📚Blogs to which I referred :

1. “How to Clear Salesforce Certified Integration Architecture Designer Exam” by Sudipta Deb’s: This blog post provides tips and strategies to clear the Integration Architecture Designer exam. Read it here: [link]

2. “Salesforce Integration Architecture” by SFDC Stuff : Gain insights into Salesforce integration architecture from this informative blog post. Access it here: [link]

3. “How to Pass Salesforce Certified Integration Architecture Designer Exam” by Apex Hours: This blog post offers guidance on preparing for and passing the Integration Architecture Designer exam. Read it here: [link]

4. “Tips for passing Salesforce certified Integration Architecture Designer (WI18)” by Santanu Boral’s: This blog post offers guidance on the topics as well as links to different blog links he referred. Read it here: [link]

✨Links to refer:

I have listed down the topics which usually do come in the exam and links for studying them which I used :

⏩ Data Integration and decision guide :
Understand the different integration scenarios involving Salesforce and external systems, both outbound and inbound. Visit the link for more details: [link]

⏩OAuth:
Learn about OAuth and how it works as an open authorization framework. Beneficial if you need to learn the basics. Read more about it here: [link]

⏩ Outbound Messaging:
Get familiar with outbound messaging in Salesforce and its uses in integrations. Read the informative article here: [link]

⏩ Integration Patterns Overview:
Explore the different integration patterns and practices in Salesforce. Access the overview here: [link]. Understand the security aspects of integration patterns in Salesforce. This is usually missed out while preparation. Read the comprehensive guide here: [link]

⏩ Continuation Calls:
Understand continuation calls and when they are used in Salesforce integration. Understand the basic concept, if you want to read more you can in the Salesforce documentation: [link]

⏩ SF Connect Overview:
Learn about SF Connect and its capabilities for integrating external data sources on a basic level. Visit the Salesforce documentation here: [link]

⏩ Salesforce Authentication Provider Steps:
Read about the steps outlined in this guide to set up Salesforce as an authentication provider, also try to understand what each concept means. Read more here: [link]

⏩ Understand SAML:
Familiarize yourself with SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) and its role in authentication and authorization. This article would be good to understand the basic concept. Read about it here: [link]

⏩ Shield Platform Encryption :
Read a little bit on Shield as there might be a question or two asked in the exam: [link]

⏩ Difference Between SAML SSO & Just-in-Time (JIT) Provisioning:
Learn the distinctions between SAML SSO and JIT provisioning.
- The blog explains the differences between SAML, SSO, and JIT in user authentication, emphasizing their roles in secure and streamlined access management.
- It discusses how SAML enables SSO across multiple applications, SSO simplifies user access with a single set of credentials, and JIT provisioning dynamically creates user accounts for efficient authentication and access.
Read the article here: [link]

⏩ Replaying Salesforce Events:
Gain insights into replaying Salesforce events for integration purposes. Refer to the documentation for quick steps: [link]

⏩ Integration Architecture Designer Cheat Sheet:
Use this cheat sheet as a quick refresher or revision resource for the exam. Download it here: [link]

⏩ OpenID Connect and Single Sign-On for Beginners:
Watch this informative session on YouTube to learn about OpenID Connect and SSO: [link]

⏩ Composite Resources in Salesforce:
Dive into the concept of composite resources and how they are utilized in Salesforce.Understand the basics and it would be enough. Refer to the documentation for more details: [link]

⏩ Certificates and Keys in Salesforce:
Explore the importance of certificates and keys in Salesforce security. This article on Salesforce’s help center provides an overview of security keys, explaining their purpose and benefits in enhancing user authentication and data protection. It covers different types of security keys and their integration with Salesforce for stronger security measures.
Read about it here: [link]

⏩ Connect REST API:
Get a basic idea of Connect REST API and its applications in Salesforce integrations. (No need to dive into intricate details for this one) Visit the Salesforce documentation for more information: [link]

⏩ Difference Between Named Credential and External Credential: Understand the difference between Named Credential and External Credential in Salesforce. Read the article here: [link] (This was not asked in the exam, but I wanted to understand the difference and hence shared this link as well.)

⏩ Salesforce UI API: Learn about Salesforce UI API and its capabilities for building custom user interfaces.
The article provides an introduction to the Salesforce UI API, emphasizing its purpose of building custom apps with consistent user interfaces. It highlights the UI API’s ability to replicate Salesforce UIs, handle dynamic UIs, and perform CRUD operations, offering benefits such as efficient response payloads, formatted and localized values, and built-in field-level security and sharing rules.
Read the introductory blog post here: [link]

⏩ Salesforce Composite REST API: Use this blog post as a quick reference guide to understanding and using the Composite REST API in Salesforce: [link]

⏩ Streaming API in Salesforce:
Streaming API seems to be a favorite of Salesforce as a considerable number of questions related to it that I encountered during the exam.
Gain a comprehensive understanding of Salesforce Streaming API.
Read the provided documentation [link] and watch a refresher video here: [links] .
There’s also a Platform event developer guide : [link] (Yes there’s a guide for it as well. 👀)
Make sure you understand the differences between the 4: CDC, Push topics, Platform events, Generic events.

⏩Different APIs that you should familiarize yourself with and understand their appropriate use cases :
🍥Streaming API
🍥Tooling API
🍥Metadata API
🍥Composite REST API
🍥Connect Rest API
🍥Analytics REST API

✨General tips/thoughts:

• Declarative Power:
  - Opt for declarative approaches first.
  - For example, consider using CDC instead of custom solutions when there’s a clear requirement for record updates and events.
• Trust Salesforce’s Native Functionality:
  - When unsure, rely on Salesforce’s built-in capabilities rather than custom solutions.
• Weighing the Options:
  - Eliminate multiple-choice options that are ill-suited for the scenario.
  - Focus on the remaining choices to discover the correct answer.
• Exploring Multiple Options:
  - Consider different solutions based on the scenario.
  - Re-read the question to uncover hints for the most suitable option.
• Note on Uncovered Topics:
  - Salesforce Optimizer, Heroku, Anypoint, and Mulesoft API were not encountered in the questions.
  - However, be prepared for possible variations in your experience. Stay adaptable and ready for surprises.
• Block the noise :
  - Some questions might look lengthy, but usually, the actual requirement is in the second part of the question. You can skip the initial few lines and extract only the requirements from the scenario.

Good luck! 😁

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