Salesforce Connect

Salesforce Connect enables users to access and interact with data stored in external systems in real time directly within Salesforce, without copying or duplicating the data. It works by defining external data sources and creating external objects that map to external tables, supporting connections via the OData protocol, cross-org adapters, and custom Apex adapters.

Salesforce Connect enables users to access and interact with data stored in external systems in real time directly within Salesforce, without copying or duplicating the data. It works by defining external data sources and creating external objects that map to external tables, supporting connections via the OData protocol, cross-org adapters, and custom Apex adapters.

Salesforce Connect is valuable for scenarios where data should stay in external systems but needs to be visible in Salesforce. Reference data, large datasets, and data that's authoritative in another system are all good candidates. The trade-off is that external object queries are slower than local queries (they go to the external system in real time) and depend on external system availability. Mature architectures choose Salesforce Connect when data residency and source-of-truth considerations outweigh performance needs.