Efficiently managing data is crucial for any thriving business, especially when it involves handling customer information. How well a company can handle and use its data can significantly affect its success in the market.
Integrated systems play a vital role in ensuring that data flows smoothly across different parts of the business, allowing companies to understand important details about their customer’s likes and trends. When data management isn’t up to par, companies can miss out on chances to create personalized experiences for customers.
This can directly impact how much revenue a company generates and how satisfied its customers are. That’s why businesses need to invest in effective data management solutions if they want to thrive in today’s data-driven world.
Skyvia offers a comprehensive SaaS (Software as a Service) data platform designed to effortlessly tackle a variety of data-related challenges without requiring any coding. With seamless cloud data integration, backup, and management services, Skyvia has garnered a dedicated customer base of over 1500 satisfied clients.
Integrating Different Databases with Salesforce
1. Skyvia Connect
Salesforce provides various solutions for integrating data from different sources, and one such solution is Salesforce Connect. This native integration tool seamlessly connects legacy databases, ERP systems, and other data sources to Salesforce.
With Salesforce Connect, users can access and work with data from these sources directly within the Salesforce interface, just like they would with Salesforce data. Importantly, the data remains in its source and isn’t imported into Salesforce.
For data sources that support the OData protocol, Salesforce offers OData 2.0 and OData 4.0 adapters. However, if your desired data source doesn’t support OData or if you prefer to avoid coding, Skyvia offers you an excellent alternative.
Skyvia Connect is a web-API-as-a-service solution, eliminating the need for hosting, servers, maintenance or administration. Set up an endpoint using an intuitive wizard, following a few easy steps:
Setting up Skyvia Connect involves four simple steps:
1. Connecting Skyvia to your data source.
2. Selecting the data to publish (including the option to choose specific tables and fields).
3. Configuring additional security measures for the endpoint.
4. Specify the default endpoint protocol version and its writability.
Once configured, you can easily copy the resulting endpoint link and integrate it seamlessly into Salesforce.
By combining Skyvia Connect and Salesforce Connect, you can effortlessly integrate your cloud or database data into Salesforce with minimal effort.
2. Salesforce and Dropbox Integration
Dropbox offers cloud storage and file-sharing solutions utilized by numerous users worldwide. It enables storing various files on the cloud, granting access from any device with an internet connection. Integrating Dropbox with Salesforce allows seamless access, management, and sharing of Dropbox content directly within Salesforce.
This integration eliminates the need to switch between platforms for file access or uploads. However, using the native Dropbox for Salesforce Application from the Salesforce AppExchange comes with drawbacks like slow uploads, limited support, and basic features.
Skyvia’s data integration platform offers a faster solution, enabling quick integration of CSV data from Dropbox into Salesforce. Administrators can effortlessly set up mappings and schedule automatic data loading.
With Skyvia, data enrichment becomes simpler, enhancing business processes’ efficiency. Skyvia supports bidirectional integration between Salesforce and Dropbox, enabling the use of Dropbox files as both a source and a target.
Note – Please ensure you are registered with Skyvia before proceeding with the implementation of your use case.
Below are the steps to perform Import integrations with Skyvia:
1. Sign in to Skyvia and establish connections to Salesforce and Dropbox.
2. Create the Import data integration. In Skyvia, click on +NEW and choose Import.
Select CSV from the storage service and pick your Dropbox connection as the Source
3. On the Target Definition tab, select the target Salesforce object and click on the needed operation. We select the Insert operation.
4. On the Mapping Definition tab, assign the column mapping. Columns with matching names are automatically mapped.
You can keep the default mapping unchanged if it suits your needs. Optionally, you can schedule automatic package launches. Save the package and initiate the process. You can review the package results on the Monitor and Log tabs.
While integrating Dropbox and Salesforce through the Dropbox Salesforce Application on the AppExchange is an option, it comes with several limitations. However, these limitations can be overcome by using Skyvia Dropbox and Salesforce Integration.
Reverse ETL using Skyvia
ETL, which stands for Extract Transform Load, encompasses a series of procedures that move data from one or multiple sources to a designated destination through three distinct stages – extraction, transformation, and loading.
In conventional ETL practices, the destination typically involves databases or data warehouses. Traditional ETL commonly transfers data from various on-premises and cloud-based business applications into a database or data warehouse.
Conversely, Reverse ETL performs the reverse operation by extracting data from databases and data warehouses and transferring it to operational data sources. When choosing a tool for Reverse ETL, it’s essential to ensure compatibility with your data warehouse as a source, given that data warehouses are frequently supported primarily as destinations.
Another significant advancement in the evolution of Reverse ETL is the emergence of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs).
A Customer Data Platform is a data management system that gathers customer data from various sources, cleanses, consolidates and stores it in a centralized database, offering a comprehensive 360-degree view of the customer.
Beyond merely collecting and analyzing this data, it’s crucial to activate the enhanced, cleansed and segmented data, returning them to marketing and support teams.
Hence, Reverse ETL becomes essential for operationalizing CDP data and fully leveraging its potential.
Given the necessity for Reverse ETL, some CDP systems such as Segment, incorporate built-in Reverse ETL capabilities. Others may opt for partner integration solutions or utilize widely adopted Reverse ETL tools.
Benefits of Reverse RTL
- Reverse ETL tools break down data silos in data warehouses, enabling the flow of essential data back into action, thus connecting data warehouses with business applications for streamlined access by relevant teams.
- Reverse ETL enhances operational system data with warehouse data, gathered from various sources, providing business teams with improved customer insights and support in their tasks.
- Businesses commonly transfer outdated data from operational systems to data warehouses to cut storage costs and ease operational system burdens. When there’s a need to reintroduce archived data into operational systems, Reverse ETL tools facilitate the data movement.
Data warehouses offer an alternative to conventional operational databases, addressing their challenges in handling complex queries and improving analytics performance.
Best Practices in Data Warehousing:
- Engaging Key Stakeholders and Clarifying User Roles
- Deploying Robust Data Governance Strategies
- Selecting the Appropriate Data Warehouse Schema Design. A carefully crafted schema enhances data access and analysis, ensuring alignment with the organization’s analytical and reporting requirements.
- Prioritizing Iterative Testing and Ongoing Enhancement
To seamlessly integrate tools like Salesforce with a Data Warehouse (DWH), you require a solution that is fast, simple, and user-friendly. This solution should be able to replicate data from the app to the DWH and update data within the app using a reverse ETL approach.
Skyvia not only meets these requirements but also offers additional functionalities to enhance the integration process.
Importance of Data Synchronization
Data synchronization involves consolidating information across multiple systems to maintain consistency, accuracy, and privacy. This ongoing process ensures that both new and existing data are harmonized across all systems and updated automatically.
Before we explore the details of data synchronization, let us understand why it’s important.
Unsynchronized data presents numerous challenges for businesses, including data silos, inaccuracies, operational inefficiencies, decreased productivity, lack of real-time insights, duplications, and communication breakdowns among departments ultimately leading to a loss of customer trust and satisfaction.
Data synchronization plays a pivotal role in effective data management and organizational efficiency. Given the substantial volume of data handled daily, ensuring synchronization is vital to prevent conflicts and communication gaps, maintaining data integrity, enhancing security and access control, fostering collaboration, mitigating data loss, and improving data availability.
Data synchronization operates based on predetermined configurations set within the chosen tool for the process. This can involve establishing automated data pipelines using an ETL solution.
There are two main types of data synchronization – one-way and two-way.
One-way data synchronization, also known as unidirectional sync, updates changes from the source data to the target data. Here, updates can only be made from the source, and changes in the target data don’t affect the source data. It’s crucial to ensure strong security measures for the source data, as any breach could compromise both sets of data.
Two-way data synchronization or bi-directional sync, allows changes initiated in either dataset to reflect in the other. Communication flows in both directions, enabling updates in both the source and target data.
Benefits of data synchronization:
- Elimination of data silos
- Real-time data synchronization
- Prevention of data loss
If you have specific data synchronization requirements, solutions such as Skyvia can efficiently handle the task for you.
Skyvia offers various pricing plans tailored to different needs. Click here to explore and find the plan that best fits your requirements.
Try out Skyvia and its versatile offerings for Salesforce today and let us know how you feel about it.
