Learn About Integration Patterns and Designs
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe what an integration pattern is.
- Identify the different integration patterns.
Before You Start
In this module, you learn how to evaluate integration patterns for Salesforce Lightning Platform. Evaluating integration patterns is a foundational skill for architects. Heroku and Mulesoft integration patterns are not included in this module.
This module assumes that you’re familiar with Salesforce Lightning Platform connectors and services. Before starting this module, make sure you complete the following badges. The concepts here build on the concepts you learn in these badges.
The information in this module is complex. We recommend that you read each section carefully and complete each unit before continuing onto the next one.
Introduction
In today’s technology landscape, architects are often tasked with designing an integration strategy that includes integrating legacy systems with new technologies. An integration strategy is a roadmap that identifies the steps it takes to reach your integration goals. Designing an integration strategy requires experience with and knowledge about available solutions. As an architect, you need to consider available options and you sometimes have to make difficult choices that affect the rest of the design.
What Are Integration Patterns?
Integration patterns are a valuable resource for architects assessing solutions for an integration strategy. Integration patterns identify how systems (including their components and services) interact as part of an integration solution design. They show you how established solutions accomplish an integration goal. In addition, integration patterns communicate how the overall solution functions. They describe (or capture) a proven way to evaluate and solve integration problems without reinventing the wheel.
Evaluating Integration Patterns
To evaluate an integration pattern, carefully read the sample scenario and the recommended solutions. The sample scenario provides suggested integration technologies that each achieve a specific result. Review the sample scenario and evaluate the solutions to see if any of them meets your integration requirements.
It’s important to know that integration patterns aren’t implementation guides. Instead, each pattern includes a recommended approach to solve an integration problem. They follow best practices from experts who’ve solved similar problems. The recommended approach identifies specific integration technologies (such as connectors or services). These recommendations help inform your integration choices.
Identify Your Integration Initiatives
Before we continue, let's look at integration types—because your integration type will determine how you evaluate the solutions in a pattern. Some tools are more appropriate for specific initiatives.
Here are the most common types of integration initiatives for the Salesforce Lightning Platform.
Integration Initiative | Description |
|---|---|
Application integration | This category focuses on extending features and functionality across systems. This includes UI-triggered events, API integrations, flows, and connectors. |
Data integration | This category focuses on data integration and synchronization between two or more systems. This includes aspects of data integrity, data governance, data flow-design, and data migration. |
Process integration | This category focuses on extending business processes and services across systems. This includes integration solutions such as events that trigger activity from one system or run transactions between two systems. |
Security Considerations
When designing an integration solution, security considerations play an important role. Every system design has security requirements, including elements such as SAML, Single Sign On (SSO), and data encryption. The solutions you incorporate into your design determine the security requirements you must meet.
As part of the design phase, you consider the sensitive information communicated in your architecture design. For example, say your solution requires encrypting sensitive customer information. The integration patterns that follow the Salesforce → System direction benefit the most from implementing Shield Platform Encryption. Shield Platform Encryption relies on a unique tenant secret that you control and a master secret that's maintained by Salesforce. This design maintains data integrity per the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirement.
Patterns in This Module
The patterns in this module focus on application integration using Salesforce Lightning Platform. While Salesforce allows for user interface integration—mashups and security integration with third-party vendors—those types of integrations are outside the scope of this module.
Salesforce Lightning Platform Integration Patterns
Here’s a list of the Salesforce Lightning Platform integration patterns that we cover in this module.
Lightning Platform Pattern | Description |
|---|---|
Remote Process Invocation—Request and Reply | Salesforce invokes a process on a remote system and then waits for a reply. |
Remote Process Invocation—Fire and Forget | Salesforce invokes a process in a remote system but doesn’t wait for completion of the process. |
Batch Data Synchronization | When data is updated in an external system or on the Salesforce Lightning Platform, the updates are reflected in either system. Updates are applied in a batch manner. |
Remote Call-In | A remote system creates, retrieves, updates, or deletes data stored in Lightning Platform. |
Data Virtualization | Salesforce accesses external data in real time. |
High-Frequency Data Replication | A source system asynchronously replicates data to a target system in near–real time at high scale. |
Publish/Subscribe | Salesforce publishes an event (such as a record created, changed, deleted, and so on) with no knowledge of who may be on the receiving end. Any number of subscribers listen for these events and process them accordingly. |
Terminology
Patterns share common terminology to help you compare options and determine which connector or service best meets your integration goals.
In the next unit we take a look at how to use the layer approach to evaluate patterns. You’ll see how four dimensions help you compare and evaluate solutions.