Salesforce integration with erp, a combination for success
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 4:24 am
There are two types of systems whose implementation favors the increase in efficiency in the business processes of any company: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. The first is aimed at the areas of sales, marketing and customer service, with the main objective of centralizing all customer interactions with the company. The second is designed to automate business processes, mainly associated with the areas of finance, inventory, human resources, among others. The combination of both allows for improved decision-making and opens up new opportunities for cooperation between different departments.
Salesforce - ERP Integration
In this article, we will present some of the main benefits of combining Salesforce and ERP. We will also evaluate the options when implementing such an integration and share some tips based on our experience.
Main benefits of integration between Salesforce and an ERP
A CRM system takes care of front-end information while an ERP handles critical back-end information. By integrating both systems, you can get a 360-degree view of your customers by unifying the portion of the customer that is managed by each department. This offers several benefits:
Greater visibility, quantity and accessibility of data.
Better management of customers, offers and quotes.
Increased productivity and efficiency by reducing the belarus whatsapp lead time spent searching for information, automating processes across all company departments and optimising internal organisation. All of this improves sales Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and profit margins.
Reduction of errors and redundancies in data entry, contributing to more consolidated information.
Greater control, organized growth, and planning for the future. With the combination of Salesforce and ERP, executives will have a panoramic view of everything that happens in the company, improve decision-making, and grow according to identified needs.
Options for integrating Salesforce with ERP systems
In order to integrate the ERP system you have deployed in your company with Salesforce, you must analyze the possible options and select the one that best fits your conditions and needs. Consider the variants below:
1- Manual integration, through people manually entering data from one system into the other, using a tool to upload data. This procedure is slow, error-prone, and requires a lot of effort. In addition, having disconnected systems will make it very difficult to achieve an up-to-date 360-degree view of your customers.
2- Through the Integration Cloud, with MuleSoft you can access two solutions:
Mule as an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is a component of Anypoint Platform that provides connectivity both on-premises and in the cloud. It enables easy system integration regardless of the different technologies used by applications, including JMS, Web Services, JDBC, HTTP, and more.
CloudHub , the integration platform as a service (iPaaS), lets you deploy sophisticated cross-cloud integration applications in the cloud, build new APIs on top of existing data sources, integrate on-premises applications with cloud services, and much more.
3- With Salesforce Connect you can establish a transparent connection with data sources external to Salesforce, such as the ERP you are using. Thanks to this integration, users will be able to view, search, and modify data in real time through Web service calls. Salesforce Connect allows you to map external Salesforce objects to data tables in external systems. Instead of copying the data in your organization, you will always access only the data you need at the time. The use of Salesforce Connect is recommended when:
The data you need to obtain from external systems is very specific.
The amounts of data you need to query are small.
You want to have the most up-to-date information from the external system in real time.
Salesforce Connect
Salesforce Connect interface. Source:Salesforce.com.
4- Among the thousands of pre-integrated Salesforce apps on AppExchange , you might also find a free or paid app that meets your business needs. Many companies have similar work processes, which is why there are connectors that meet common requirements. This option would save you time and effort.
5- Using integration APIs, accessible through Salesforce Platform such as SOAP and REST, compatible with SAP, Oracle, among others, you could develop your own custom native application that meets your integration needs. You could even distribute this application through AppExchange. On the other hand, if you only needed to make some queries, create, delete or update some record in the external system (SAP, for example), without developing any code, you could achieve this using the REST API.
MuleSoft, the integration platform you need
Find out why MuleSoft is a solution you should consider when facing the challenge of integrating your applications.
SEE MORE ➜
Recommendations when deciding to implement Salesforce + an ERP
If you want to improve your business processes by integrating all the advantages of Salesforce with those of an ERP in a single platform, you are faced with a major challenge. Ideally, this integration could be achieved correctly from the start. Here are some tips for you to consider:
Make sure you are clear about the reasons why you have decided to integrate these systems. Sometimes you only need to collect and visualize specific data from one system or another. For this, an extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) tool would be sufficient.
Carefully consider the best option for carrying out the integration. If you choose to develop your own integration application, be sure to incorporate error handling in the data transfer. Likewise, if you are going to purchase one, you should consider whether it has this capability.
Involve representatives from each of the departments affected by the integration in the integration process. This will increase collaboration as everyone involved will be able to express their views, different scenarios can be considered, and details that may have been overlooked can be identified. Everyone will feel part of the process and the integration will flow much more smoothly.
Perform data cleansing before carrying out the integration. This is a good time to improve the quality of your data, removing duplicate records, updating and completing information. It may seem like a never-ending process, but it will be worth the effort. More accurate information contributes to the generation of reliable reports that support decision making.
Define as precisely as possible what data you need to integrate. In most cases, the data is: sales history, payments, items, prices and accounts, among others.
Salesforce - ERP Integration
In this article, we will present some of the main benefits of combining Salesforce and ERP. We will also evaluate the options when implementing such an integration and share some tips based on our experience.
Main benefits of integration between Salesforce and an ERP
A CRM system takes care of front-end information while an ERP handles critical back-end information. By integrating both systems, you can get a 360-degree view of your customers by unifying the portion of the customer that is managed by each department. This offers several benefits:
Greater visibility, quantity and accessibility of data.
Better management of customers, offers and quotes.
Increased productivity and efficiency by reducing the belarus whatsapp lead time spent searching for information, automating processes across all company departments and optimising internal organisation. All of this improves sales Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and profit margins.
Reduction of errors and redundancies in data entry, contributing to more consolidated information.
Greater control, organized growth, and planning for the future. With the combination of Salesforce and ERP, executives will have a panoramic view of everything that happens in the company, improve decision-making, and grow according to identified needs.
Options for integrating Salesforce with ERP systems
In order to integrate the ERP system you have deployed in your company with Salesforce, you must analyze the possible options and select the one that best fits your conditions and needs. Consider the variants below:
1- Manual integration, through people manually entering data from one system into the other, using a tool to upload data. This procedure is slow, error-prone, and requires a lot of effort. In addition, having disconnected systems will make it very difficult to achieve an up-to-date 360-degree view of your customers.
2- Through the Integration Cloud, with MuleSoft you can access two solutions:
Mule as an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is a component of Anypoint Platform that provides connectivity both on-premises and in the cloud. It enables easy system integration regardless of the different technologies used by applications, including JMS, Web Services, JDBC, HTTP, and more.
CloudHub , the integration platform as a service (iPaaS), lets you deploy sophisticated cross-cloud integration applications in the cloud, build new APIs on top of existing data sources, integrate on-premises applications with cloud services, and much more.
3- With Salesforce Connect you can establish a transparent connection with data sources external to Salesforce, such as the ERP you are using. Thanks to this integration, users will be able to view, search, and modify data in real time through Web service calls. Salesforce Connect allows you to map external Salesforce objects to data tables in external systems. Instead of copying the data in your organization, you will always access only the data you need at the time. The use of Salesforce Connect is recommended when:
The data you need to obtain from external systems is very specific.
The amounts of data you need to query are small.
You want to have the most up-to-date information from the external system in real time.
Salesforce Connect
Salesforce Connect interface. Source:Salesforce.com.
4- Among the thousands of pre-integrated Salesforce apps on AppExchange , you might also find a free or paid app that meets your business needs. Many companies have similar work processes, which is why there are connectors that meet common requirements. This option would save you time and effort.
5- Using integration APIs, accessible through Salesforce Platform such as SOAP and REST, compatible with SAP, Oracle, among others, you could develop your own custom native application that meets your integration needs. You could even distribute this application through AppExchange. On the other hand, if you only needed to make some queries, create, delete or update some record in the external system (SAP, for example), without developing any code, you could achieve this using the REST API.
MuleSoft, the integration platform you need
Find out why MuleSoft is a solution you should consider when facing the challenge of integrating your applications.
SEE MORE ➜
Recommendations when deciding to implement Salesforce + an ERP
If you want to improve your business processes by integrating all the advantages of Salesforce with those of an ERP in a single platform, you are faced with a major challenge. Ideally, this integration could be achieved correctly from the start. Here are some tips for you to consider:
Make sure you are clear about the reasons why you have decided to integrate these systems. Sometimes you only need to collect and visualize specific data from one system or another. For this, an extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) tool would be sufficient.
Carefully consider the best option for carrying out the integration. If you choose to develop your own integration application, be sure to incorporate error handling in the data transfer. Likewise, if you are going to purchase one, you should consider whether it has this capability.
Involve representatives from each of the departments affected by the integration in the integration process. This will increase collaboration as everyone involved will be able to express their views, different scenarios can be considered, and details that may have been overlooked can be identified. Everyone will feel part of the process and the integration will flow much more smoothly.
Perform data cleansing before carrying out the integration. This is a good time to improve the quality of your data, removing duplicate records, updating and completing information. It may seem like a never-ending process, but it will be worth the effort. More accurate information contributes to the generation of reliable reports that support decision making.
Define as precisely as possible what data you need to integrate. In most cases, the data is: sales history, payments, items, prices and accounts, among others.