Juggling a dozen apps to run your business can feel like a constant act of precariously balanced chaos. You’ve got your trusty CRM (Salesforce®, naturally!), a marketing automation whiz-kid, and a whole arsenal of other specialized tools – accounting software, document sharing, project management… the list goes on. But what if these tools never quite click? What if using one means putting another down, disrupting your workflow, and leaving data scattered like dropped juggling pins?

That’s where integrations come in, and Salesforce shines in making those connections seamless. Imagine a world where your apps work together, not against each other. Information flows freely, tasks run smoother than a well-oiled machine, and you can finally ditch the juggling act. Sounds pretty good. Let’s dive into the world of Salesforce integrations and see how they can transform your business.

How Does Salesforce Integration Work?

Salesforce offers a variety of ways to connect with other apps. Here are two common methods:

1. Pre-built Integrations: The Salesforce AppExchange is a treasure trove of pre-built integrations for popular business applications like DocuSign, Google Drive, and Mailchimp. Think of it as an app store designed to connect Salesforce with the tools you already use. Installing a pre-built integration is usually as simple as a few clicks, and often requires no coding knowledge.
2. API Integration: For applications not on the AppExchange, or more complex workflows, Salesforce offers robust APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). APIs act as messengers between Salesforce and other applications, allowing them to exchange data. While API integrations require some technical expertise to set up, they offer a high degree of customization.

Salesforce and MuleSoft: A Powerful Partnership

For businesses with a complex IT landscape, MuleSoft can be a game-changer. MuleSoft® is an integration platform that acts as a central hub, connecting Salesforce to all your other applications, regardless of whether they have pre-built integrations with Salesforce or not. Think of MuleSoft as a universal translator, ensuring all your applications speak the same language and data can flow freely between them.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you use a legacy ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning) that doesn’t have a native integration with Salesforce. MuleSoft can bridge the gap, allowing data to flow seamlessly between the two systems. This can be crucial for tasks like order fulfillment or inventory management, ensuring everyone in your organization has access to the most up-to-date information.

Benefits of Salesforce Integration

The advantages of integrating Salesforce with other applications are numerous. Here are just a few:

• Improved Efficiency: By automating data transfer, integrations eliminate manual data entry, saving your team valuable time and reducing the risk of errors.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Integrations ensure everyone in your organization has access to the same customer data, leading to better collaboration and communication.
• Increased Productivity: Streamlined workflows and automated tasks free up your team to focus on more strategic initiatives.
• Improved Customer Experience: With a holistic view of the customer journey across different applications, you can provide a more personalized and responsive experience.
• Better Data-Driven Decisions: Integrations allow you to consolidate data from various sources, giving you a clearer picture of your business and enabling you to make data-driven decisions.

Getting Started with Salesforce Integrations

Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, there’s a Salesforce integration solution for you. Here are a few steps to get started:

1. Identify Your Needs: First, consider your specific business needs and workflows. What applications do you use the most? Where do data silos exist?
2. Explore the AppExchange: Browse the Salesforce AppExchange to see if there are pre-built integrations for your desired applications.
3. Consult a Salesforce Expert: If you need help with more complex integrations or API development, consider working with a certified Salesforce consultant.

Summary

Salesforce’s robust integration capabilities allow you to create a unified business ecosystem, where all your applications work together seamlessly. This translates to a more efficient, productive, and customer-centric organization. So, ditch the data silos and embrace the power of connection. With Salesforce integrations, the possibilities are endless.

How AdVic Can Help

AdVic’s certified, experienced, and passionate integration consultants team up with businesses to turn legacy point-to-point integrations into a scalable architecture that your business can grow with. How can we help your business today? Quickly reach us here.

Related Resources:

Set Up Your Salesforce Org for Integration with MuleSoft

Replace Repetitive Processes and Tasks with MuleSoft RPA

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MuleSoft® provides many connectors to help businesses develop API-led connectivity solutions. Out of all of those connectors, the “For Each” loop is a commonly used connector. This connector iterates through each element of a collection, or in other words, each element of an array. 

There are two different For Each connectors that MuleSoft provides. There is the “For Each” and the “Parallel For Each.” They have key different functionalities and serve different purposes. Knowing when to use each one is crucial for the success of the API’s you are building. 

When to use ‘For Each’

The For Each connector gets an array of elements and processes, each one at a time, so if there are 60 elements and each one takes one-second to process, making the total run for this connector one-minute. That’s something to keep in mind when using this connector since it could slow down your entire flow.

This is why the For Each connector should be used with a small amount of elements, or when performance isn’t critical.

The other thing to keep in mind when using this For Each connector is that if one element fails to process, the connector stops processing the rest of the records and moves on to the next connector. For example, let’s say that out of 60 records the connector fails at record 29, the remaining 31 records won’t process since the connector failed on record 29.

Another important piece to keep in mind is that this connector doesn’t return a processed payload. Whichever payload is given to this connector gets passed through to the next connector.

In the above example, the Collection field in For Each is set to iterate over an array stored in payload.topics:.

Key ‘For Each’ Takeaways:

• The For Each connector should be used when there are a few items to loop for per call.
• Use when performance isn’t crucial.
• Use when one payload fails the rest should stop processing.
• Use when a processed payload isn’t returned.

When to use ‘Parallel For Each’

Since the For Each connector doesn’t return a processed payload, one of the common patterns with the connector is to use Object Store to store the processed data for each element. This can be used successfully, but is not recommended since the Object Store has limitations on how many records it can process on a timeframe. It also can fail if you try to get elements from it at a pace faster than its limits. 

One of the ways to avoid this pattern is to use the Parallel For Each connector. With this connector each element is processed individually and the end result is all the payloads for each processed element are merged into one payload. You can then iterate through each one and run the logic that’s needed to run on each element. This case can’t be used for all scenarios, but it’s a way to avoid the Object Store pattern.

Parallel For Each works by processing each element in its own thread. There is a limit on how many threads it can run at one time (see the links below for more info). You can also set the limit yourself, which gives you flexibility and control on the amount of threads it can run at one time.

Parallel For Each processes all records and the result is their payload – regardless of failure or success – will return the same amount of payloads that match the elements given. This is useful when you want all records to process, regardless of the status. You can then use your own logic afterwards on what to do with success and failure payloads. 

Another key component to the Parallel For Each connector is that the end results are returned as a combined payload. So it actually returns the payload and you can do with it what you want. The For Each connector doesn’t return a payload and you have to use a variable or Object Store in order to store and retrieve the payload processed on the connector.

Key ‘Parallel For One’ Takeaways:

• Avoid using Object Store in a loop, since Object Store drops messages sometimes.
• Use when performance is necessary.
• Use when all should be processed, regardless if one of them fails.
• Use when you want to see the end result of all elements passed.

For Each vs. Parallel For Each

Summary

Both For Each loop connectors are great tools for building a MuleSoft API. Each project will have different requirements. Based on your project requirements, you will now be able to figure out which connector to use.

Ad Victoriam’s certified, experienced and passionate MuleSoft consultants team up with businesses to turn legacy point-to-point integrations into a scalable architecture that your business can grow with. Let’s talk about a solution for your company today.

Related Resources:

The For Each Scope

The Parallel For Each Scope

Set Up Your Salesforce Org for Integration with MuleSoft

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Thousands of Salesforce® customers utilize MuleSoft® to create a 360-degree view of their customer data, or to boost productivity with automation, or for other purposes related to enhancing their CRM. You may be wondering why? 

In a recent AdVic “Salesforce Simplified” podcast about such a CRM enhancement, our MuleSoft Practice Director, Tom Minton, explained the many benefits of MuleSoft Composer.

“The main advantage to MuleSoft Composer for Salesforce, Minton says, “is that it allows Salesforce admins the ability to create inner integrations with external systems using no code.”

He added, “Without having to concern IT departments, Salesforce admins can connect an assortment of connectors with just clicks. Even without having a vast knowledge of MuleSoft coding ability, they can achieve the results they need and  the information they need in a much more efficient way.”

MuleSoft Composer or MuleSoft Anypoint?

MuleSoft Composer and MuleSoft’s API/integrations flagship tool, Anypoint, share some of the same features. 

Minton explains, “Anypoint comes with a bigger financial investment and may not be ideal for medium or rising businesses. MuleSoft Composer, however, is a lighter version of Anypoint that packs the same power, is user-friendly to Salesforce admins, and it’s efficient.”

Integrate, Streamline, and Automate with MuleSoft Composer

MuleSoft Composer integrates with products such as Workday, ServiceNow and Slack, and enables the use of Salesforce directly from an app. With these integrations, sales and procurement receive automated messages that notifies them of inventory when they are selling to customers. 

Mitigating Sales Forecasting Risk

Whether it is Tableau, or those infamous Excel/Google Sheets, data can be pulled from these sources to forecast for the following months using historical data and past performance. Integrating Google sheets into Tableau or Salesforce can actually map out data in a more usable and visually appealing way. 

Another one of the many benefits of MuleSoft Composer is the ability to synchronize orgs. As your business grows and you decide to collaborate with competitors or acquire brands with their own org, MuleSoft allows you to come together as one. Thus allowing orgs to pass information without having to swivel back and forth between systems.  

Streamlining Operations with MuleSoft Composer

MuleSoft Composer streamlines everything. That means less keyboard time and more time making sales.

Here’s some additional streamlining Composer helps with:

• You could have inventory information.
• You can view the throughput.
• You’re able to send information out about a new opportunity via a Slack message. In that Slack message, it could have a link back to the Salesforce opportunity for whether your salespeople are in house or on the road.
• There’s a connector for a service called Stripe, which is a cash reconciliation ecommerce tool. 
• You can get the information into the system that it needs without having to type it.

The Future of MuleSoft Connectors

All-in-all, MuleSoft enables its users to have multiple sources of customer information at their fingertips. 

“They come out with a new set of features every three to six months,” Minton says, “with plenty more to come.” 

As a certified MuleSoft Anypoint and Composer, and Salesforce multi-cloud consulting partner, Ad Victoriam’s integration experts understand the complexities of enterprise integrations, both on-premise and in the cloud. We simplify complex integration scenarios, integrate disparate systems, and provide a scalable architecture that your business can grow with – whether or not you are using Salesforce. So, if you are ready to connect your systems, we’re ready to talk to you today.

Related Resources:

How Salesforce and MuleSoft Create a Seamless Customer Experience
What Can MuleSoft Do for Your Salesforce Org?
MuleSoft Composer’s Ease of Use Reduces the Need for IT
MuleSoft Integration Creates Customer 360-Degree View

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The Client Challenge

An AdVic client’s technology was lagging behind and they were becoming less and less relevant to their merchants. They had an antiquated, homegrown system called Business Platform (still in-service for now) that sorely needed a modern, more functional interface – and had a seamless mobile experience, too. 

To get there, the client knew they had to start offering services to their merchants and their partners’ merchants (B2B and B2C) to remain competitive. Specifically, the payment gateway provider had a wish list that included:

• Supplying their customers with a device that swipes credit cards in their brick and mortar stores.
• The ability to accept online transactions.
• Offer self-service options to their merchants.
• Implement modern APIs that allow them to do more for themselves and their customers.
• Offer the latest touchless pay terminals.

The Back Story

Prior to working with AdVic, the client, a company that enables a global network of merchants to accept payments anywhere and easily manage all on one platform, had executive advisors recommended that they have a road-mapping strategy to help them securely do business in multiple channels including online, mobile, and in-person. 

As it turned out, one of those executives had worked with AdVic on a previous project and led them to contact AdVic to implement their needed integrations. 

Here’s a look at the solution AdVic delivered.

The AdVic Solution

The AdVic strategy for the client was to implement Salesforce® and to use MuleSoft® to integrate Salesforce with their backend systems and use Salesforce as a system of engagement with a Customer 360 view. That way, all of their merchants can log in and see all of their transactions, see what plan they are on, onboard quickly, request equipment, etc. 

There were also numerous actions set up in Service Cloud that helped the client’s’ merchants to deflect cases – allowing the merchants to solve their issues quickly with the resources made available – before they had to pick up the phone and call somebody or send an email or submit a case through the portal. 

The truth is, the client was able to do all of those things in the past. However, by leveraging Salesforce, they had the ability to use MuleSoft to integrate their current system with a much more modern automated system with a robust interface that instantly garnered them the accolades of their merchants and saved the company money, too. And best of all, with the impressive capabilities of MuleSoft along with AdVic’s experienced team, the client began reaping the benefits of the system within just a few short months.

Are you considering a Salesforce and MuleSoft integration? You will want to seriously consider a consultant who is not just interested in building your next project but wants to build your business for future success. The AdVic team is ready to start your project today. Reach us here.

Related Resources:

How Salesforce and MuleSoft Create a Seamless Customer Experience

What Can MuleSoft Do for Your Salesforce Org?

MuleSoft Composer’s Ease of Use Reduces the Need for IT

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Integration is the future. In an increasingly technology-driven world, it is crucial that there is a single source of truth for your company’s information. If your employees must go to multiple different places to get the information they need, you have wasted time, money, and energy. 

Salesforce® and MuleSoft® can create a powerful, real-time integrated experience in your Salesforce org. This article will explain what it means to have an integrated experience in your Salesforce org and how to acquire that experience with MuleSoft. In addition, we will cover some of the basic integration tools in Salesforce, a high-level overview of MuleSoft architecture and how these tools work together. 

Salesforce Integration Tools for MuleSoft 

Salesforce is built to be integrated with your legacy systems to create a 360 degree view of your customers for your Salesforce users. MuleSoft can be added to your Salesforce org by adding a Connected App in the App Manager settings. 

The best way to allow MuleSoft to have access to your Salesforce org is by creating an integration user. When the user is set up, save the username, password, and security token that is sent to the related email. These credentials will be used in MuleSoft to login to Salesforce and make changes to the data via the Salesforce REST API. 

Salesforce can communicate changes to the data to MuleSoft in a few different ways. The most common and simple way being via Platform Events and Process Builders. A Platform Event can be created in Salesforce and triggered to send a message to MuleSoft via a Process Builder. In this way, you can create the trigger to respond to whatever changes in the data suit your business needs. 

In addition, an APEX Class can be configured to use the Salesforce REST API mentioned earlier. An APEX Class is created in the Developer console and is written to receive the request from Salesforce regarding the change in data, then that message is sent to a listener in MuleSoft, similar to the way the first option with Platform Events works. However, it is highly recommended that you use Platform Events and Process Builders because they require significantly less Salesforce Development time and are easier to maintain in the long run. 

MuleSoft Architecture – How Does it Work? 

MuleSoft architecture is unique from other integration platforms because it is an Enterprise Service Bus architecture model. This means that MuleSoft is the translator between many different systems. You can create APIs unique to your systems that only change when that system changes. Then, these system APIs speak to each other through MuleSoft processing APIs. As you can see in the diagram below, systems do not connect directly to each other. Rather, they are connected through MuleSoft. 

In MuleSoft, there are three kinds of APIs that are created: 

• Experience API (Channels): Produces what the end user needs to see and interact with.
• Process API (Processes): Performs the transformations between systems.
  • Translates each of the systems to Salesforce or other systems that need to communicate.
• System API (Data): Represents what is held in each system.

Below is an example of how these APIs can be structured: 

As you can see, the system layer represents the two systems that need to be integrated. These system API’s do not contain any of the business logic to “translate” Salesforce to the ERP system. The process layer APIs contain the business logic for Products, Orders, and Customers so that this data can be translated from one system to another. The top layer, Experience APIs, create what the end users interact with. These APIs generally contain schedules for when the other API’s should run in order for the data to move from system to system.

This kind of architecture creates many significant benefits to integrating with MuleSoft. To start, it creates reusable, scalable, and secure integrations. Once you have created a System API, you do not need to ever create it again. You may need to make small additions, but you will be able to connect that system to any other system via a Process API by reusing the System API. This leads to increased agility on projects, less time wasted, and more money saved. Similar to the App Exchange, there is an Anypoint Exchange for MuleSoft. Here you can find connectors, accelerators, integration patterns, etc., that you can use in your projects instead of starting from scratch yourself.

Salesforce + MuleSoft: Catalyze Your integrated Experience

The combination of Salesforce integration tools and MuleSoft can create the integrated experience you’ve been looking for in your Salesforce org. It can be difficult to fully transition from legacy systems to Salesforce and with MuleSoft you can implement Salesforce at your own pace. This will allow you to slowly retire your legacy system operations while keeping your data up to date in real time and creating a future-proof implementation. MuleSoft can be updated in an extremely agile manner to keep your systems up-to-date and avoid technical debt build up.

With a MuleSoft integrated experience, your Salesforce users will be able to see the data they need in one place. This will create an increased level of trust in your Salesforce org from the start and make the transition away from legacy systems as painless as possible. The future is integrated and MuleSoft can take you there.

As a certified MuleSoft Anypoint and Salesforce multi-cloud consulting partner, Ad Victoriam’s integration experts understand the complexities of enterprise integrations, both on-premise and in the cloud. We simplify complex integration scenarios, integrate disparate systems, and provide a scalable architecture that your business can grow with – whether or not you are using Salesforce. So, if you are ready to connect your systems, we’re ready to talk to you today.

*This article also appears on Salesforce Ben

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So, what’s happening behind the scenes in each of these interactions? APIs (application programming interfaces) are… And that’s why it’s increasingly critical for innovative retailers that want to reach customers in new ways to develop and execute successful API strategies.

So, when developing your API strategy, here are several steps retailers should consider:

Build a Single View of the Customer

A common problem with a growing business is that you often outgrow the systems that track your customers. With the limited capacity to upgrade and properly synchronize these sources of customer data, many times you end up with small silos of specific data: customers, orders, loyalty, etc. Retrieving that data into a single view is difficult to achieve with conventional tools that are used by most retail businesses.

MuleSoft® is a top platform that can bring these disparate systems together and present them in a single, 360-degree view. This gives you the insight your business needs to truly know your customers. MuleSoft’s API-led architecture allows systems to be brought together as needed and utilized as one single powerful tool for retailers.

Optimize the Supply Chain

Develop Better Data Orchestration for Reporting

In addition to an omnichannel view of your customers, the same tools and APIs that were created to allow for customer insight can be reused to create an accurate and timely data source for your reporting, accounting, or auditing needs. MuleSoft’s reusability means quicker to-market times for your development. That translates into a better bottom line for your IT needs. The power of unlocking your data can take your business to the next level.

Offer Contactless Engagement

As you go about developing your API strategy, double-down on digital commerce. Also, plan on offering your customers the ability to take advantage of contactless engagement (mobile/wearable payments, inside and curbside pickup, tap-and-go card payments).

Nowadays, not only are your customers expecting the ease of a contactless engagement experience with you, it makes them feel safe and secure while completing their transactions.

And beyond offering your customers a convenient, secure method of payment, mobile payments can also help expand your customer base. This ensures your business achieves greater success on its journey to growth.

As a certified MuleSoft consulting partner, Ad Victoriam’s integration experts understand the complexities of enterprise integrations, both on-premise and in the cloud. We simplify complex integration scenarios, integrate disparate systems, and provide a scalable architecture that your retail business can grow with. So, are you ready to get connected? Talk to a certified MuleSoft consultant today!

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At the time, YANMAR Business Systems Manager, Brian Williams explained, “We were very guarded against repeating our previous Salesforce failures. We shared these past developments and adoption challenges with Salesforce, and asked that they provide us a partner with a strong skill-set, reputation, and experience in our industry – which is why we were referred to AdVic.”

Most Recent Project

For YANMAR’s most recent project with the AdVic team, the focus was a MuleSoft® API integration that helped pass Salesforce information to their internal systems. It was centered around creating a Salesforce Community, whereby YANMAR’s distributors and dealers would have the ability to log in to the Community and perform some of their most important processes that were previously done manually. Those new processing abilities include:

1. The ability to create various types of orders online catering to all of YANMAR’s divisions. This introduced convenience to the customer, visibility on status, and improved processing speed.
2. The ability to submit a RePower quote request. Both the process itself and research needed along the way was extremely tedious and time-consuming. AdVic used systems to automate both the process and most areas of “research.” Once a dealer submits a request through the new community, they have already completed many of the steps that were once manually handled internally.
3. The ability for their dealers to more easily process/submit/track rebate requests and issued payments on products. This was previously a labor-intensive, manual process. The rebate solution was one of the most important elements of this project for YANMAR Being able to effectively manage and process earned rebates is vital to servicing their dealers and keeping them satisfied.
4. Implementing a marketing budgeting solution for Marketing Co-Op, where YANMAR dealers can submit pre-approvals and claims on their allocated marketing budgets for better management, as well as payment reporting.
5. Enhanced YANMAR’s Case submission process by giving their dealers the ability to log in to the Community and submit different types of cases based on their needs with case deflection via the company’s shared Knowledge database. Dealers then receive quick resolutions and answers to keep their business moving forward.

The Benefits

Previously, YANMAR’s distributors would have to handle their processes through emails, faxes, spreadsheets, and phone calls. But now, YANMAR’s new Salesforce Partner Community, YANMAR/One, provides its distributors and dealers with self-service capabilities. This has reduced paperwork and streamlined communications expediting case resolution.

There are even areas within the Community where dealers can actively comment on Cases and receive notifications from their YANMAR rep. This allowed the internal rep and dealer to have a conversation directly in the Community. That is helpful when there is a need for specific questions, as opposed to utilizing a phone or an email. It also makes it easier to find historic tracking of conversations.

“This project has been 18 months in the making,” YANMAR’s Business Process Improvement Manager and project lead Delaney Langston comments. “It would not have been possible without the help of my colleagues at YANMAR America and our consultant, Ad Victoriam Solutions.”

Are you looking for a Salesforce consultant? One who is not just interested in building your next project but wants to build your business for future success? The Ad Victoriam team is ready to start your project today. Reach us here.

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