Salesforce Consultant

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Ian Cosgrove

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For Everyone

Consultants play a crucial role in implementing Salesforce for their clients, and one often overlooked aspect of that is event monitoring. We don’t think about it until it’s too late, and we’re left asking ourselves how this modification could have happened to this many records without anyone noticing. The simple fact of the matter is this – We’re human. We can’t monitor everyone in the system’s activity at once. That’s where event monitoring comes in.

Salesforce offers event monitoring through an add-on service, called [Salesforce Shield](https://www.salesforce.com/platform/shield/). Let me tell you a little bit about it, and then I’ll tell you about a time I was glad that my client had it.

# Salesforce Shield

Salesforce Shield has four main components;

- Platform encryption
- Field audit trail
- Event, monitoring
- Einstein data detection.

If you work in any sector that requires legal compliance, you probably already have Salesforce Shield.

## **Platform Encryption**

This component encrypts all of your data on Salesforce’s servers. This way if ever there was a data breach, you’d still be protected because the encrypted data would be unreadable. For a deeper look at how Salesforce handles data protection at every level, check out our post on [designing user security and visibility in Salesforce](/blog/designing-user-security-and-visibility-in-salesforce?utm_source=cloudanswers_website&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=why_consultants_need_event_monitoring).

## **Field Audit Trail**

Field tracking history is built into Salesforce by default, letting you track up to 20 fields per object. But [Field Audit Trail](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.salesforce_shield.htm&type=5) offers you more. With this, you can track up to 60 fields per object and store that data for up to 10 years.

## **Salesforce Event Monitoring**

There are two types of monitoring included here: core event monitoring, and[real-time event monitoring](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.securityImplGuide.meta/securityImplGuide/salesforce_shield.htm). Core event monitoring allows the admin to go over all of the data that has happened over the course of the last 30 days. After 30 days the log files are purged. There’s also real-time event monitoring where you can be notified if a user takes certain actions.

For example, if a sales user who’s about to leave your company starts exporting reports with contacts, you can set up precautions that let you in real-time prevent them from[exporting those and other reports](/blog/salesforce-reporting-tips-and-best-practices?utm_source=cloudanswers_website&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=why_consultants_need_event_monitoring), and even lock the user. For a more technical deep-dive into how architects and admins should think about event monitoring, Salesforce has published an excellent[Architect’s Guide to Event Monitoring](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/architect-guide-event-monitoring/).

## **Einstein Data Detect**

This component detects sensitive data such as credit card numbers, emails, Social Security numbers, URLs, and IP addresses. Then it works with platform encryption, encrypting the data at rest.

## The Time It Saved My Bacon

On a weekly standing call with a client, they raised a concern about how the close date on a handful of Opportunities had been changed repeatedly per record, and the system user was the user responsible for all the changes. There was a [Flow](/blog/replace-code-with-flows?utm_source=cloudanswers_website&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=why_consultants_need_event_monitoring) evaluating the record criteria every time it was updated… when it should’ve only been once. That was happening for over a year.

Thankfully, in this instance, we had Event Monitoring. We were able to query all the data, and with some formulas and uploads, it was like that data mishap never even happened. I’m grateful the client has Event Monitoring because we were able to restore their data successfully ensuring quality and success on their end. The backups we had from Event Monitoring allowed us to rather easily, and within a timely fashion, get them back on track.

## Conclusion

Event monitoring is something I’d recommend that all consultants have. It empowers them to secure the platform, enhance performance, ensure compliance, and resolve issues proactively. By leveraging event monitoring Salesforce consultants can deliver greater value to their clients, ensuring the environments are robust and secure.


Event monitoring is often overlooked by consultants, but it’s essential for securing and optimizing Salesforce environments. This post explores the importance o

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Why Consultants need Event Monitoring

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CloudAnswers


There are many systems on the market that help businesses manage customer relationships seamlessly. They are known as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools. And one of the best-known and most recommended methods used by more than 150,000 companies worldwide is Salesforce.

Salesforce is **cloud-based CRM software**, with standalone applications for sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, partner management, and industry-specific solutions. Customers can extend Salesforce through their configuration and development tools, **AppExchange apps**, and a large community of consultants. It helps organizations function efficiently and profitably by reducing the cost of managing hardware infrastructure.

As Salesforce consultants and AppExchange partners, we may be a little biased, but here are some of the reasons why we work with Salesforce and recommend that you do too.

## **One platform for all business needs**

Given the extent of the Salesforce platform, businesses can move a large portion of their infrastructure to Salesforce. Salesforce’s architecture ensures that the platform is continuously updated and the customer’s data is secured, without having to staff a large portion of a traditional IT team.

Salesforce offers a **360º view** of the customer, and there are a wide variety of ways to connect it to other systems and databases. When set up correctly, every staff member can have precisely the customer information needed to do their job and build effective and long-lasting customer relationships.

## **Extremely customizable**

One of the most significant advantages, and something that can overwhelm customers, is the amount you can customize the platform. Salesforce decided early on that they could never build solutions for every business, so they have developed an extensive feature set for solving any business challenge through clicks, code, and partner apps.

With just a few clicks, you can build workflows, design unique pages for team members, create reports and dashboards, and automate business processes.

With their extensive [developer tools](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/), you can completely customize the application - build tailor-made user interfaces for employees to streamline workflows, automate complicated business processes, integrate with almost any kind of application, and whatever else you can dream up.

If you don’t want to do it yourself, check out the [AppExchange](https://appexchange.salesforce.com/) for thousands of options that vary from open-source to fully managed subscription apps. You can even check out [the apps that we’ve published](https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxSearchKeywordResults?keywords=cloudanswers&searchType=simpleSearch).

## **Integrate with external platforms**

Salesforce can integrate various external apps with [their suite of APIs](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=sf.integrate_what_is_api.htm&type=5) (application programming interfaces) plus an extensive network of partners that provide integration tools and pre-built connectors. The AppExchange is a great place to start - just search for the app you want to integrate and see if there are pre-built integrations.

## **Powerful reporting tools**

With both the standard **Lightning Reports** and **Dashboards** and the optional **Einstein Analytics**, Salesforce offers several reporting tools. The analytics and reporting can be real-time, and you can customize based on the needs and company goals. If Salesforce is not covering your reporting needs, don’t worry. There are many reporting partners and free dashboard packs on [the AppExchange](https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=a0N30000000pvspEAA).

## **Collaborate easily**

**Salesforce Chatter** is a built-in communication tool. It allows employees to collaborate at work to network, share files, solve problems, share ideas, and exchange status updates. Since it’s built-in to the system, people can collaborate directly on records that they’re working on, another way to make sure all the information is in one place. With Chatter, you can follow up on projects, inform people about events, project status, and all in a private and secure environment.

Salesforce also recently spent a large sum acquiring **Slack**, one of the more prevalent business chat platforms. We are excited to see how they incorporate the technology.

## **Marketing made easier**

Marketers handle various responsibilities every day, like creating and editing tasks, tracking prospects, following on offers, managing customer relationships, and supporting customers. As a result of all the repetitive tasks, they lose focus on core tasks like campaign building and optimizing, lead qualification, lead nurturing, sending follow-up, etc. By integrating marketing automation with Salesforce, marketers can easily manage the tasks mentioned above, and they get time to concentrate on their goals and objectives.

## **Great for non-profits**

Salesforce for non-profits has many inviting aspects. One of them is the price: for qualified organizations, it is for free for up to 10 users and significantly discounted for more users or add-on products. And no matter how big or small an organization is, Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack is the perfect tool for any non-profit institution. It can be customized and configured to help track campaigns, accounts, donor contacts, opportunities, and more.

Salesforce is also a big proponent for non-profits. They operate an organization called the [Salesforce Foundation](https://www.salesforce.com/company/philanthropy/salesforce-foundation/) that focuses on education, workforce development, and community projects. They also started the 1% pledge to donate 1% of equity, time, product, and profit to non-profit projects and encourage other businesses to do the same.

## **Security is a priority**

One of the most valuable assets that each company has is **data,** in many cases sensitive customer data. No matter what software or tool an organization chooses, one question should always come up: is it secure? With the industry’s best security tools, extensive options to customize your system settings, and the comprehensive security requirements for AppExchange apps, the answer with Salesforce is a resounding YES. Data security is and always has been one of the priorities for Salesforce.

## **Mobile CRM**

Salesforce was one of the first companies that brought mobile CRM to the market. So no matter where you are, you can use the full potential of Salesforce on your phone.

The list goes on and on. Since Salesforce began over 22 years ago, it has helped many businesses better manage their customers and grow.If you’d like to hear additional reasons as to why Salesforce might be the right CRM provider for you, or about any of the services CloudAnswers provides, reach out to us at [help@cloudanswers.com](mailto:help@cloudanswers.com)

Read also [7 Popular Reporting Apps for Salesforce](https://cloudanswers.com/7-popular-reporting-apps-for-salesforce/) and [Why business owners should know AppExchange?](https://cloudanswers.com/why-business-owners-should-know-appexchange/)


Salesforce for business is cloud-based CRM software, with standalone applications for sales, customer service, and marketing.

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