When synchronizing product and price data between Salesforce CPQ and B2B Commerce using the

CPQ B2B Commerce Connector, it's important to understand its capabilities and limitations. The

connector is designed to sync simple products with straightforward pricing structures, but it does not

support the synchronization of complex CPQ bundles that involve multiple components and pricing

rules. This limitation requires careful planning around product catalog management and may

necessitate custom solutions or workarounds for complex product offerings, aligning with

Salesforce's documentation and best practices for using the CPQ B2B Commerce Connector.

Platform Events are a Salesforce-nativefeature that enable apps to communicate inside and outside

of Salesforce using an event-driven messaging architecture. An event producer creates an event and

adds it onto the event bus, which operates as a queue with a strict chronological order. An

eventconsumer subscribes to an event and gets notified when the event is put onto the event bus.

According to 3, Platform Events can be used to defineand manage custom notifications within the

Salesforce platform and in external apps. They can also be used to integrate Salesforce with external

systems and devices in near real-time.

Therefore, a Solution Architect should suggest utilizing Platform Eventsbased on the devices’ state

change. This way, UC can connect the data from the smart devices to Salesforce in a scalable and

reliable manner, without having to poll or query for changes constantly. UC can also use Platform

Events to trigger workflows or actions based on the device status, such as creating a case, sending an

email, or ordering a replacement part.

https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.enus.platform_events.meta/platform_events/platform_events_intro.htm

External objects are similar to custom objects but they map to data that’s stored outside

Salesforce. Salesforce Connect uses external data sources to access data that’s stored outside your

Salesforce organization1. This way, UC can comply with data residency requirements and avoid

datastorage issues.

Salesforce Connect allows Salesforce to seamlessly integrate with data that is external to the

Salesforce platform, which in this case is the legacy CRM and ERP applications. External objects

provide a real-time view of this external data,allowing UC to view and report on it as if it were stored

natively in Salesforce, without actually storing it in Salesforce.

Reference: Salesforce B2B Commerce Implementation Guide - Salesforce Connect for External Data

Salesforce Connect allows for the integration of external data in real-time without storing it in

Salesforce, using external objects which function like standard Salesforce objects. This would meet

UC’s need to view and report on Invoice, Order, and Inventory data on-demand, adhering to data

residency requirements. Salesforce Connect is designed for such scenarios, offering a solution that

avoids data storage within Salesforce while providing access to external data as if it were native. This

is in line with Salesforce's best practices for external data integration.

A Solution Architecture Diagram shows the high-level view of the solution components and how they

relate to each other. It also shows the key business capabilities and objectives thatthe solution

supports. It does not go into too much detail about the technical implementation or configuration of

each component.

A Solution Architecture Diagram can help you communicate the vision and strategy of your multi-

cloud solution to the businessexecutives and stakeholders at a high level without overwhelming

them with too much technical information.

https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/innovation_solution/innovation_solution_

build_business

When setting up a program roadmap for a digital redesign program like the one Universal Containers

(UC) is initiating, it's crucial to align the program with the overall business goals, understand the

capacity of key teams, and prioritize customer-facing transformations. Therefore:

A) Identify the high-level workload capacity and planning of the IT and Legal teams. This step is

essential to ensure that the IT and Legal teams can support the program, considering their current

workload and the additional responsibilities that the Salesforce implementation will bring, especially

in terms of integrating existing systems and ensuring GDPR compliance.

D) Prioritize the transformation of activities related to customers' interactions. Given UC's objective

to improve its relationship with customers, focusing on transforming customer-facing processes first

will have the most immediate and significant impact. This approach aligns with Salesforce's emphasis

on customer relationship management.

E) Explain how the program contributes to the business's goals. Linking the digital redesign program

to the broader business objectives of UC ensures that the initiative has clear strategic value and

helps in securing buy-in from stakeholders across the organization.

Reference for these points can be found in Salesforce's own documentation on best practices for

digital transformation and program management, such as the Salesforce Implementation Guide and

resources available on the Salesforce Trailhead platform.

Examine the details of the current configuration to see how it is set up2. This way, you can get a clear picture of what features and functionalities are being used, how they are configured, and how they support the business processes. You can also identify any technical debt, customizations,or integrations that may impact performance or scalability. Work with the system administrator to identify who has the most knowledge of the current configuration2. This way, you can leverage their expertise and experience to understand how the system works and why it was designed that way. You can also get their feedback on any issues or challenges they face with maintaining or updating the system. https://trailhead.salesforce.com/credentials/b2bsolutionarchitect

For optimal performance and data access control, the Solution Architect should:

A) Use profiles and/or permission sets to give View All access to Customer Service on the Contact

object. This allows Customer Service to access the necessary contact information while maintaining

the principle of least privilege.

D) For each Account, assign Sales Contacts to the Sales team and all the rest to a Customer Service

representative assigned to the Account. This approach ensures that each team has access to the

relevant contacts while keeping private information secure and maintaining system performance by

minimizing complex sharing rules.

Salesforce’s documentation on sharing and visibility best practices recommends such strategies to

manage access to records efficiently and securely.

https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/credentials/sharingandvisibilityarchitect

For UC's requirements, mastering Product and Pricing data in CPQ is optimal due to CPQ's robust

pricing and discounting capabilities, which align with UC's goal to expand its catalog and utilize

advanced discounting. Integrating this data into B2B Commerce via Apex ensures seamless data flow

and real-time updates, essential for maintaining consistent product information across platforms.

Middleware integration with the ERP facilitates complex data synchronization and process

orchestration, handling diverse data formats and protocols, thus supporting the end-to-end order

fulfillment process efficiently.

To avoid issues related to system performance and ensure the scalability of Salesforce solutions, it's

crucial to manage technical debt and thoroughly test new features in a controlled environment. A

sandbox provides a safe space for testing, allowing UC to simulate the impact of changes without

affecting the production environment. This practice helps in identifying potential issues and resolving

them before they can impact end-users.

Salesforce's documentation on best practices for managing technical debt and the use of sandboxes

for testing provides guidance on these processes, emphasizing the importance of a proactive

approach to system maintenance and feature testing.

https://admin.salesforce.com/blog/2021/tech-debt-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-care

CPQ license2. This way, you can use Salesforce CPQ (Configure Price Quote) to automate complex

quoting processes and apply discounts based on product and account attributes. You can also use

CPQ approval rules to trigger approval requests for additional discounts and resubmit them to

previous approvers.

Price Rules2. This way, you can use CPQ price rules to calculate discounts automatically on quote

lines based on conditions and formulas. You can also use price actions to update quote line fields

with discount values.