Acquired companies are common — sometimes you're acquired; sometimes acquiring. Architecture should be adaptable.
Resilience principles:
1. Avoid hardcoded org-specific assumptions.
- No hardcoded org IDs.
- No hardcoded user IDs.
- No hardcoded record types.
- No hardcoded picklist values in code.
2. External Id strategy.
- Every important business record has External Id.
- Migration to new system uses External Ids, not Salesforce Ids.
3. Configuration over code.
- Custom Metadata for business rules.
- Easier to migrate / re-configure.
4. Standardised integrations.
- Use standard patterns (REST, Pub/Sub).
- Avoid proprietary cartridges of older systems.
5. Version-controlled metadata.
- Source-controlled in Git.
- Reproducible org from source.
6. Documented architecture.
- Architecture diagrams.
- Data model documentation.
- Integration map.
7. Decoupled custom features.
- Modular Apex / LWC.
- Easy to extract or migrate components.
8. Avoid over-customisation of Industry Clouds.
- Heavy customisation locks you into the Industry Cloud roadmap.
- Plain Sales/Service Cloud + custom = more portable.
Acquisition scenarios:
You're acquired:
- Acquirer may want to consolidate Salesforce orgs.
- Or keep yours separate.
- Architecture should support both.
You acquire someone:
- Their Salesforce org may consolidate or stay separate.
- Integration architecture matters.
Both stay separate (multi-org):
- Mulesoft / iPaaS for cross-org.
- Shared customer data via Data Cloud or warehouse.
Common acquisition patterns:
- Consolidate over 12-24 months — typical.
- Keep separate forever — when business units autonomous.
- Run parallel during transition — full sync.
Architectural moves:
1. Reduce hardcoded dependencies.
When refactoring, swap hardcoded assumptions for configuration.
2. Maintain documentation.
Acquirers / integrators need to understand quickly.
3. Use Unlocked Packages.
Modular distribution; easier to migrate components.
4. Standardise on Salesforce best practices.
Common patterns are easier to integrate / migrate than custom approaches.
Senior architect insight: architecting for acquisitions is mostly architecting for portability. The same practices that survive acquisitions also survive technology shifts, M&A, regulatory changes.
The senior framing: good architecture is rarely about the current state; it's about adaptability to future state.
You don't know what the future holds, but you can build to absorb change.