B2B-Solution-Architect Questions and Answers

To ensure high adoption by the call center team and maintain consistency in their experience, providing direct access to B2B Commerce data, such as customer carts, within the Service Console is essential. This approach allows agents to view relevant B2B Commerce information seamlessly within their familiar Service Console environment, enabling efficient issue resolution and enhancing customer support. This solution leverages the integrated capabilities of Salesforce to unify customer data across platforms, aligning with best practices for a cohesive user experience and efficient service delivery.

 This type of license allowsexternal users to access standard Salesforce objects such as accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities, and cases. It also enables them to collaborate with UCemployees and other partners on joint sales and service processes34.

The Solution Architect should recommend a Partner Community license for this requirement. This license is designed for external partners and allows them to access and interact with Salesforce data and features, including submitting and viewing cases and tracking opportunities. Additionally, the Partner Community license includes the ability to create and view dashboards within the community.

https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=users_license_types_communities.htm &language=en_US&type=5

For partners to log and view cases as well as track opportunities, and view dashboards within the community, the Partner Community license is the appropriate choice. This license is designed for partner relationships and provides the necessary access to Salesforce objects and functionality needed for these tasks. Salesforce's licensing guide outlines the features available with the Partner Community license, supporting this recommendation.

Appointment Assistant lets Field Service customers book, confirm, reschedule, or cancel theirupcoming appointments. For Self-Service Scheduling, you only need one license per org assigned to one user. You can also customize the look and feel of your self-service scheduling pages and embed them into your Experience Cloud site.

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.

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.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is the system of record for the sales process because it contains information about opportunities and opportunity products, which are used for forecasting and reporting. It also integrates with other clouds such as B2B Commerce and CPQ to support the cart-to-quote process.

https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=icx_b2c_crosscloudengagement_systems_of_record.htm &language=en_US&type=5

In the described sales process, Salesforce Sales Cloud serves as the system of record. This is because the overall pipeline, including opportunities and opportunity products, which are central to forecasting and sales management, is managed within Sales Cloud. While CPQ and B2B Commerce play crucial roles in quoting and online purchasing respectively, and the ERP system houses product and primary pricing information, it is Sales Cloud that integrates these elements to provide a comprehensive view of the sales pipeline and performance. This alignment with sales processes makes Sales Cloud the authoritative source for sales-related data and activities, aligning with Salesforce's best practices for sales management and forecasting.

Salesforce CPQ is an extension of the Salesforce CRM that automates the generation and processing of quotes, orders, and contracts. It enables your sales team to create quotes quickly and with minimal errors and efforts.

Salesforce CPQ can be integrated with ERP systems by converting Salesforce CPQ lead-to-order data into transactional data. This allows ERP systems to take over matching data and use it for accounting functions.

an external ETL tool can be used to batch load the records into Salesforce from the ERP system. This can handle large amounts of records that need to be updated sporadically or on a monthly basis.

https://www.rapidionline.com/blog/salesforce-cpq-data-integration-increase-sales

https://www.salesforce.com/products/cpq/resources/what-is-salesforce-cpq/

Given the sporadic nature of updates and potentially large volumes of records that need to be updated in Salesforce, using an external ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool to batch load records is the most efficient strategy. ETL tools are designed to handle large data volumes and can schedule batch loads during off-peak hours to minimize the impact on system performance. This strategy aligns with Salesforce's own recommendations for handling bulk data operations, as documented in Salesforce's Bulk API Developer Guide.

For Universal Containers (UC), maintaining the system of record (SOR) for all orders in the ERP Order Object is the most strategic approach, especially given the ERP's role in fulfillment and invoicing. This ensures that the ERP remains the authoritative source for order data, providing a single point of truth for financial transactions and order management. Integrating Salesforce clouds with the ERP allows for seamless data flow and operational efficiency, supporting UC's digital transformation goals while leveraging the ERP's robust capabilities for order processing and financial management.

Option B would involve advising thecustomer to use the out-of-the-box approach to avoid unnecessary technical debt. This would mean using the existing Salesforce product that meets their business requirements instead of developing a custom extension that replicates its functionality. Thiswould save time, money, and resources for both the customer and the Solution Architect, as well as reduce maintenance and support issues in the future2.

Option D would involve evaluating the business benefit of the requested functionality to see if it justifies investment in the Salesforce product. This would mean analyzing how much value and return on investment (ROI) the customer would get fromusing the Salesforce product versus developing a custom extension. This would help them make an informed decision based on their business goals and budget3.

During the discovery workshop for Salesforce Field Service, consulting with the Field Service Manager, Business Analyst, and Field Service Agent is essential. The Field Service Manager provides insight into operational needs and challenges, the Business Analyst contributes an understanding of technical requirements and process optimizations, and the Field Service Agent offers a frontline perspective on service delivery and customer interactions. Involving these stakeholders ensures that the solution architect gathers comprehensive insights into the service operations, aligning the Salesforce Field Service implementation with the actual needs and workflows of the organization, consistent with Salesforce's best practices for stakeholder engagement in discovery sessions.

Deactivating products in Salesforce aligns with the ERP's status, maintaining data integrity without losing historical data. Marking related Opportunity and Quote data as inactive preserves historical records for reference without affecting active reporting, ensuring compliance with data retention policies and supporting accurate data analysis and decision-making.

The "Jobs To Be Done Framework" is a method that focuses on understanding customer needs in specific contexts and situations. This approach is ideal for UC to gain comprehensive insights into what kinds of business outcomes the customers want to achieve. It goes beyond mere feature requests and digs into the underlying goals and challenges customers face, which can be more enlightening for solution design than surveys or user story creation alone. The framework is recognized for its effectiveness in uncovering the real jobs customers are hiring products and services to do.

Establishing a robust Governance and Monitoring structure is essential for sustaining the long-term success of a Salesforce implementation. A Steering Committee provides strategic oversight and decision-making, ensuring that the project remains aligned with business objectives. A Center of Excellence (CoE) fosters best practices, innovation, and continuous improvement across all Salesforce clouds and functionalities. A Data Governance Council ensures data quality, security, and compliance. This comprehensive governance framework supports effective change management, promotes cross-functional collaboration, and ensures that the Salesforce ecosystem evolves in a controlled and strategic manner, consistent with Salesforce's recommendations for maintaining a healthy and effective Salesforce environment.

journey mapping is a process that helps understand and improve the customer experience across different touchpoints and channels. Journey mapping can help formulatethe high-level business vision and desired business outcomes by:

• Identifying the customer segments, personas, needs, goals, and pain points
• Mapping out the current state of the customer journey across different stages and channels
• Analyzing the gaps,opportunities, and risks in the current state
• Envisioning the future state of the customer journey that meets or exceeds customer expectations
• Aligning the future state with the business objectives, value proposition, and success metrics
• Prioritizing and planning the initiatives and solutions that will enable the future state

https://trailhead.salesforce.com/credentials/architectoverview

When evaluating B2B Commerce or CPQ for partners via Experience Cloud, the Solution Architect should ask:

• B. Does the direct Sales team co-sell with partners or sell to partners in this new channel model?This question helps to understand the relationship between the direct Sales team and the partners, which impacts how CPQ is set up and used.
• C. Do partners need to do complex configurations or create their special pricing?This will determine if CPQ's advanced configuration and pricing capabilities are necessary for the partners, which may not be as effectively supported by B2B Commerce alone.

Understanding the sales process and the complexity of transactions is crucial to deciding whether CPQ or B2B Commerce is the right tool for partners, as described in Salesforce documentation for both CPQ and B2B Commerce.

For Widgets Wonderful's needs, the Solution Architect should suggest:

• A. Salesforce Field Service and Service Cloud for Salesforce CPQ will need to be installed and customizations will need to be made to handle Entitlements.This addresses the complex products and warranties, ensuring that the quoting process on-site can accommodate the specific SLAs.
• B. Purchase 30 CPQ licenses and 10 Salesforce Field Service licenses.This matches the licensing to the user needs, ensuring all sales representatives and field service team members have the necessary access to create quotes and view field service objects.

Salesforce documentation on CPQ and Field Service licenses provides information on how to configure these systems for complex products and services, including warranties and SLAs.

According to 1, a single source of truth (SSOT) is the practice of aggregating the data from many systems within an organization to a single location. A SSOT is not a system, tool, or strategy, but rather a state of being for a company’s data in that it can all be found via a single reference point.

According to 2, 3 and 4, Salesforce has introduced the Customer360 Truth Platform, which includes MuleSoft. This is a new set of data and identity services that enable companies to build a single source of truth across all of their customer relationships. This connects data from all Salesforce clouds to create a single view of the customer.

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is an integration platform that allows companies to connect any application, data source or device using APIs. MuleSoft enables companies to leverage their existing systems and data sources without havingto replace them or create custom integrations.

Integrating the existing third-party survey tool with Salesforce, specifically linking survey responses to Service Appointment and Service Resource records, enables UC to track customer satisfaction effectively. This approach leverages the existing survey infrastructure, minimizes disruption, and provides a direct correlation between technician performance and customer feedback. It aligns with Salesforce's capabilities for integrating external data and utilizing it within the CRM to enhance service management and improve customer satisfaction insights.

Sales Cloud provides the CRM capabilities needed to track opportunities and sales processes, B2B Commerce provides the platform for partners to make bulk purchases, and Partner Relationship Management (PRM) enables the management of partner relationships, including offering discounts for large purchases and providing reports to partners. This integrated solution meets all of UC’s requirements for sales, bulk purchasing, and partner management. Salesforce documentation supports the use of PRM alongside Sales Cloud and B2B Commerce for managing complex partner relationships and sales processes.

• Experience Cloud2. This way, you can create a service-focused community for your customers using Experience Cloud Sites. You can also customize the look and feel of your community and integrate it with other Salesforce products and features.
• Omni-Channel with defined presence, routing configurations, and Service Channels3. This way, you can manage your service agents’ availability and workload across different communication channels such as email, phone, and chat. You can also use service channels to define which objects and records are routed to your agents using Omni-Channel.
• Customer Community with Live Agent23. This way, you can enable chat support for your customers in the community using Live Agent. You can also configure chat buttons, invitations, pre-chat forms, and other settings for Live Agent.

• 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.

For UC's digital transformation and adoption of Agile methodology, ensuring smooth and timely releases is crucial. The recommended practices are:

• B. Create a regular sprint cadence across the different teams to demonstrate new functionality.Establishing a consistent rhythm for sprints helps align team efforts, ensures regular progress reviews, and facilitates the integration of new features. It fosters collaboration and keeps the project on track.
• C. Use the last sprint of the release to stabilize it and eliminate identified issues.Dedicating the final sprint to stabilization and issue resolution is a best practice in Agile methodologies. It allows the team to focus on quality assurance, performance testing, and user feedback, ensuring that the release is robust and meets user expectations.

Salesforce and Agile methodology guides, such as those found on Salesforce Trailhead and in Agile development literature, emphasize the importance of regular cadences and stabilization phases for successful project delivery and continuous improvement.

A Salesforce Center of Excellence (COE) is a centralized division within your company that oversees and manages all aspects of the Salesforce instance, including projects, maintenance, and support12. A COE acts as a central governing body for the entire organization and funnels all decision making and product ownership through a single group2. By creating a COE, you can ensure that all development decisions will be made by internal resourceswho have direct relationships with stakeholders throughout the company12.

Another benefit of creating a COE is that knowledge of the solution will stay within the organization3. A COE provides leadership, best practices, research, support and training for Salesforce3. By having an internal team that is responsible for implementing and maintaining the solution, you can avoid relying on external vendors or consultants who may not have your best interests at heart or who may leave after the project is done4.

https://trailheadacademy.salesforce.com/classes/arc801-Design-and-implement-b2b-multi-cloud-solutions

According to 1, this is a recommended approach to design domain-specific, multi-cloud solutions using Customer 360 to create frictionless B2B customer experiences that maximize business value. Sales Cloud can help UC manage its field sales and contracts, CPQ can help UC automate its quoting and pricing processes, and B2B Commerce can help UC deliver a seamless ecommerce experience for its customers across digital platforms.

There are different types of performance testing, such as load testing, stress testing, endurance testing, and spike testing. Each type has a different purpose and goal.

the best type of performance testing is API load test against the full copy sandbox before go live. This type of test can help you evaluate how well your integrations handle high volumes of data and transactions from multiple sources. It can also help you validate the functionality and performance of your MuleSoft Anypoint Platform.

To perform an API load test, you need to create a test plan thatdefines the test scenarios, test data, test tools, and test metrics. You also need to submit a request for performance testing to Salesforce2 and follow their guidelines and best practices.

A full copy sandbox is a good environment for API load test because it has the same data and metadata as your production org. This can help you simulate realistic conditions and avoid data skew issues.

When dealing with large volumes of data and multiple integrations, it is important to perform load testing to ensure that the system can handle the expected load. An API load test against the full copy sandbox will simulate the expected load and help identify any performancebottlenecks before the system goes live in production. This type of testing should be performed prior to go live to ensure that the system can handle the expected load and provide a good user experience.

there are two possible approaches for Salesforce org strategy: single-org and multi-org. Each approach has its pros and cons depending on the business needs, technology capabilities, governance policies, and operational requirements of the organization.

The best recommendation for the CIO is to prioritize completing an in-depth org strategy analysis, focused on the Business, Technology, Governance, and Operations requirements at SharpField. This should include an assessment of the newly acquired company and any other acquisitions that SharpField is considering. Additionally, the Solution Architect should recommend a single-org strategy and the development of strict processes for all acquired companies to follow. This will ensure that the Salesforce environment is organized, integrated, and secure. Finally, the Solution Architect should recommend the development of required integration layers to move the required shared data between instances of any and all acquired Salesforce instances.

https://www.salesforce.org/blog/develop-a-salesforce-org-strategy-to-achieve-a-unified-experience/

• Leverage Shield Event Monitoring and MuleSoft to provide monitoring data to the third-party monitoring and alerting solution that’s already in place at P&C Hardware2. This option can help P&C Hardware leverage their existing investment andexpertise in their cloud-based monitoring tool, while integrating it with Shield Event Monitoring and MuleSoft to capture and analyze performance data from their Salesforce technology stack.
• Leverage Shield Event Monitoring in combination with the CRM Analytics Event Monitoring app as a simple out-of-the-box solution3. This option can help P&C Hardware quickly set up a performance monitoring dashboard using pre-built reports and dashboards from the CRM Analytics Event Monitoring app, which can be installed from AppExchange. This app can provide insights into useractivity, adoption, performance issues, security risks, and more.

https://trailhead.salesforce.com/credentials/architectoverview