Explore the Legacy Coexistence Story
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Explain the three primary IT integration strategies (native, replace, and coexist) for an enterprise.
- Describe how a headless Agentforce IT Service implementation layers on top of an existing IT service management (ITSM) to deflect tier-0 and tier-1 requests.
- Identify key questions an admin should consider when evaluating a replace-or-coexist strategy.
When ITSM Is Already in the Room
In the previous unit, you discovered how MuleSoft for Flow connectors empower your AI agents to take action in external systems. Now, let’s examine a real-world scenario where this architecture truly shines.
Imagine you’re an IT admin at Orivian Global Holdings, a diverse international conglomerate with operations across multiple industries. Because of its vast size and varied business needs, Orivian uses three distinct ITSM strategies across its divisions.
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Native: Orivian EduTech is a full Salesforce ITSM shop, running natively on Agentforce.
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Replace: Orivian BioSolutions is in the middle of migrating off their legacy ITSM platform.
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Coexist: Orivian HealthSystems manages sensitive patient data and complex medical IT systems. Due to strict healthcare compliance workflows, their (hypothetical) legacy platform, Knowledge & Network Operations Ticketing System (KNOTS), is embedded in their operations. They can’t replace it overnight, so their strategy is to frontend it for starters and reevaluate later.
Whether an organization is starting fresh, migrating, or layering on top of a legacy system, Agentforce IT Service provides the flexibility to support them all. It’s a win-win-win!
Let’s focus on that coexist story. Right now, the HealthSystems IT team is stretched thin by a massive volume of manual tier-0 (self-service resolution) and tier-1 (basic help desk support for common issues like password resets) requests that are routed through KNOTS.
Understanding Escalation Tiers and Levels
When an issue requires deeper investigation beyond basic tier-1 support, it’s escalated to tier 2+. While IT support tiers vary by enterprise, these higher tiers are commonly referred to as Level 2 (L2) and Level 3 (L3) support, representing the specialized IT staff or advanced engineering teams who handle complex system resolutions.
Ticket backlogs are piling up, and operations are tied up in KNOTS. They need a solution that reduces manual work without replacing their system of record.
How Agentforce IT Service Layers on Top
Rather than attempting to replace KNOTS overnight, Orivian HealthSystems deploys Agentforce IT Service as an agentic front layer. Think of it as the ultimate front door to IT support.
But how does this work? Agentforce IT Service is headless, meaning its presentation layer (the UI and employee experience) is decoupled from the backend system of record. This API-first design works with almost any ITSM platform. From a programmatic standpoint, this means your employees no longer have to navigate complex menus or fill out clunky forms—the AI agent interacts with the data behind the scenes.
This decoupled approach delivers a massive dual benefit.
- It frees your employees from clunky legacy interfaces by meeting them in the channels they already use.
- It empowers your AI agents to efficiently deflect tickets and orchestrate workflows without being constrained by the legacy system’s limitations.
Here’s how Agentforce IT Service layered approach works.
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Deflection: Employees submit requests via Slack or Microsoft Teams. The AI agent instantly handles tier-0 and tier-1 deflection, resolving simple issues while bypassing KNOTS.
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Action: When an escalation or formal compliance record is required, the prebuilt MuleSoft for Flow connector automatically passes the tier-2+ issue to the backend.
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Audit: Customers can choose to log a ticket for audit trail purposes in the legacy system.
The best part? You can go live with this front-layer deflection strategy quickly and achieve an immediate, measurable reduction in your ticket backlog.
Replace or Coexist? A Practical Framework
When you evaluate how to introduce Agentforce IT Service into an established environment, you have three paths. Review this practical framework to help guide your strategy.
Approach |
When to Choose It |
Key Considerations |
|---|---|---|
Native Salesforce |
Your organization is starting fresh or is already heavily invested in the Salesforce ecosystem. |
Delivers the most unified experience with zero external integration overhead. |
Replace |
Your organization is ready for a full, end-to-end transformation. |
This is a full migration where your legacy platform is decommissioned over time. |
Coexist (frontend) |
You want to reduce risk and achieve faster ROI (return on investment). |
The legacy platform remains your system of record while Agentforce IT Service acts as the deflection layer. This is the recommended starting point for most complex enterprises. |
As you plan your integration, ask yourself these key questions.
- Which requests can our AI agents deflect without ever touching our legacy ITSM platform?
- Which specific escalations must be routed to the legacy system for compliance?
- Is the prebuilt API-first connector sufficient for our needs, or do we need to build custom logic?
Wrap It Up
Congratulations! You’ve just completed your tour of the integration basics for Agentforce IT Service. You started your journey by exploring the two-layer integration model that separates your frontend employee channels from your backend systems. Then, you discovered how to meet employees where they work using Slack, Microsoft Teams, and the Employee Services Portal.
You examined the MuleSoft for Flow connectors that power your agent actions. And finally, you learned how a headless Agentforce IT Service implementation can layer on top of an existing legacy system—like KNOTS—to instantly deflect tier-0 and tier-1 requests.
You now have the conceptual confidence and the practical framework to evaluate your own organization’s integration strategy. To take the next step and put these tools into action, check out the linked resources.