Integration-Architect Salesforce Certified Integration Architect (WI24) Questions and Answers

 Implementing an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) for service orchestration, mediation, routing and decoupling dependencies across systems is a better solution than refactoring the existing @future methods to use Enhanced External Services. An ESB can provide a centralized platform for integrating multiple systems and applications, while reducing the complexity and maintenance of point-to-point integrations. Enhanced External Services can be used to invoke external REST services from Salesforce, but they are not suitable for complex integration scenarios that require data transformation, error handling, or asynchronous processing. Reference: Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer Resource Guide, page 14

Streaming API is the best option for sending real-time notifications of changes to Salesforce data. Streaming API uses a publish-subscribe model to push relevant data to subscribers without polling. Streaming API supports PushTopic events, which are based on SOQL queries that define the data changes to listen for. The affiliate company can subscribe to a PushTopic event on the NTO Salesforce org and receive notifications whenever the data that matches the query changes. This way, the affiliate company can be informed of any updates to the opportunities in the NTO Salesforce instance.

 These are three considerations that an Integration Architect should consider when recommending Platform Event as an Integration solution. Platform Events are a type of event-driven architecture that allows you to publish and subscribe to custom events in Salesforce and external systems. Platform Events have some limitations and features that an Integration Architect should be aware of, such as:

• Inability to query event messages using SOQL. Platform Events are not stored in Salesforce database, but in an event bus that retains them for 24 hours. You cannot use SOQL to query event messages, but you can use the EventLogFile object or the Event Monitoring feature to access them.
• Inability to create a Lightning record page for platform events. Platform Events are not standard or custom objects, but a special type of sObject that can be inserted into the event bus. You cannot create a Lightning record page for platform events, but you can use Apex triggers, Lightning web components, or CometD clients to subscribe to them.
• When you delete an event definition, it’s permanently removed and can’t be restored. An event definition is a metadata type that defines the schema and properties of a platform event message. You can create or modify event definitions in Salesforce Setup or using Metadata API. However, if you delete an event definition, it’s permanently removed from your org and can’t be restored. You also lose access to any event messages that use that event definition.

References: Certification - Integration Architect - Trailhead, [Platform Events Developer Guide]

Using an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to determine which shipping service to use, and transform requests to the necessary format is a good solution because it can provide routing, transformation, mediation, and orchestration capabilities for integrating different services. An ESB can also abstract the complexity and heterogeneity of the services from the client application, which simplifies the integration. Using Outbound Messaging to request costs and delivery times from Shipper delivery services with automated error retry is not a good solution because Outbound Messaging is a Salesforce-specific feature that uses SOAP web services, which may not be compatible with all shipping services. Using APEX REST Service to implement routing logic to the various shipping service is also not a good solution because it can introduce performance and scalability issues, as well as increase the maintenance cost and complexity of the code. Using Enterprise Service Bus user interface to collect shipper-specific form data is not a valid option because an ESB does not have a user interface component. Reference: Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer Resource Guide, page 16-17

The recommendations that the Salesforce integration architect should make to fulfill the requirements around caching, queuing, error handling, alerts, retries, event handling, etc. are based on the best practices and capabilities of the middleware tools. The recommendation B is valid because middleware tools can provide true message queueing for integration scenarios that require asynchronous processing, guaranteed delivery, load balancing, etc. The recommendation D is valid because middleware tools can handle various events that may occur during the integration process, such as logging errors, sending notifications, triggering recovery actions, etc. The recommendation E is valid because middleware tools can support the publish/subscribe pattern for event-driven integration, where the middleware can route messages from publishers to subscribers based on topics or filters. The recommendation A is not valid because transforming a fire-and-forget mechanism to request-reply does not improve performance, but rather increases the latency and complexity of the integration. The recommendation C is not valid because message transformation and protocol translation are tasks that are better suited for middleware tools than Salesforce, as they can handle different formats and protocols more efficiently and flexibly23

1: Integration Architecture Designer Resource Guide 2: Integration Patterns and Practices 3: Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer Certification Exam Guide

Using a Connected App for each external system integration is a good solution because it can provide security, auditing, and monitoring features for each integration. A Connected App is an application that can connect to Salesforce using APIs and OAuth as an authentication protocol. A Connected App can also enforce policies such as IP restrictions, login hours, and session timeout for each integration. Using a shared integration user for the three external system integrations is not a good solution because it violates the principle of least privilege, as well as makes it difficult to audit the activities of each system. Using a shared Connected App for the three external system integrations is also not a good solution because it does not allow for granular control and visibility of each integration. Using a unique integration user for each external system integration is not enough to meet the security and auditing requirements, as it does not provide any mechanism for authentication, authorization, or encryption. Reference: Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer Resource Guide, page 20-21

 A trigger is a programmatic way of executing some logic when a record is inserted, updated, deleted, or undeleted in Salesforce. A trigger can invoke an Apex class that contains the code to perform a REST callout to an external system. A REST callout is a way of sending an HTTP request to a service endpoint and receiving a response. A REST callout can be synchronous or asynchronous, depending on whether the Apex code waits for the response before continuing the execution. A synchronous callout is suitable for scenarios where the response is needed immediately, such as order fulfillment1.

An Apex proxy class is a class that is generated from a WSDL (Web Service Description Language) document of an external SOAP web service. An Apex proxy class can be used to make a SOAP callout to the external web service, but not a REST callout. A SOAP callout is another way of sending an HTTP request to a service endpoint and receiving a response, but it uses a different format and protocol than REST2.

Process Builder is a declarative tool that allows you to automate business processes by defining criteria and actions. Process Builder can invoke an Apex class that implements the Process.Plugin interface, which allows you to extend the functionality of Process Builder with custom logic. However, Process Builder does not support synchronous callouts, because it runs in the background and does not wait for the response from the external system. Process Builder only supports asynchronous callouts, which are executed after the transaction is committed3.

Batch Apex is a way of processing large volumes of data asynchronously by breaking them into smaller batches of records. Batch Apex can be used to perform complex or long-running operations on data, such as data cleansing, archiving, or integration. Batch Apex can make callouts to external systems by implementing the Database.AllowsCallouts interface in the batch class. However, Batch Apex is not suitable for scenarios where the callout needs to be synchronous, because it runs in the background and does not wait for the response from the external system. Batch Apex also has some limitations, such as the maximum number of batches in the queue, the maximum number of records per batch, and the maximum number of callouts per batch4.

A Lightning Component is a reusable unit of user interface that can be used to build modern web apps with Salesforce. A Lightning Component can make a callout to an external system by using JavaScript code or by invoking an Apex controller class that contains the logic for the callout. A Lightning Component can make a synchronous or asynchronous callout, depending on whether the JavaScript code or Apex code waits for the response before continuing the execution. However, a Lightning Component is not a good choice for scenarios where the callout needs to be triggered by a record change, such as when an opportunity is closed/won. A Lightning Component requires user interaction, such as clicking a button or loading a page, to initiate the callout5.

Therefore, the correct answer is A, because writing a trigger that invokes an Apex class to make a REST callout to the Order Management System is the only option that satisfies the requirements of making a synchronous callout when an opportunity is closed/won.

References: 1: Callouts From Triggers | Apex Developer Guide | Salesforce Developers 2: Generate an Apex Class from a WSDL | Apex Developer Guide | Salesforce Developers 3: Invoking Apex from Process Builder | Process Automation Developer Guide | Salesforce Developers 4: Using Batch Apex | Apex Developer Guide | Salesforce Developers 5: Make HTTP Requests from JavaScript Code in Lightning Components | Lightning Aura Components Developer Guide | Salesforce Developers

The Fire and Forget pattern is suitable for this business use case because it allows sending a message from Salesforce to the remote system without waiting for a response or acknowledgement. This reduces the latency and complexity of the integration and enables asynchronous processing of the orders in the remote system. The platform event defined in Salesforce can be used to publish the order details to the remote system, which can subscribe to the event and create the order accordingly1

Change Data Capture is a feature that enables you to receive near-real-time changes of Salesforce records, including create, update, delete, and undelete operations. Change Data Capture retains change events in the event bus for up to three days, so you can resume data replication from the point of failure. Change Data Capture also provides a consistent and reliable way to synchronize data changes with external systems, without the need for custom triggers or code. Reference: Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer Resource Guide, page 24

The end-to-end response time from the user’s perspective is the time elapsed between the user’s request and the user’s receipt of the final response. In the diagram, this corresponds to the sum of A and H, which are the durations of the synchronous calls from the user interface to the cloud-based application and back. The other durations (B to G) are either internal to the cloud-based application or asynchronous calls that do not affect the user’s perception of response time. Therefore, the correct answer is D, because it represents the sum of A and H.

The integration consultant should consider the following authorization and authentication needs while integrating the DMS and ESB with Salesforce:

• Users should be authorized to view information specific to the customer they are servicing without a need to search for customer. This means that the integration should provide a seamless and contextual access to the customer billing information and generated bills from the DMS and ESB, based on the customer record or case that the user is working on in Salesforce.
• Consider Enterprise security needs for access to DMS and ESB. This means that the integration should comply with the security policies and standards of the Enterprise, such as encryption, auditing, logging, monitoring, etc.
• Users should be authenticated into DMS and ESB without having to enter username and password. This means that the integration should use a single sign-on (SSO) mechanism that allows users to access multiple systems with one login credential, such as OAuth or SAML.

References: [Authorization Through Connected Apps and OAuth 2.0], [Single Sign-On for Desktop and Mobile Applications using SAML and OAuth]

 Reducing the batch size of asynchronous BULK API and submitting the legacy system in parallel mode are two recommendations that can improve the integration performance. The BULK API is designed to handle large-scale data loads, but it can also cause latency issues if the batch size is too large or the network bandwidth is insufficient. Reducing the batch size can help to avoid timeouts and improve throughput. Submitting the legacy system in parallel mode can also speed up the integration process by allowing multiple batches to be processed concurrently, as long as there are no dependencies or conflicts between them. Reference: Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer Resource Guide, page 21

Create a special user solely for the integration purposes. This is the first thing that the Architect should do when building a solution that allows a service to access Salesforce through the API. Creating a special user for the integration purposes can help to ensure security, accountability, and traceability of the API calls. The special user should have a unique username, password, security token, and profile that grants only the necessary permissions and access for the integration. The special user should also be assigned to an API-only user license type that prevents logging in to the Salesforce UI. References: Certification - Integration Architect - Trailhead, [User Licenses], [API User Permission]

• Answer D is valid because using middleware to handle the call out to the 10 different verification services is a scalable and reliable solution that can handle the complexity and variability of the integration. The middleware can orchestrate the calls to the different web services, consolidate the verification results, and handle any errors or retries. The middleware can then make a call-in to Salesforce and update the verification status to “verified” using an API or a platform event12
• Answer A is not valid because using Salesforce external service to make the call out to the 10 different verification services is not a feasible or efficient solution. Salesforce external service is a feature that allows invoking an external service from a flow and mapping its inputs and outputs to flow variables. However, this feature requires configuring an Apex action, a named credential, and an external service definition for each web service, which is not a low code solution. Moreover, this feature does not support checking the verification agencies until the result is verified, as it only invokes the external service once per flow interview3
• Answer B is not valid because creating a trigger on the trainer record to make a callout to each verification agency is not a recommended or robust solution. Triggers are Apex code that execute before or after database events, such as insert, update, or delete. However, triggers cannot make callouts directly, as they are part of a database transaction and must complete quickly. To make a callout from a trigger, an asynchronous process such as a future method or a queueable job must be used, which adds complexity and overhead to the integration. Moreover, triggers have limits on the number of callouts and asynchronous calls they can make per transaction, which may affect the scalability and reliability of the integration.
• Answer C is not valid because making an Apex callout using @future annotation to make the call out to all different agencies is not a suitable or reliable solution. The @future annotation allows marking a method for execution at a later time when system resources become available. However, this annotation has several limitations and drawbacks, such as:

1: Orchestration Pattern 2: Remote Process Invocation—Request and Reply 3: External Services : Apex Developer Guide: Triggers : Apex Developer Guide: Using Future Methods

• Option A is correct because Salesforce B2C Commerce to Service Cloud Connector is an integration solution that allows service agents to see order history from a B2C Commerce system. Salesforce B2C Commerce to Service Cloud Connector is a pre-built package that integrates Salesforce B2C Commerce and Service Cloud using REST APIs and Platform Events. It enables service agents to view, edit, cancel, and refund orders from B2C Commerce within the Service Cloud console. It also supports features such as customer verification, order search, order details, and order history.
• Option B is incorrect because a REST API offered by Commerce Platform is not an integration solution that allows service agents to see order history from a B2C Commerce system. A REST API offered by Commerce Platform is a set of web services that expose the functionality and data of the Commerce Platform to external applications. It can be used to create, update, delete, or query resources such as products, catalogs, customers, or orders. However, a REST API offered by Commerce Platform is not a complete integration solution, as it requires additional development, configuration, and maintenance to connect with Service Cloud and display the order history in the Service Cloud console.
• Option C is incorrect because Mulesoft Anypoint Platform is not an integration solution that allows service agents to see order history from a B2C Commerce system. Mulesoft Anypoint Platform is a platform that enables developers to build, manage, and monitor integrations and APIs across various systems and applications. It can be used to connect Salesforce B2C Commerce and Service Cloud using various connectors, protocols, and transformations. However, Mulesoft Anypoint Platform is not a pre-built integration solution, as it requires additional development, configuration, and maintenance to connect with Service Cloud and display the order history in the Service Cloud console.
• Option D is incorrect because a REST API offered by Salesforce Platform is not an integration solution that allows service agents to see order history from a B2C Commerce system. A REST API offered by Salesforce Platform is a set of web services that expose the functionality and data of the Salesforce Platform to external applications. It can be used to create, update, delete, or query resources such as objects, records, metadata, or Apex classes. However, a REST API offered by Salesforce Platform is not a complete integration solution, as it requires additional development, configuration, and maintenance to connect with B2C Commerce and display the order history in the Service Cloud console.

References: Salesforce B2C Commerce to Service Cloud Connector : Salesforce B2C Commerce to Service Cloud Connector Implementation Guide : Commerce API Explorer : MuleSoft | Integration Platform for Connecting SaaS and Enterprise Applications : REST API Developer Guide

The integration consultant should implement monitoring by identifying critical business processes and establishing automation to monitor performance against established benchmarks. This approach can help detect and diagnose any degradation in Salesforce performance, such as slow response time, high error rate, or low availability. The automation can use various tools and methods, such as platform events, event monitoring, health check, or third-party monitoring services123

References: Proactive Monitoring - Salesforce.com, 17 Free Ways to Monitor Your Salesforce Org | Salesforce Ben, Measure Lightning Experience Performance and Experienced … - Trailhead

The maximum callouts in a single Apex transaction is one of the factors that should be considered when choosing Apex code to make callouts to an external system. The limit is 100 callouts per transaction, and if this limit is exceeded, a LimitException is thrown. Therefore, the integration architect should evaluate the expected volume and frequency of the callouts and design the solution accordingly2

References: Salesforce API Limits and Usage

Leverage Change Data Capture to track changes to the Contact object and write a CometD subscriber on the homegrown application. This solution meets the requirements of keeping Salesforce and the homegrown application synchronized for consistency, using event-driven and asynchronous integration. Change Data Capture is a feature that allows you to receive near real-time notifications of changes to Salesforce records, such as inserts, updates, deletes, and undeletes. You can use Change Data Capture to track changes to the Contact object, and publish them as events to an event bus. CometD is a protocol that allows you to subscribe to events from the event bus using a streaming API. You can write a CometD subscriber on the homegrown application, and use it to receive the events and update the customer data accordingly. References: Certification - Integration Architect - Trailhead, [Change Data Capture Developer Guide], [Streaming API Developer Guide]

The API that should be used for the Salesforce platform event solution is Tooling API. Tooling API is a specialized API that exposes metadata used in developer tooling that you can access through REST or SOAP. You can use Tooling API to create, update, or delete platform event definitions and fields4 Streaming API is used to subscribe to platform events and receive notifications when they are published5

References: Platform Events Developer Guide | Salesforce Developers, Define and Publish Platform Events Unit | Salesforce Trailhead

QUESTIONNO: 241

Northern Trail Outfitters is in the final stages of merging two Salesforce orgs but needs to keep the retiring org available for a short period of time for lead management as it is connected to multiple public web site forms. The sales department has requested that new leads are available in the new Salesforce instance within 30 minutes.

Which two approaches will require the least amount of development effort?

Choose 2 answers

A Configure named credentials in the source org.

B Use the Composite REST API to aggregate multiple leads in a single call.

C Use the tooling API with Process Builder to insert leads in real time.

D Call the Salesforce REST API to insert the lead into the target system.

Answer: A, B

The two approaches that will require the least amount of development effort are configuring named credentials in the source org and using the Composite REST API to aggregate multiple leads in a single call. Named credentials are a type of metadata that store authentication information for accessing external services, such as the target Salesforce org. By using named credentials, you can simplify the code for making callouts and avoid hardcoding credentials or tokens. The Composite REST API is a resource that allows you to execute multiple REST API requests in a single call. You can use the Composite REST API to create, update, or delete up to 25 records in one request. This can reduce the number of API calls and improve performance.

References: [Named Credentials], [Composite Resources]

The integration consultant should consider the following authorization and authentication needs while integrating the DMS and ESB with Salesforce:

• Users should be authorized to view information specific to the customer they are servicing without a need to search for customer. This means that the integration should provide a seamless and contextual access to the customer billing information and generated bills from the DMS and ESB, based on the customer record or case that the user is working on in Salesforce.
• Consider Enterprise security needs for access to DMS and ESB. This means that the integration should comply with the security policies and standards of the Enterprise, such as encryption, auditing, logging, monitoring, etc.
• Users should be authenticated into DMS and ESB without having to enter username and password. This means that the integration should use a single sign-on (SSO) mechanism that allows users to access multiple systems with one login credential, such as OAuth or SAML34

References: Authorization Through Connected Apps and OAuth 2.0, Single Sign-On for Desktop and Mobile Applications using SAML and OAuth

 The best solutions for minimizing potential downtime for users in this situation are to use named credentials and an enterprise ESB. Named credentials allow you to store the URL and authentication parameters of an external service in one definition, and then use it in Apex callouts or declarative integrations. If the URL of the external service changes, you only need to update the named credential once, and all the integrations that use it will be updated automatically. An enterprise ESB is a middleware layer that acts as a broker between different systems and services. It can provide routing, transformation, orchestration, and monitoring capabilities for integrations. If the URL of an external service changes, you only need to update the ESB configuration once, and all the integrations that use it will be updated automatically. Option B is not correct because remote site settings only allow you to specify the domains that are allowed for callouts from your org. They do not store any authentication parameters or provide any routing or transformation capabilities. Option C is not correct because content security policies are used to control what resources can be loaded on a Visualforce or Lightning page. They do not store any authentication parameters or provide any routing or transformation capabilities. References:

• Named Credentials
• Streamline and Secure: Mastering Named Credentials in Salesforce

Event Monitoring is used to track user activity, such as logins and running reports, but it is not related to Platform Events. Subscribe to an AssetTokenEvent stream to monitor OAuth 2.0 authentication activity is also not related to Platform Events. When an event definition is deleted, it’s permanently removed and can’t be restored. This means that the event definition and its associated data are no longer available for subscribers or queries.

• Option C is correct because Salesforce should be the system of record for their customers and prospects, as it is the CRM solution that the sales and service associates use to view and log their interactions with them. Salesforce can also integrate with the Marketing and ERP solutions to display relevant information from those systems, such as campaign history, invoices, and orders12
• Option A is incorrect because ERP is not a suitable system of record for customers and prospects, as it is mainly focused on invoicing and order fulfillment. ERP may not have all the data that the sales and service associates need to interact with them, such as contact details, preferences, activities, and opportunities. ERP may also have different data models and definitions than Salesforce and Marketing, which can cause data quality and consistency issues3
• Option B is incorrect because Marketing is not a suitable system of record for customers and prospects, as it is mainly focused on email campaigns. Marketing may not have all the data that the sales and service associates need to interact with them, such as account information, service cases, contracts, and quotes. Marketing may also have different data models and definitions than Salesforce and ERP, which can cause data quality and consistency issues.
• Option D is incorrect because creating a new custom database for customers and prospects is not a feasible or efficient solution, as it would require additional development, maintenance, and integration costs. It would also create another layer of complexity and potential data duplication in the system landscape. Salesforce already provides a robust and flexible platform for managing customer and prospect data, which can be easily customized and integrated with other systems.

References: 1: Salesforce CRM - The Definitive Guide 2: Salesforce Integration Cloud - Connect Any App, Data, or Device 3: What Is ERP? | Oracle : Salesforce vs ERP: What’s the Difference? : Marketing Cloud - Digital Marketing Platform : Salesforce vs Marketing Cloud: What’s the Difference? : Salesforce Platform - Build Apps Fast : Why You Shouldn’t Build Your Own CRM System

The integration architect should recommend using Salesforce Connect to display the financial transactions as an external object. Salesforce Connect is a feature that allows you to integrate external data sources with Salesforce and access them in real time via external objects. External objects are similar to custom objects, but they store metadata only and not data. You can use external objects to display data from the core banking system in the customer community without copying or syncing the data. You can also use standard Salesforce features, such as reports, dashboards, or global search, with external objects. Salesforce External Service is a feature that allows you to import an external schema definition and generate an Apex wrapper class that can invoke an external service. This is useful for integrating complex business processes or workflows with Salesforce, but not for displaying data in a community lightning page. Iframe is a HTML element that allows you to embed another web page within a web page. This is not a recommended solution for displaying data in a customer community, as it can pose security risks, performance issues, or user interface problems.

References: [Salesforce Connect], [Salesforce External Services], [Using Iframes in Lightning Components]

Streaming API is the best option for sending real-time notifications of changes to Salesforce data. Streaming API uses a publish-subscribe model to push relevant data to subscribers without polling. Streaming API supports PushTopic events, which are based on SOQL queries that define the data changes to listen for. The affiliate company can subscribe to a PushTopic event on the NTO Salesforce org and receive notifications whenever the data that matches the query changes. This way, the affiliate company can be informed of any updates to the opportunities in the NTO Salesforce instance.

User Interface API should be used to implement this integration. User Interface API is a RESTful API that allows you to create native mobile apps and custom web apps with the look and feel of Salesforce’s Lightning Experience. User Interface API provides access to metadata, data, and UI components, such as layouts, actions, picklists, and record types. User Interface API also handles security, performance, and compatibility across different devices and browsers. References: Certification - Integration Architect - Trailhead, [User Interface API Developer Guide]

Leveraging Middleware for all back-office system integrations ensuring real time alerting, monitoring and reporting capabilities is the best integration solution for this scenario. Middleware is a software layer that acts as an intermediary between Salesforce and other systems, providing a common platform for data transformation, routing, orchestration, security, error handling, logging, and monitoring. Middleware can help to ensure reliability and performance of the integrations, as well as provide visibility and control over the integration processes. Middleware can also support various integration patterns and protocols, such as SOAP, REST, JMS, etc. Reference: Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer Resource Guide, page 14

 Invoking middleware service to retrieve valid shipping methods is a solution that can allow the sales representatives to select between valid services for the customer’s country. The middleware service can act as a single point of entry for all shipping services and provide routing and transformation capabilities. Using middleware to abstract the call to the specific shipping services is a solution that can allow the sales representatives to request shipping estimates from the selected service. The middleware can hide the complexity and heterogeneity of the shipping services and provide mediation and orchestration capabilities. Using Platform Events to construct and publish shipper-specific events is not a solution, as Platform Events are used for event-driven integration, not for web-service integration. Storing shipping services in a picklist that is dependent on a country picklist is not a solution, as it does not address how to request shipping estimates from the shipping services. Reference: Salesforce Integration Architecture Designer Resource Guide, page 16-17