What are External Objects in Salesforce? | The Ultimate Guide

Salesforce is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform that allows businesses to manage their interactions with customers and prospects. Salesforce offers a variety of features and tools to help businesses streamline their processes and improve customer relationships. One such feature is External Objects. In this blog, we will dive into what External Objects are and how they can benefit your organization.

What are External Objects?

External Objects in Salesforce allow you to connect to data sources that are outside of your Salesforce org. This data can be from a variety of sources such as ERP systems, databases, and other applications. External Objects appear and behave like any other Salesforce object, but the data is stored externally and accessed through Salesforce Connect.

Salesforce Connect is a tool that allows you to create real-time integrations between Salesforce and external data sources. By using Salesforce Connect with External Objects, you can access data in real-time from external sources without having to store that data in Salesforce.

Don't forget to check out: Begin With Big Objects in Salesforce | The Developer Guide

How do External Objects work?

External Objects use the OData 2.0 or OData 4.0 protocol to connect to external data sources. OData is a RESTful protocol that enables the creation and consumption of RESTful services. It allows you to create a standard way to access and manipulate data from different sources.

External Objects use External Data Sources to connect to external data sources. An External Data Source is a configuration that defines the connection to an external data source, such as a database or web service. External Data Sources define the authentication method, the endpoint URL, and the data mapping between the external data source and Salesforce.

Once the External Data Source is created, you can create External Objects that map to tables or views in the external data source. You can use the Salesforce Object Manager to create External Objects, just like any other Salesforce object. You can also create custom fields on External Objects, which map to columns in the external data source.

What are the benefits of External Objects?

There are many benefits of using External Objects in Salesforce. Here are some of the main ones:

1. Real-time data access: With External Objects, you can access real-time data from external sources without having to store that data in Salesforce. This means you can always have the most up-to-date data available in your Salesforce org.
2. Reduced data storage: Since External Objects allow you to access data from external sources without having to store it in Salesforce, you can reduce the amount of data you store in Salesforce. This can save you money on storage costs and reduce the amount of data you need to maintain.
3. Improved performance: External Objects can improve performance by reducing the amount of data that needs to be stored in Salesforce. This can improve query performance and reduce the time it takes to retrieve data.
4. Integration with external systems: External Objects allow you to integrate with external systems such as ERP systems, databases, and other applications. This can improve data consistency and reduce the need for manual data entry.
5. Security: External Objects use the same security model as Salesforce objects. This means you can control access to External Objects using profiles and permission sets, just like any other Salesforce object.

Check out another amazing blog by Mohit here: What are External Data Sources? | All You Need to Know

Conclusion

External Objects in Salesforce are a powerful tool that allows you to connect to external data sources and access real-time data in your Salesforce org. They can help you reduce data storage, improve performance, and integrate with external systems. With External Objects, you can improve data consistency, reduce the need for manual data entry, and improve customer relationships. If you are looking for a way to connect to external data sources in Salesforce, External Objects are definitely worth exploring.