Making Data Cloud Work With Your Existing Salesforce CRM Data
The Data Cloud integrates all types of company data into Salesforce, enhancing its value and usability. However, it can be challenging for those familiar with the Salesforce CRM to understand how this data will interact with existing standard and custom objects (sObjects). sObjects are essential for any application in Salesforce CRM, so ensuring compatibility with existing sObjects is crucial for successful integration of Data Cloud with your applications.
This blog will show you what it takes to bring that Data Cloud and CRM data together, and the options available to you based on what that Data Cloud data needs to do and where it needs to go in Salesforce.
Here are the kind of data types that exist within Data Cloud:
- Data Source Object (DSO): represents ingested data from brought into Data Cloud from data streams and data bundles either internally (within the org) or externally (third party data sources)
- Data Lake Object (DLO): automatically created from DSOs but you can also create them manually to create your own data lake, acts as a container for the Data Cloud data
- Data Model Object (DMO): a harmonized grouping of DLOs (one or many) based on how the data needs to be used within the Salesforce CRM
Then that brings up the question, how does any of this kind of data relate to the basic data model in Sales Cloud?
Bringing Your Data Cloud and Salesforce Data Together
If I wanted to add a DSO/DLO/DMO, where do I add it in the Sales Cloud diagram above? Well the solution, while not as simple as adding a few more boxes and arrows, does get simple when it comes to the shared metadata framework that runs across Data Cloud and the Salesforce CRM. This is a look of what it can look like to get your data out of Data Cloud and to your records within Salesforce.
Lets break this data flow diagram down further to see what your options are:
- Calculated Insights Objects (CIO) are useful for defining and calculating data across multiple dimensions, allowing for aggregation of data across DMOs with separate sources. When creating triggers based on specific data, the choice between a DMO and CIO must be considered.
- Modifying Salesforce data in a separate org involves creating a Data Action to generate a Platform Event record. Platform Events have been available for some time and can be utilized with Flows and Apex. These events are integral to the shared metadata framework used by Data Cloud and Salesforce CRM, particularly in the context of low-code/pro-code capabilities.
- Modifying Salesforce data within the same org can be achieved through a Data Cloud-Triggered Flow, triggered by conditions within a DMO or Calculated Insight. This type of Flow operates similarly to a standard Record-Triggered Flow, allowing for the creation, update, or deletion of sObject data.
- Direct data association with Data Cloud data is currently limited to associating Data Cloud Related Lists Enrichments and Copy Fields Enrichments with Contacts, Leads, and Person Accounts. Enrichments enhance existing individual-based data.
So how does this connect back to our diagram? Data Cloud has a handful of data models that are specific to the typical use cases the product will engage with. Those typical Data Cloud use cases map well to Salesforce use cases: same way there is a Service Cloud data model there is also a Case data model in Data Cloud. Since we are talking about Sales Cloud, lets talk about the Sales Order data model related to Data Cloud
In this data model we can see the kinds of data that is available in Sales Cloud like Accounts, Leads, Opportunities and Products. As you can see in the legend, the way to look at the diagram is not in the traditional relational database way of “objects and fields” but as an entity, which can be a representation of data across one or many data sources. For the sake of preserving some time lets just focus on Orders: orders as an entity within Data Cloud and orders as a record in Sales Cloud.
Bringing Orders from Data Cloud to Sales Cloud
Moving orders from Data Cloud to Salesforce is a common use case and orders can come from many data sources like common ERP and OMS systems. But the complexity begins as we start to look at where and how that order data within from Data Cloud will be utilized within Salesforce. Lets look at a data flow of what that can look like in the context of order data.
The design decisions in implementing Data Cloud data within your Salesforce CRM are crucial. It is important to consider how associating Lead, Contact, or Person Account records with Sales Cloud records may impact UI clarity, reporting complexity, and automation efficiency. It is recommended to ensure direct or indirect associations between data points to avoid confusion and streamline processes.
Lets break the diagram down further to see how certain design choices really drive what data comes in where:
- The power of DMOs and CIOs in Data Cloud lies in the ability to create additional DMOs and CIOs based on specific requirements, rather than settling for the data provided. A CIO was specifically created for this purpose.
- Order data requires specific details on where it should be directed and its intended purpose.
- Order data can be associated with a Lead, Contact, or Person Account record.
- The data may or may not be in the same org as the Data Cloud instance.
- Order data can be set to view-only access.
- While limiting, this option is valid for cases where viewing orders associated with an individual within the Salesforce org is sufficient. However, for broader records, a different design approach is necessary.
- Design standards are applicable across all clouds across the Salesforce CRM, not just Sales Cloud. The key consideration is where the data needs to be directed — whether within the same org as the organization or a different org. This is crucial for order data, especially in large enterprise organizations with multiple orgs and revenue tracking methods. The design decision is driven by the nature of the order data and whether it needs to move across multiple orgs.
In this example, we began by gathering Orders from various data sources. Although we only displayed a few data sources, you could have up to hundreds more. This number plays a crucial role in guiding decision-making processes within the data flow. Ultimately, we successfully linked this Order data to a specific sObject within the Salesforce CRM, achieving our intended goal.
Additional Resources
- Get Hands On With Your Own Data Cloud Developer Edition Environment
- Powering Near Real-Time Orchestration in Marketing Cloud with Data Cloud’s Data Actions
- Unlock the Power of Data Cloud Across Multiple Salesforce Orgs
- Enrich Your CRM User with Insights from Data Cloud
- Using Data Actions with Flows and Apex | Data Cloud Decoded
- Customer 360 Sales Order Data Model
- Sales Cloud Overview Data Model
