Data-Architect Questions and Answers

Enabling field history tracking on the Case object is the first step to implement a reporting solution to measure the support reps case closure rates. Field history tracking allows you to track changes to certain fields on the Case object, such as Status, Owner, or Priority. You can then create reports based on the field history data to analyze how long it took to close a case, how many times the case owner changed, or how many cases were escalated.

 Async SOQL with a custom object (option B) and Einstein Analytics (option D) are the two native tools that can be used to report on big object data. Async SOQL allows querying big object data and storing the results in a custom object, which can then be used for reporting. Einstein Analytics can connect to big object data sources and provide advanced analytics and visualization features. Standard reports and dashboards (option A) and standard SOQL queries (option C) cannot be used to report on big object data, as they do not support big object fields

Making use of a third-party tool to help merge duplicate Contacts across Accounts and using Data.com to standardize Contact address information to help identify duplicates are two solutions that UC should implement to cleanse their data and have a single Contact across departments. A third-party tool, such as an app from the AppExchange, can provide advanced features and capabilities for finding and merging duplicate Contacts across different Accounts, based on various criteria and rules. Data.com can provide address verification and standardization services that can enhance the quality and consistency of Contact address information and make it easier to identify duplicates. The other options are not feasible or effective for cleansing the data, as they would either not work across different Accounts, not address the root cause of duplication, or not provide sufficient functionality for merging duplicates

Scheduling a weekly dashboard displaying records that are missing information to be sent to managers for review and using Workflow, Validation Rules, and Force.com code (Apex) to enforce critical business processes are two approaches that an architect should recommend to enforce the new Data Quality Plan for UC’s Salesforce data. Scheduling a weekly dashboard can provide a regular and visual way of monitoring the data quality and identifying any gaps or issues that need to be addressed by the managers or users. Using Workflow, Validation Rules, and Apex can provide various ways of enforcing data quality standards and business logic by automating actions, displaying error messages, or executing custom code when users create or edit records. The other options are not suitable or helpful for enforcing the Data Quality Plan, as they would either not provide real-time feedback, not prevent data quality issues, or not leverage the capabilities of Salesforce

The two recommended options to assign Account ownership to mitigate potential performance problems are to let a “system user” own all the Account records without assigning any role to this user in Role Hierarchy, or to let a “system user” own the Account records and assign this user to the lowest-level role in the Role Hierarchy. This is because these options would reduce the number of sharing calculations and rules that need to be applied to the Account records, and improve the performance and scalability of the system34. The other options are not recommended, as they would increase the sharing complexity and overhead, and potentially expose sensitive data to unauthorized users.

According to the Salesforce documentation4, Marketing Cloud is a platform that allows creating and managing marketing campaigns across multiple channels, such as email, mobile, social media, web, etc. Marketing Cloud can integrate with Sales Cloud and other Salesforce products to share data and insights. One of the ways to integrate Marketing Cloud with Sales Cloud is using Marketing Cloud Connect5, which allows syncing data between the two platforms using synchronized data sources.

However, if UC occasionally gets a list of prospects from third-party sources as CSV files for marketing purposes, it may not be necessary or efficient to load them into Sales Cloud first and then sync them with Marketing Cloud. This can consume large amounts of storage in Sales Cloud, which has a limit based on the license type6. It can also cause data quality issues, such as duplicates or outdated information.

A better option for UC is to load the contacts directly to Marketing Cloud using Import Definition, which allows importing data from external files or databases into Marketing Cloud data extensions. Data extensions are custom tables that store marketing data in Marketing Cloud. This way, UC can avoid storage issues in Sales Cloud and optimize the marketing process by sending marketing communications directly from Marketing Cloud.

To track prospects that are converted to customers, UC can have a reconciliation process that compares the contacts in Marketing Cloud with the accounts or contacts in Sales Cloud. This can be done using SQL queries or API calls to access and compare data from both platforms. Alternatively, UC can use Marketing Cloud Connect to sync the converted contacts from Sales Cloud to Marketing Cloud using synchronized data sources.

Loading the CSV files in Einstein Analytics and syncing with Marketing Cloud prior to sending marketing communications (option A) is not a good option, as it can add unnecessary complexity and latency to the process. Einstein Analytics is a platform that allows creating and analyzing data using interactive dashboards and reports. It is not designed for importing and exporting data for marketing purposes.

Loading the CSV files in an external database and syncing with Marketing Cloud prior to sending marketing communications (option B) is also not a good option, as it can incur additional costs and maintenance for the external database. It can also introduce data security and privacy risks, as the data may not be encrypted or protected by Salesforce.

Continuing to use the existing process to use Lead object to sync with Marketing Cloud and delete Lead records from Sales after the sync is complete (option D) is not a good option, as it can cause performance issues and data loss. Deleting Lead records from Sales can affect reporting and auditing, as well as trigger workflows and validations that may not be intended. It can also cause data inconsistency and synchronization errors between Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud.

The best solution to assign opportunities based on zip code and sales area is to configure territory management feature to support opportunity assignment. Territory management is a feature that allows you to organize your sales team into territories based on criteria such as geography, industry, product line, or customer segment. You can assign accounts and opportunities to territories using assignment rules or manual sharing. You can also define forecast managers and roll up forecasts by territory45. Assign opportunities using list views using zip code is not a good solution because it is inefficient and does not support reporting by sales area. Add custom fields in opportunities for zip code and use assignment rules is not a good solution because it requires creating additional fields and does not support reporting by sales area. Allow sales users to manually assign opportunity ownership based on zip code is not a good solution because it is prone to errors and does not support reporting by sales area.

Using an AppExchange package for Data Quality is a good way to match Salesforce data against a trusted source, such as an MDM system. You can use tools like Cloudingo, DupeCatcher, or DemandTools to identify and merge duplicate records, standardize data formats, and enrich data with external sources

According to the Salesforce documentation, SOQL is a query language that allows querying data from Salesforce objects and fields. SOQL queries have various clauses and operators that can be used to filter and sort the results. However, some clauses and operators can affect the performance of SOQL queries by increasing the cost or complexity of executing them.

To make this query more performant, a data architect should change the where clause to filter by a deterministic defined value (option D). This means using a filter condition that specifies a concrete value or range of values for a field, such as WhatId = ‘001xx000003DGg3’ or WhatId IN (‘001xx000003DGg3’, ‘001xx000003DGg4’). This can improve the performance of the query by reducing the number of records that need to be scanned and returned. A deterministic defined value can also leverage an index on the field, which can speed up the query execution.

Removing description from the requested field set (option A) is not a good solution, as it can affect the functionality or usability of the query. The description field may contain important or relevant information that is needed for the process. Changing the query to SOSL (option B) is also not a good solution, as SOSL is a different query language that allows searching text fields across multiple objects. SOSL queries have different syntax and limitations than SOQL queries, and may not return the same results or performance. Adding limit 100 to the query (option C) is also not a good solution, as it can affect the completeness or accuracy of the query. The limit clause specifies the maximum number of records that can be returned by the query, which may not include all the records that match the filter condition.

Creating a unique global customer ID for each customer and storing that in all systems for referential identity (option A), investing in a data duplicate tool to de-dupe and merge duplicate records across all systems (option C), and creating a customer master database external to Salesforce as a system of truth and syncing the customer data with all systems (option E) are the three options that a data architect should perform to resolve the issues with the customer data. Option A ensures that each customer can be uniquely identified across different systems, option C eliminates duplicate records and improves data quality, and option E provides a consistent and reliable source of customer data for all systems. Using Salesforce CDC to sync customer data across all systems (option B) is not a good option, as it does not address the duplication or inconsistency issues. Duplicating customer records across the system and providing a two-way sync of data between the systems (option D) is also not a good option, as it may create more confusion and conflicts with customer data.

Leveraging duplicate rules in Salesforce to validate duplicates during the account creation process (option A) is the best option to implement to avoid duplicates, as it allows the sales associates to identify and merge duplicate accounts before they are saved. Developing an Apex class that searches for duplicates and removes them nightly (option B) is not a good option, as it may cause data loss or conflicts, and it does not prevent duplicates from being created in the first place. Implementing an MDM solution to validate the customer information before creating Salesforce (option C) is also not a good option, as it may introduce additional complexity and cost, and it does not address the issue of customers interacting with both the website and the store. Building a custom search functionality that allows sales associates to search for customer in real time upon visiting their retail stores (option D) is also not a good option, as it may not be reliable or user-friendly, and it does not leverage the existing Global Search feature.

Defining data duplication standards and rules, measuring data timeliness and consistency, and measuring data completeness and accuracy are three key factors that a data architect should consider while defining data quality standards. Defining data duplication standards and rules can help prevent or reduce duplicate records in the org by specifying criteria and actions for identifying and merging duplicates. Measuring data timeliness and consistency can help ensure that the data is up-to-date, reliable, and synchronized across different sources. Measuring data completeness and accuracy can help ensure that the data is sufficient, relevant, and correct for the intended purposes.

Leveraging Heroku Connect and Heroku Postgres, middleware tools, or Salesforce Connect and the cross-org adapter are all viable options to share data between Org A and Org B in near-real time3. Installing a 3rd party AppExchange tool may not provide bidirectional sync or may have additional costs. Developing an Apex class that pushes opportunity data between orgs daily via the Apex schedule may not meet the near-real time requirement.

Using a declarative approach by installing and configuring Data.com Clean to monitor Account data quality can help UC meet their requirement. Data.com Clean can enrich and cleanse data on an ongoing basis by comparing Salesforce records with Data.com records and providing suggestions for updates. Data.com Clean can also provide dashboards and reports to monitor key data quality metrics such as match rate, field fill rate, and record completeness

 Loading all data after deferring sharing calculations can improve the performance and avoid locking issues when loading a large amount of time entry records into Salesforce.com. This is because deferring sharing calculations can temporarily suspend the calculation of sharing rules until all the data is loaded, and then recalculate them in one operation

Option A is correct because integrating Salesforce with the ERP environment is a technique to maintain data synchronization between systems1. Option C is correct because utilizing an MDM strategy to outline a single source of truth is another technique to ensure data quality and consistency across systems2. Option B is not correct because utilizing workbench to update files within systems is not a technique to maintain data synchronization, but a tool to perform data manipulation tasks3. Option D is not correct because building synchronization reports and dashboards is not a technique to maintain data synchronization, but a way to monitor and analyze data4.

According to the Salesforce documentation, a hub-and-spoke model is an integration architecture pattern that allows connecting multiple Salesforce orgs using a central org (hub) and one or more secondary orgs (spokes). The hub org acts as the master data source and orchestrates the data flow between the spoke orgs. The spoke orgs act as the consumers or producers of the data and communicate with the hub org.

To orchestrate data between the hub org and spoke orgs, a data architect should use:

A middleware solution that extracts and distributes data across both the hub and spokes (option A). This means using an external service or tool that can connect to multiple Salesforce orgs using APIs or connectors, and perform data extraction, transformation, and distribution operations between the hub and spoke orgs. This can provide a scalable, flexible, and reliable way to orchestrate data across multiple orgs.

Developing custom APIs to poll the hub org for change data and push into the spoke orgs (option B) is not a good solution, as it can be complex, costly, and difficult to maintain. It may also not be able to handle large volumes of data or complex transformations efficiently. Developing custom APIs to poll the spoke orgs for change data and push into the hub org (option C) is also not a good solution, as it can have the same drawbacks as option B. It may also not be able to handle conflicts or errors effectively. Using a backup and archive solution that extracts and restores data across orgs (option D) is also not a good solution, as it can incur additional costs and dependencies. It may also not be able to handle real-time or near-real-time data orchestration requirements.

According to the Get Started with Custom Metadata Types unit on Trailhead, one of the use cases for custom metadata types is to define custom charges for an accounting app. The unit states that “Say that your org uses a standard accounting app. You can create a custom metadata type that defines custom charges, like duties and VAT rates. Then you can write some Apex code that calculates the total amount due for each invoice by using the metadata from your custom metadata type.” Therefore, a similar approach can be used to maintain the pricing criteria for a custom pricing engine in Salesforce.

To solve the issue of lack of governance in making changes to Salesforce, a data architect should recommend creating and managing a data dictionary and setting up a governance process for changes made to common objects. A data dictionary is a document that defines the metadata, structure, and relationship of each object and field in Salesforce. A governance process is a set of rules and procedures that govern how changes are proposed, reviewed, approved, and deployed in Salesforce. These measures will help NTO to maintain consistency, quality, and clarity of their data model and avoid confusion and errors among users. Option A is incorrect because adding description fields to explain why the field is used, and marking the field as required will not prevent unauthorized or unnecessary changes to Salesforce. Option C is incorrect because creating reports to identify which users are leaving blank, and using external data sources to augment the missing data will not address the root cause of the issue, which is the lack of governance in making changes to Salesforce. Option D is incorrect because creating validation rules with error messages to explain why the fields are used will not stop users from seeing new fields on their page that they are unsure of.

The best object model to configure within SF for migrating individual customers (B2C) data from legacy systems is to leverage person account object in Salesforce. Person accounts are a special type of accounts that store information about individual people by combining certain account and contact fields into a single record4. Person accounts are useful for B2C scenarios where there is no need to associate a company name with a contact. Person accounts also support standard Salesforce features and functionality, such as leads, campaigns, reports, dashboards, etc5. Leverage custom person account object in SF is not a good option because there is no such thing as a custom person account object. Leverage custom account and contact object in SF is not a good option because it would require creating and maintaining additional objects and fields that may not be necessary or compatible with standard Salesforce features. Leverage standard account and contact object in SF is not a good option because it would require filling in dummy values for the account name field, which is mandatory for standard accounts.

Enabling “Set Audit Fields” allows the user loading the data to set the value of the standard CreatedDate field to match the original date from the legacy system. This is a one-time permission that can be revoked after the migration is completed. The other options would either not work or require additional customization

To capture and report on any changes made to ten text fields on the Contact object for the past 3 months, the data architect should write an Apex trigger on Contact after insert and after update events and store the old values in another custom object, or turn on field Contact object history tracking for these ten fields and create reports on contact history. An Apex trigger can capture the old and new values of the fields, as well as the user and time of the change, and store them in a custom object that can be used for reporting. Field history tracking can also track the changes to the fields and store them in a history table that can be used for reporting. However, field history tracking only retains data for up to 18 months or 24 months with an extension, so it may not be suitable for longer-term reporting needs. The other options are not feasible or effective for capturing and reporting on field data changes.

A correct technique UC should use to solve the data inconsistency is to define a data taxonomy for product data and apply the taxonomy to the product data in the data warehouse. A data taxonomy is a hierarchical classification of data entities and attributes that defines their meaning, format, and relationships. A data taxonomy can help ensure consistency, accuracy, and completeness of product data across different systems and channels

According to the Salesforce documentation1, the query plan tool is a tool that can be enabled and used in the developer console to analyze the performance of a SOQL query. The query plan tool shows the cost, cardinality, sObject type, and relative cost of each query plan that Salesforce considers for a query. The relative cost indicates how expensive a query plan is compared to the Force.com query optimizer threshold. A query plan with a relative cost above 1.0 is likely to cause a time-out error.

To identify why the query is taking too long, a data architect should use the query plan tool in the developer console (option B). This way, the data architect can see which query plan is chosen by Salesforce and how it affects the performance of the query. The data architect can also use the query plan tool to optimize the query by adding indexes, filters, or limits to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of the query.

Using Splunk to query the system logs looking for transaction time and CPU usage (option A) is not a good solution, as it can be complex, costly, and difficult to integrate with Salesforce. It may also not provide enough information or insights to identify and optimize the query performance. Using Salesforce’s query optimizer to analyze the query in the developer console (option C) is also not a good solution, as it is not a separate tool that can be used in the developer console. The query optimizer is a feature that runs automatically when a SOQL query is executed and chooses the best query plan based on various factors2. Opening a ticket with Salesforce support to retrieve transaction logs to be analyzed for processing time (option D) is also not a good solution, as it can be time-consuming, dependent, and inefficient. It may also not provide enough information or insights to identify and optimize the query performance.

 According to the Salesforce documentation1, ownership skew occurs when a large number of records (more than 10,000) are owned by a single user or queue. This can cause performance issues and lock contention when multiple users try to access or update those records. To prevent ownership skew, some of the recommended practices are:

Assign a default user as the owner of the records and do not assign any role to the default user (option C). This way, the records will not be visible to other users in the role hierarchy and will not cause sharing recalculations.

Keep users out of public groups that can be used as the source for sharing rules (option B). Sharing rules based on public groups can cause excessive sharing calculations and lock contention when many records are owned by a single user or queue.

Assign a default user as the owner of the records and assign the top most role in the hierarchy to the default user (option E). This way, the records will be visible to all users in the role hierarchy, but will not cause sharing recalculations or lock contention.

Assigning a default user as the owner of the records and assigning a role in the hierarchy (option A) is not a good practice, as it can cause sharing recalculations and lock contention when the role is updated or moved. Assigning “view all” permission on profile to give access to the records (option D) is also not a good practice, as it can bypass the security and sharing model and expose sensitive data to unauthorized users.

A data quality problem that could cause customers to be called by multiple Sales Reps is having duplicate Contact records in the system. Duplicate records can result from data entry errors, data imports, or integrations with other systems. Duplicate records can lead to confusion, inefficiency, and customer dissatisfaction

Option A is correct because RecordType is a valid metadata type that should be included in documenting the data architecture of a Salesforce organization1. RecordType defines different business processes, picklist values, and page layouts for different users2. Option C is correct because CustomField is another valid metadata type that should be included in documenting the data architecture of a Salesforce organization1. CustomField defines custom attributes for standard or custom objects3. Option B is not correct because Document is not a valid metadata type, but a standard object that stores documents in folders4. Option D is not correct because SecuritySettings is not a valid metadata type, but a setup menu that allows administrators to configure various security features such as password policies, network access, session settings, etc.

According to the official Salesforce guide1, assigning leads to a single dummy user can cause performance issues and data skew, especially if the dummy user owns more than 10,000 records. Data skew occurs when a single user or a small number of users own a disproportionately large number of records, which can affect query performance and sharing calculations. Option B is the correct answer because it suggests creating multiple dummy users and assigning leads to them, which can distribute the load and reduce data skew. Option A is incorrect because assigning the dummy user to the last role in the role hierarchy does not affect the performance or data skew issues. Option C is incorrect because assigning the dummy user to the highest role in the role hierarchy can worsen the performance and data skew issues, as it will grant access to more users and records. Option D is incorrect because periodically deleting leads can cause data loss and does not address the root cause of the problem.

According to Trailhead2, record types are a feature that allows administrators to create different business processes, page layouts, and picklist values for different types of records within an object. Record types can be used to maintain different dealer types in Salesforce by creating record types for each of the dealer types and assigning them appropriate attributes, processes, and rules. Option A is the correct answer because it suggests using Accounts for dealers, and creating record types for each of the dealer types. Option B is incorrect because creating dealers as Accounts, and building custom views for each of the dealer types does not allow CRM users to enter only attributes related to the customer types, nor does it enable different processes and business rules for each of the customer types. Option C is incorrect because using Accounts for dealers and custom picklist field for each of the dealer types does not allow CRM users to enter only attributes related to the customer types, nor does it enable different processes and business rules for each of the customer types. Option D is incorrect because creating Custom objects for each dealer types and custom fields for dealer attributes can be unnecessary and complex, as it requires creating multiple objects and relationships instead of using the standard Account object.

Enabling granular locking (option B) is the best option to prevent the error, as it allows finer control over how records are locked during automated or manual processes, and reduces the chances of lock contention or deadlock. Reducing number of users updated concurrently (option A) is not a good option, as it may limit the productivity and efficiency of the system admins, and it does not address the root cause of the error. Analyzing Splunk query to spot offending records (option C) is also not a good option, as it may require more time and effort, and it does not provide a permanent solution for the error. Increasing CPU for the Salesforce org (option D) is also not a good option, as it may introduce additional cost and complexity, and it does not solve the root cause of the error.

 The best solution to make sure lead data has both profile and location information is to leverage external data providers to populate company profile and location data. This is because external data providers can enrich lead data with additional information from third-party sources, such as Dun & Bradstreet, ZoomInfo, or Clearbit. This can help improve lead quality, segmentation, and conversion. Salesforce supports integrating with external data providers using Data.com Clean or other AppExchange solutions2. Asking sales people to search for populating company profile and location data is inefficient and prone to errors. Running reports to identify records which do not have company profile and location data is useful, but does not solve the problem of how to populate the missing data. Exporting data out of Salesforce and sending to another team to populate company profile and location data is cumbersome and time-consuming.

Enabling Account de-duplication by creating matching rules in Salesforce, which will mass merge duplicate Accounts, is what UC should do to ensure proper data quality for their Account records. Matching rules allow UC to define how Salesforce identifies duplicate Accounts based on various criteria, such as name, address, phone number, etc. Mass merge allows UC to merge up to 200 duplicate Accounts at a time, based on the matching rules. This simplifies and automates the process of de-duplicating Accounts and improves data quality. The other options are either more time-consuming, costly, or error-prone for ensuring proper data quality.

The two features that a data architect should recommend to share records between Salesforce orgs are:

Change Data Capture (CDC): This is a feature that publishes change events for changes in Salesforce records, such as create, update, delete, and undelete operations. Change events can be subscribed by external systems or other Salesforce orgs using various tools, such as Platform Events, Streaming API, or CometD. CDC can help keep data in sync between Salesforce orgs in near real time89.

Salesforce to Salesforce (S2S): This is a feature that allows sharing records and related data with other Salesforce orgs that you partner with. You can choose which records and fields to share, and which orgs to share with. You can also accept updates from the other orgs to keep the data consistent10.

Salesforce Connect is not a good feature to share records between Salesforce orgs because it is intended for integrating external data sources with Salesforce using external objects. Federation Search is not a good feature to share records between Salesforce orgs because it is intended for searching across multiple Salesforce orgs without sharing data.

 Identifying a location to store archived data and using scheduled batch jobs to migrate and purge the aged data on a nightly basis can be a way to meet the requirements for an archive solution. The article provides a use case of how to use Heroku Connect, Postgres, and Salesforce Connect to archive old data, free up space in the org, and still retain the option to unarchive the data if needed. The article also explains how this solution can improve Salesforce performance and meet data retention policies.

The correct answer is B, data export wizard. The data export wizard is a tool that allows you to export your data in CSV format, schedule the export process to run once per week, and configure the export settings through the Salesforce UI. The data export wizard can handle up to 51 million records per export. The bulk API, third-party ETL tools, and data loader are also tools that can export data, but they are not as simple or user-friendly as the data export wizard.

Running a report that shows the last time the key fields were updated can help Get Cloudy Consulting identify stale or outdated data and prioritize data cleansing activities. Running a report that shows the percentage of blanks for the important fields can help Get Cloudy Consulting measure the completeness of their data and identify gaps or missing value

According to the Using Mashups article on Salesforce Developers, one of the techniques for deploying large data volumes is to use mashups to display historical records in Salesforce. The article states that “Mashups are a way to display data from an external system within a Salesforce page without copying or synchronizing the data. Mashups use a combination of Visualforce, Apex callouts, and JavaScript code that runs in the browser. Mashups are useful when you want to display large amounts of read-only data that is stored outside of Salesforce.” Therefore, a data architect should recommend this solution to meet the business requirement of UC.

According to the exam guide, one of the objectives is to "describe best practices for implementing a single-org strategy in a B2C scenario"1. This implies that option D is the best practice for loading individual consumers as contacts in Salesforce. This approach avoids creating unnecessary accounts and reduces data duplication. Option C is not correct because it creates one account per contact, which increases data volume and complexity. Options A and B are not correct because they do not leverage the standard contact object, which provides native functionality and integration with other Salesforce features.

 Creating a custom object related to the Invoice object with a picklist field for the Type allows the architect to categorize the attachments and report on them by Type. The standard Attachment object does not have a ContentType picklist field, and adding a custom picklist field to it would not be best practice.

To improve the performance of SOQL queries that retrieve data from the Order_c object, the data architect should work with Salesforce Support to enable Skinny Tables and make the queries more selective using indexed fields. Skinny Tables are custom tables that contain frequently used fields and are kept in sync with the base tables3. They can improve performance by reducing the number of table joins and using indexes. Making the queries more selective using indexed fields can also improve performance by reducing the query execution time and avoiding query timeouts4. The other options are not effective or recommended for improving SOQL performance.

Data skew occurs when a large number of child records are associated with a single parent record, or when a single user owns a large number of records. This can cause performance issues and lock contention. To avoid data skew, the data architect should limit assigning one user 10,000 records ownership, limit associating 10,000 opportunities to one account, and limit associating 10,000 records looking up to the same record

Data Loader uses external Id fields to match records in the CSV file with records in Salesforce during an upsert operation. If the CSV file contains duplicate external Id values within the same file, Data Loader will throw an error saying “Duplicate Id Specified” and will not process those records. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the CSV file does not have any duplicate external Id values before using Data Loader to upsert records.

Implicit sharing will automatically handle this sharing requirement with standard functionality, as it grants read-only access to parent accounts when users have access to child opportunities. This is also known as account-opportunity sharing3. Creating a criteria-based sharing rule (option A) or an owner-based sharing rule (option D) is not necessary, as they are used to grant additional access based on record criteria or ownership. Adding appropriate users to the account team (option C) is also not required, as it is used to grant access to specific users or groups for individual accounts.

Using Bulk API to export 1 million records from Salesforce is the best option. Bulk API is a RESTful API that allows you to perform asynchronous operations on large sets of data. You can use Bulk API to create, update, delete, or query millions of records in batches. Bulk API is optimized for performance and scalability, and it can handle complex data loading scenarios.

Importing Account records first followed by order records after sorting orders by AccountID is the recommended way to avoid locking issues during import. This can reduce the number of lock contention errors by minimizing the number of parent records that are concurrently processed by multiple batches. Sorting orders by AccountID can also group the child records by their parent records and avoid updating the same parent record in different batches3. Importing Account records first followed by order records after sorting order by OrderID will not help with avoiding locking issues because it does not group the child records by their parent records. Changing the relationship to Lookup and updating the relationship to master-detail after import will not work because changing a relationship from Lookup to master-detail requires that all child records have a parent record, which may not be the case after import. Importing Order records and Account records separately and populating AccountID in orders using batch Apex will not help with avoiding locking issues because it still requires updating the parent records in batches.

The best Salesforce Shield capabilities for the customer are to restrict access to SF from users outside specific geography, implement transaction security policies to prevent export of SF data, and encrypt sensitive customer information maintained in SF. Salesforce Shield is a set of security features that help protect enterprise data on the Salesforce platform. It includes three components: Event Monitoring, Platform Encryption, and Field Audit Trail. Restricting access to SF from users outside specific geography can be done using network-based security features, such as IP whitelisting or VPN. Transaction security policies can be used to define actions or notifications based on user behavior patterns, such as exporting data or logging in from an unknown device. Platform Encryption can be used to encrypt data at rest using a tenant secret key that is controlled by the customer.

According to the official Salesforce guide1, big objects are designed to store and manage massive data volumes within Salesforce without affecting performance. They can be queried by using Async SOQL or standard SOQL, and they can be accessed by using Apex, Visualforce, Lightning components, or APIs. Big objects are ideal for storing data that is used for analytics or reporting purposes, such as the reward program data. Option A is the correct answer because it allows NTO to create a custom big object in Salesforce that can store the reward program data and make it available for consumption by Einstein Analytics and Discovery. Option B is incorrect because Einstein cannot connect directly to the point of sales system to capture the reward program data. Option C is incorrect because Einstein Analytics does not support creating big objects. Option D is incorrect because custom objects are not suitable for storing large volumes of data.

Shield platform encryption is the recommended solution for encrypting sensitive patient records stored in files, as it provides encryption at rest for files and attachments, as well as standard and custom fields. Classic encryption only supports text fields with a maximum length of 175 characters, and does not encrypt files. Third-party App Exchange apps may not provide the same level of security and compliance as shield platform encryption. Storing files outside of salesforce may introduce additional complexity and latency

Before replicating the data from Heroku Postgres to Salesforce, the data architect should consider the following factors:

Whether the data is a driver of key processes implemented within Salesforce. For example, if the data is used for workflows, triggers, or validation rules, it should be replicated to Salesforce.

Whether there is a tight relationship between order data and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application. For example, if the order data needs to be synchronized with the ERP system, it should be replicated to Salesforce.

The selection of the tool required to replicate the data. For example, Heroku Connect can be used to bi-directionally sync data between Heroku Postgres and Salesforce

  Master data management (MDM) is a solution that helps organizations manage their master data across multiple systems and ensure consistency and quality. An MDM solution can act as the customer master, with centralized integrations to other systems, to avoid data duplication and inconsistency.

To build a custom big object to support storing more than 100 million records in Salesforce, a data architect should use Metadata API or Big Object in setup. Metadata API is an API that allows developers to create, retrieve, update, or delete metadata components in Salesforce programmatically. Big Object in setup is a user interface that allows admins to create big objects declaratively without writing code. Both tools can be used to define custom big objects and their fields, indexes, and relationships in Salesforce. Option A is incorrect because DX (Developer Experience) is a set of tools that allows developers to create and manage applications on Salesforce Platform, but it does not support creating big objects directly. Option D is incorrect because Object Manager in setup is a user interface that allows admins to create and manage standard and custom objects in Salesforce, but it does not support creating big objects declaratively.

 Creating validation rules to check if the required attributes are entered is the best option to mandate this when customers are created in Salesforce. Validation rules allow you to specify criteria that must be met before a record can be saved. You can use validation rules to ensure that customers have a first name, last name, and email when they are created in Salesforce. This way, you can prevent incomplete or invalid data from being sent to your MDM solution.

Persistence is the data pattern that will allow a data architect to satisfy the requirements, while also keeping limits in mind. Persistence means storing data from external sources in Salesforce objects, either standard or custom. This allows you to access the data within Salesforce and use it for reporting, analytics, workflows, and other features. Persistence also helps you avoid hitting API limits or performance issues when accessing large volumes of data from external systems. You can use various tools such as Data Loader, Bulk API, or Platform Events to persist IoT data from connected devices to a cloud database in Salesforce.

A data dictionary is a document that describes the structure, format, and meaning of data entities and attributes. A common technique to build a data dictionary is to use an entity relationship diagram (ERD), which shows the logical relationships between objects and fields in a graphical way. Another technique is to use the Salesforce Metadata API, which allows you to retrieve and deploy the metadata that defines your Salesforce org

 Creating the users, uploading all data, and then deploying the sharing rules will reduce the number of sharing recalculations that occur during the data load. Deferring sharing calculations until the data has finished uploading will also improve the performance by postponing the sharing rule evaluation. These are the recommended best practices for loading large data sets into Salesforce

According to Trailhead2, Customer 360 Data Manager is a feature that allows administrators to connect, reconcile, and share customer data across Salesforce orgs and external systems. Customer 360 Data Manager can sync product and pricing information from product master database to Salesforce using predefined mappings and rules, ensuring data quality and consistency. Option D is the correct answer because it suggests using Customer 360 Data Manager to sync product and pricing information from product master database to Salesforce. Option A is incorrect because building a custom integration for two-way sync of product and pricing information between product master and Salesforce can introduce data conflicts and duplication issues, as both systems can update the same data independently. Option B is incorrect because building a custom integration for one-way sync of product and pricing information from product master to Salesforce can be costly and time-consuming, as it requires custom development and maintenance. Option C is incorrect because implementing a manual process to update the products from an extract from the products master on a weekly basis can result in data latency and errors, as the products information may change more frequently than once a week.

The correct answer is B, use data classification metadata fields available in field definition. Data classification metadata fields are standard fields that allow you to classify the sensitivity level of your data based on your organization’s policies. You can use these fields to indicate whether a field contains confidential, restricted, or general data. These fields are available for both standard and custom objects in Salesforce. Using app exchange products, creating a custom picklist field, or building reports would not be as effective or consistent as using data classification metadata fields.

Using the Consent Management Feature to validate consent provided under the person Account and Contact that is provided by the customer (option C) is the best option to implement these requirements, as it allows UC to store and manage consent preferences for Person Accounts and Contacts using native Salesforce features and tools. Configuring custom fields in Person Account and Contact to store consent provided by customers and validate consent against the fields (option A) or building Custom object to store consent information in Person Account and Contact and validate against this object before contacting customers (option B) are not good options, as they may require more customization and maintenance effort, and they do not leverage the existing Data Protection and Privacy feature. Deleting contact information from customers who have declined consent to be contacted (option D) is also not a good option, as it may cause data loss or compliance issues, and it does not allow UC to track or update consent preferences.

Pre-go-live automated page-load testing against the Salesforce Full sandbox can help identify and resolve any performance bottlenecks or issues before deploying the solution to production. The Full sandbox is an ideal environment for performance testing as it replicates the production org in terms of data, metadata, and integrations. Stress testing against the web services hosted by the integration middleware can also help evaluate the scalability and reliability of the integration solution under high load conditions.

To allow only the owner of a contact record to delete that contact, the data architect should create a “before delete” trigger to check if the current user is not the owner. The trigger can use the UserInfo.getUserId() method to get the current user’s ID and compare it with the OwnerId field of the contact record. If they are not equal, the trigger can add an error to the record and prevent it from being deleted. The other options are not suitable for meeting the requirements, as they would either restrict the edit access or delete access for all users, regardless of ownership.

The Individual object is a standard object that lets you store details about data privacy and protection preferences for person accounts, contacts, users, and leads. The Individual object can be used to implement a standard communication preference management model for NTO, with relationships to the other objects.

 Patients as Person Accounts, Payment providers as Accounts, & Doctors as Person Accounts is the optimal selection by the data architect to map the actor to Salesforce objects. This is because Person Accounts are a special type of accounts that can store both business and personal information for individual customers. Payment providers are organizations that pay for the care of patients, so they can be modeled as Accounts. Doctors are also individuals who provide care plans for patients and need access to patient information, so they can also be modeled as Person Accounts.

 The Data Architect should consider the limitations on Org data storage and the Bulk API limitations on picklist fields when denormalizing the data model into a single Transaction object with a Branch Office picklist. The Org data storage limit is the total amount of data that can be stored in a Salesforce Org, and it depends on the edition and license type of the Org1. The Bulk API limit on picklist fields is the maximum number of values that can be imported or exported using the Bulk API, and it is 1,000 values per picklist field2. These limitations could affect the performance and scalability of the data model, and the Data Architect should plan accordingly.

 Making sure the query does not contain NULL in any filter criteria can avoid full table scans and leverage indexes more efficiently. Queries with NULL filters are not selective and can cause performance issues. Creating custom indexes on the fields used in the filter criteria can also enhance the query performance by reducing the number of records to scan.

Doing client-side validation of phone number and email field formats and preferring picklist form fields over free text fields, where possible, are two techniques that will help maintain a high level of data quality when designing forms that create Lead records in Salesforce using the REST API. Client-side validation can ensure that the input data is in the correct format and prevent errors or invalid values from being submitted. Picklist form fields can provide a predefined set of values for the users to choose from and avoid typos or inconsistencies in the data.

Creating an external object Invoice_x with a Lookup relationship with Opportunity is the best option for modeling invoices, considering performance and data storage space. An external object allows the data to be stored in the ERP system and accessed via OData in Salesforce. This reduces the data storage consumption in Salesforce and improves the performance of queries and reports. A Lookup relationship allows the sales reps to view the invoice status and amount from the opportunity page. The other options would either consume more data storage space, require additional customization, or not provide real-time data access

Leveraging a “tier”-based approach to classify the record storage need is a true statement with respect to a data archiving strategy for UC. This approach involves defining different tiers of data based on their usage, value, and retention policies, and then applying appropriate storage and archiving solutions for each tier.

Creating a custom lookup field on the standard Product to reference the parent record in the hierarchy is the correct way to modify the standard Product object model to support a hierarchical data structure. This allows UC to create a self-relationship on the Product object and define parent-child relationships among products.

The correct answer is C, leverage Salesforce Connect to bring the order line item from the legacy system to Salesforce. Salesforce Connect is a feature that allows you to integrate external data sources with Salesforce and access them in real time without copying or synchronizing the data. This way, the sales team can view the order status from the ERP system without having access to it. Leveraging Canvas, building batch jobs, or building real-time integration are also possible solutions, but they are more complex and costly than using Salesforce Connect.

According to the exam guide, one of the objectives is to "describe the use cases and considerations for using AppExchange apps and Wave Analytics"1. This implies that options A and B are both valid approaches to provide more analytical insights. Option C is not correct because weekly snapshots are used to track changes over time, not to provide advanced analytics3. Option D is not correct because setup audit trails are used to monitor changes in the setup menu, not to provide analytical insights.

Exploring external data sources in Salesforce to build 360 view of customer is the best strategy to satisfy the requirement, as it allows real-time access to data from other systems without storing it in Salesforce3. Using a customer data mart may not provide real-time information or may require additional integration efforts. Migrating customer activities from all 4 systems into Salesforce may exceed the storage limits or cause data quality issues. Periodically uploading summary information in Salesforce may not provide current or detailed information.

The three characteristics of a Skinny table that help improve report and query performance are: Skinny tables can contain frequently used fields and thereby help avoid joins. Skinny tables are kept in sync with changes to data in the source tables. Skinny tables do not include records that are available in the recycle bin. These characteristics are beneficial because they reduce the query complexity and execution time, and improve the data accuracy and freshness. For example, skinny tables can contain frequently used fields from multiple objects, such as Account and Contact, and thereby help avoid joins that can slow down queries4. Skinny tables are updated automatically when the source tables are modified, so they always reflect the latest data5. Skinny tables do not include records that are available in the recycle bin, so they only contain active records that are relevant for reports and queries.