One of the features that Salesforce gives us is the ability to call Apex methods in Lightning web components. This can be done by importing the method and calling it with the decorator wire service or imperatively.
How to import an Apex method in a Lightning web component?
We can import methods from Apex classes into a component using the import form in ES6 (ECMAScript v6). This way:
apexMethodName: Symbol to identify the Apex method.
apexMethodReference: Name of the Apex method that we are going to import.
Classname: Name of the Apex class in Salesforce.
Namespace: If the Apex class is in the same namespace as the component, do not specify a Namespace. If the class is in a managed package, specify the namespace of the managed package.
How to expose an Apex method in Lightning web components?
To expose a method of an Apex class in a component, the method must be static and global or public. Also, we need to add the @AuraEnabled annotation to it.
In the following example, we expose a method called getContactList in the component, which returns a list of contacts.
How to call an Apex method with React Wire?
To read data from Salesforce, the Lightning web component can use the Reactive Wire service. The wire decorator is used to call an Apex method.
In the following example, we call an Apex method using the wire decorator.
How to call an Apex method imperatively?
In the next example, we call an Apex method, which returns a list of contacts, imperatively. The imported function returns a promise.
If you are looking for Salesforce technical content in Spanish written by experts, we recommend visiting Snake on Code, where you will find more information regarding Lightning web components, Apex, and more.
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When people think of Salesforce certifications, they typically focus on the Certified Administrator or developer credentials. For those providing consulting services on the Salesforce platform, the administrator certification is the entry point, with consultant certifications providing the next level. Salesforce-certified consultants know more about the Salesforce platform and are better positioned to help clients understand what they need. Most projects involve Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Experience Cloud, which are central to the Salesforce platform.
When approaching a new project, you can usually expect that at least 80% of the requirements can be met with out-of-the-box functionality. Certified consultants are better positioned to guide clients, who are typically not familiar with the platform, don’t know how to implement the features they need, and have many questions. Knowing how these products work helps you help them figure out the best way to implement them and ensure they are able to leverage as much out-of-the-box functionality as possible. Even when installing the products, there are always a variety of steps and configuration tasks involved. Certification helps you prioritize this work and determine the next steps for all your projects.
When clients partner with you on a new Salesforce project, you will know what the client needs, what they should consider before starting, which licenses they will need, and recommend different approaches. These certifications even help you to create a budget for the project as you will have learned the pre-sales approach.
Let’s take a closer look at the three consultant certifications.
Certified Sales Cloud Consultant
Eduardo C: Business Analyst & Salesforce Consultant. 10 years of Salesforce experience.
How has the Sales Cloud consultant certification been useful?
Eduardo believes that being a business analyst and a Salesforce consultant means that he brings a different point of view when it comes to this certification. However, some of the most important things to consider are:
Standard Objects: The standard objects are account, contact, opportunity, lead person accounts, and products. You know how they are related, master details, lookup relationships, and so on. In some projects, the objects may have different names. Let’s say the “account” object is renamed to “vendor” or “client,” because you already know everything related to the account object, you know what comes with it.
Marketing Campaigns: Opportunities may be related to multiple marketing campaigns. You can influence opportunities with marketing campaigns.
Quotes/ Products/ List Prices: Generally speaking, it’s easier to implement with out-of-the-box functionality. If you are making a custom deployment, there are many things to consider. If it’s out of the box, generally speaking, you avoid some pain points in the business process.
Opportunity and account teams: With the administrator certification, we learned about sharing options like roles, but here we focus on others ways to share objects, like opportunities and account teams. It’s very useful and you’ll use them often.
Territory Management: There is another way to share opportunities and accounts by using territories. In most cases, the territories are related to geography or region. Eduardo stresses the importance of understanding how this works as it will be asked in the exam.
Multiple Currencies: What happens when you enable multiple currencies? When or where do you need to update the exchange rates, and what happens when you apply the exchange rate? As you know, prices tend to change frequently, it is very useful to know when these price changes will affect the opportunities.
Quota/Goals: Salespeople usually have quotas and need to reach certain goals. Understanding how these work is central to helping clients use Salesforce to support their business processes.
What else do you need to learn?
Eduardo believes the most important item to remember is that the licensed add-ons such as CPQ, Lightning Sales, and Maps, among others, aren’t included in the exam but they are vital when it comes to projects. It is important to consider the limitations, insights, and use cases of these licenses to decide which ones to use in specific contexts.
Lakshay A: Salesforce Quality Engineering, 5 years of Salesforce experience.
Certifications: Administrator, Advanced Administrator, Platform App Builder, Tableau CRM & Einstein Discovery Consultant, Service Cloud Consultant
How has the Service Cloud consultant certification been useful?
This certification is designed for those who want to successfully design and implement Service Cloud solutions that are maintainable, scalable, and contribute to long-term customer success.
This certification requires an abundance of knowledge on translating client customer service requirements into Salesforce design, leveraging best practices, and minimizing the need for custom development. It also helps in facilitating business process reviews to identify client requirements.
Interface Customization: Configuration of the interface for customer support helps enhance the experience for the agents or any support center environment. This includes knowing how to configure all of the ins and outs of the console, both in classic and increasingly more in the Lightning experience.
Channels: You’ll learn how to deal with the various customer interaction channels such as web, telephone, emails, and other social media.
Knowledge articles: You will also learn about knowledge articles, to facilitate faster resolution times. This will help you learn the interface configuration to allow for rapid entry by the agents and sharing of reference information through articles. All this will result in faster resolution times
Omni-Channel: The next part is Omni-Channel, which helps to route cases intelligently. Sometimes we may need to take into account the various skills and skill levels of individual service representatives. Lakshay was impressed by the sheer volume of complexity that can be handled with just clicks instead of code.
Analytics: With Tableau CRM (formerly known as Einstein analytics), you can sift through mountains of data and case records to discover patterns and surface actionable insights, to take effective case management to a whole new level. Along with this, there are two topics which will be around designing end-user training and supporting related documentation.
Service level agreements: Companies are obligated to provide certain levels of service, which will lead you down the path of implementing intervention milestones.
Now moving on to what else you’ll learn along with that, there are a few more things like:
Sales Cloud channel integration
Data management
These include use cases and considerations for common services or integrations. It explains the concentration of the data migration and the data quality.
When Lakhsay prepared for the exam he followed the topic-wise approach. There are nine topics that you should cover in detail before taking the exam. And there are some hot topics from which most of the questions will appear, such as Service Cloud implementation and the different strategies.
How has the Experience Cloud consultant certification been useful?
Eduardo believes that when it comes to Experience Cloud, standard objects are a good place to start. It is vital to understand how standard objects are related. Some users are related to contacts, whereas others may relate to accounts or other objects. It is important to understand how they are related, depending on the type of license they have.
Community types: This exam will also prepare you to know the differences among partner, customer, and employee communities. You will learn about the sharing options available with each license type and typical product integrations along these lines.
Integrations: Typical product integrations are important to know because that community will come in handy with other products that you could integrate. Communities rarely come “alone” most of the time. You will typically have some other product associated, such as Service Cloud, Sales Cloud, CQP, MuleSoft Anypoint API Community Manager, or Tableau CRM (previously known as Einstein Analytics).
Access: Understanding public access is very helpful for knowing how public pages work and their interaction with multiple apps and databases.
Personalization: Audience targeting has also been handy when it comes to projects. Sometimes, you may have two sites with two different audiences or you may have only one site with two licenses. When it comes to targeting, you need to define at what moment users will see each of the licenses. It is good to know the limitations and the ways we can achieve this. Eduardo recommends understanding the difference between login-based and member-based profiles because they are not configured the same way
What else do you have to learn?
Eduardo took this exam about a month ago mainly using Focus on Force. The challenge with this certification and the reason there are no Trailmixes is that it changes often, as Salesforce is constantly upgrading its communities to satisfy the needs of customers. This certification has changed its name a couple of times already from Digital Experience Cloud to Community Cloud, to the one we currently have, Experience Cloud. Eduardo recommends checking the Salesforce help links to make sure you have the latest information, especially when it comes to licensing types and templates.
Salesforce credentials grow your resume and highlight your skills. If you are interested in following this career path, check our career opportunities.
We know that taking a Salesforce Certification exam can be stressful, so we have put together some useful tips for before, during, and after the exam that you should keep in mind.
If it is your first time working on a Salesforce certification, we recommend you start with one of these three certifications as they do not have prerequisites. Regardless of which one you begin with, here are some useful tips to help you pass the exam and things you should consider when preparing.
What should I consider before setting a date and time to take my first Salesforce certification exam?
Choose the right space
Pick a quiet environment where there won’t be any loud noises or sounds to distract you when you’re trying to answer complex questions. Because the exams are proctored, make sure you’re the only person in the room. Keep the space where you will take the exam clean. It is best to only have your computer connected. Remember, remove any distractions.
Schedule your exam on a weekend or another day where there are no other activities planned besides taking your exam. (No job, no projects, only the exam).
Take the exam at a time where the internet is stable (don’t take the exam during peak hours when your internet connection is likely to be slow).
Prepare the software and hardware in advance. In general, you will need:
Hardware
A stable internet connection. Using a cable is usually better than wifi.
A computer. Check that your CPU is working properly and if it’s a laptop, don’t forget to connect your charger.
Microphone and camera. Make sure they’re configured and fully functional in advance.
Software
A recent version of Windows / macOS with a system administrator account.
Install and configure the required software that they use for the exam.
Verify all software is working properly a day before taking the test.
Be prepared
Read up on how the exam is structured. Every certification has a different exam, but the structure is published for each of them.
Create a study plan. There are many ways to develop your study plan. How you approach it depends on your time, your studying technique, and other factors.
Speak with people who have already obtained the certification so they can tell you about their experience. This is one of the best things you can do!
Rest and concentrate before the exam. Don’t stay up late the day before. Just review, eat well and be as relaxed as possible when you take the exam.
Postpone the exam date only if there is a major problem or think you should review or study more. It is possible to cancel the exam or change the date, any restrictions would depend on the type of exam you are taking.
We recommend taking a look at these resources for practice exams, past exams, free courses, and much more:
Keep calm and be patient. Once the exam has started, time will start running. However, the exam supervisor or proctor can interrupt you at any time to verify everything is going smoothly and to ask you to show specific things, like:
Your ID
Your surroundings
Your eyeglasses
That you don’t have any devices in your ears (such as earphones)
That you don’t have any jackets or pockets. Wear something simple with no pockets or places where you could hide information.
Before starting the exam the proctors may take some time to answer any questions that you have regarding the test. Verify the evaluation criteria, such as the number of questions, duration of the exam, and the time you will have available to answer each question. Once everything is ready you will be able to continue with the exam. Keep in mind that the proctor may interrupt you if you make any “suspicious” movement. Try to avoid this, as you will not enjoy being interrupted during the test.
Organize your time and prioritize
Start by reading the questions carefully. If you don’t fully understand a specific question, read it again. There is no need to rush. If you don’t know the answer, try not to waste time on that question as that will leave you with less time to answer the ones that you do know!
How to organize yourself:
Read the questions carefully and analyze them. These questions are designed to confuse you and may have keywords that can change the meaning of the question completely.
Answer the “easy” questions first. Start by answering the questions you are sure you know or that may seem easier to you first. But be careful, some questions may seem simple but were designed to be tricky.
Skip (or leave for later) any questions that you do not understand, or that require extra time for calculations. By answering the easier questions at the beginning you leave yourself extra time for the questions that require more analysis.
If a question is too long, save it for the end. They are designed to take extra time and confuse you. It would be better to answer them at the end.
Once you have answered all the questions, try not to change too many of your answers. Be confident in your work.
After the exam
I passed the exam, what should I do?
Verify the result. Salesforce sends your certification by email.
Check your certification expiration date. We recommend knowing the expiration date of your certifications so you can make plans to renew them on time.
What should I do if I failed my exam?
Salesforce will send you the results. After you have finished your certification exam, Salesforce will send you an email with the percentage you have achieved for each of the exam topics. This will help you know which areas in you will need more training on before you take the exam again.
Take it easy. Everyone wants to pass their exam on their first try, and not passing makes us feel frustrated. Don’t give up! Review the topics you have failed, study them again, practice, and remember that you already have experience.
In mid-2020 we started a project to build small Salesforce components that could be added to any application or even a registration page. That project has grown to include twelve components currently in production and many more on the way. We publish the components on the AppExchange for free so any Salesforce administrator can install them into their org to try them out. Our team builds components that are utilities that can help us on a daily basis, or complement our other work in some way.
Lightning Web Components
There are a few approaches we could take to build components like these, but we wanted to take advantage of the newer Lightning web component architecture. It uses JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and the Lightning Design System. When we need to access custom and standard object definitions or build and call REST APIs, we use the Salesforce Apex programming language.
Lightning web components are a powerful tool because they present data to the client in a dynamic and reactive way. Most components are designed to directly support the Salesforce users who will be interacting with them. This approach allows our team to build for desktop and mobile with very few differences in the code structure. And the Lightning Design System is crucial for designing and developing a UI that is consistent with the rest of the Salesforce experience and is easy for the end-user to understand.
Even though all the components are “components”, some of them could be classified as “sub-components”, meaning that one could be nested and work inside another. This allows the team to distribute tasks better and work more efficiently. It also allows the components to be scalable and to add more features to a single component. It also has the advantage of making the work neater: the code is more organized as each component has its own functionality.
Customer-centered Logic
When creating a component that runs in a complex environment like Salesforce, we want to be sure to minimize the number of interactions with the server. Customer-centered logic helps us reduce response time and to create elements that interact with the client faster. This approach lets the server delegate many of its responsibilities to the browser. Since it acts as a controller, all the user’s logic is handled by the browser.
Developing in this way requires a disposable cache that stores data locally, reducing the response time. The approach is called a “View-Controller-Controller-Model” because it has both a server-side and a client-side controller. Other frameworks such as Visualforce do not interact as quickly with the customer because they continuously consult the backend and request information and/or approvals. They depend 100% on the server. The server has to handle all the user’s requests and analyze what the user needs, then access the database, answer the question, and then render the page for the user. Not very efficient.
Component Ideas
The process of building a Lightning Web Component starts with a brainstorming session. Once all the ideas have been discussed, the team does a reality-check and chooses the most Lightning web component-friendly options. Then a team is designated to research available APIs on the market and determine which libraries they need. It’s only at that stage that we determine if it is feasible to develop that new component. If it is, a designer then creates a sketch with the layout, titles, logo, and color palette, and the development team starts building the components and Apex classes.
We currently have three Lightning web components published on the AppExchange, including Oktana Calendar and Oktana Youtube, with more components already in the security review process. It takes time for the Salesforce security team to complete their review and approve any app or component, and that review process has become even more rigorous recently. We’re excited to share with you our new components as they’re approved and published on the AppExchange. Keep an eye on this blog or check our Salesforce AppExchange listings page.
There are a few approaches we could take to build components like these, but we wanted to take advantage of the newer Lightning web component architecture. It uses JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and the Lightning Design System. When we need to access custom and standard object definitions or build and call REST APIs, we use the Salesforce Apex programming language.
Lightning web components are a powerful tool because they present data to the client in a dynamic and reactive way. Most components are designed to directly support the Salesforce users who will be interacting with them. This approach allows our team to build for desktop and mobile with very few differences in the code structure. And the Lightning Design System is crucial for designing and developing a UI that is consistent with the rest of the Salesforce experience and is easy for the end-user to understand.
Even though all the components are “components”, some of them could be classified as “sub-components”, meaning that one could be nested and work inside another. This allows the team to distribute tasks better and work more efficiently. It also allows the components to be scalable and to add more features to a single component. It also has the advantage of making the work neater: the code is more organized as each component has its own functionality.
Customer-centered Logic
When creating a component that runs in a complex environment like Salesforce, we want to be sure to minimize the number of interactions with the server. Customer-centered logic helps us reduce response time and to create elements that interact with the client faster. This approach lets the server delegate many of its responsibilities to the browser. Since it acts as a controller, all the user’s logic is handled by the browser.
Developing in this way requires a disposable cache that stores data locally, reducing the response time. The approach is called a “View-Controller-Controller-Model” because it has both a server-side and a client-side controller. Other frameworks such as Visualforce do not interact as quickly with the customer because they continuously consult the backend and request information and/or approvals. They depend 100% on the server. The server has to handle all the user’s requests and analyze what the user needs, then access the database, answer the question, and then render the page for the user. Not very efficient.
Component Ideas
The process of building a Lightning Web Component starts with a brainstorming session. Once all the ideas have been discussed, the team does a reality-check and chooses the most Lightning web component-friendly options. Then a team is designated to research available APIs on the market and determine which libraries they need. It’s only at that stage that we determine if it is feasible to develop that new component. If it is, a designer then creates a sketch with the layout, titles, logo, and color palette, and the development team starts building the components and Apex classes.
We currently have three Lightning web components published on the AppExchange, including Oktana Calendar and Oktana Youtube, with more components already in the security review process. It takes time for the Salesforce security team to complete their review and approve any app or component, and that review process has become even more rigorous recently. We’re excited to share with you our new components as they’re approved and published on the AppExchange. Keep an eye on this blog or check our Salesforce AppExchange listings page.
The Salesforce JavaScript Developer I certification, introduced in 2020, is an excellent way to demonstrate experience developing with one of the most popular web programming languages. JavaScript developers work with front-end and back-end development and even related technologies like Salesforce’s Lightning web components. This credential is a great way to further your development career.
Tips and secrets to obtain the Salesforce JavaScript Developer I Certification
The JavaScript Developer I certification includes a multiple-choice exam that validates core JavaScript development skills. A huge benefit of the Lightning web component programming model is that developers write standard JavaScript. Passing the JavaScript Developer I exam demonstrates that you have the standard JavaScript fundamentals required to develop Lightning web components.
To learn more about this certification, we spoke with two developers from our team in Paraguay: Laura S. and David N. They both decided to complete the certification to refresh their knowledge in Javascript and to demonstrate their abilities. They both work closely with Lightning web components and wanted to expand their knowledge of JavaScript to help with that work.
The certification consists of two parts: the Lightning Web Components Specialist Superbadge and the JavaScript Developer I multiple-choice exam. These two parts can be accomplished in any sequence. Laura and David found that it can take approximately four weeks to finish the trail mix and study for the certification. But it all depends on the hours of study you dedicate to it.
The exam is structured around 7 main topics.
Laura and David agreed that the most difficult topics are variables, types, and collections. Specifically about the types of data that Javascript handles since each one has its own methods. And, among the easiest topics to understand is asynchronous programming. In the exam, they give you scenarios and ask you to apply asynchronous programming concepts like using event loop and event monitor or determining loop outcomes.
David considers understanding Javascript testing functions one of the more interesting topics. Other programming languages required additional libraries to do unit tests, while Javascript has built-in test functions. Laura considers server JavaScript (Node.js) more interesting. There are many languages that can be used for developing on the server-side, but she prefers JavaScript.
Oktana’s training team was very helpful to Laura and David. The team guided them from the beginning through to obtaining the certification. They gave them access to platforms like Focus on Force and Udemy, where they could practice until they felt ready to take the exam.
Why do we recommend this certification?
There are many reasons to want a certification like this. For some, it’s a way to advance their career. For others, it’s an opportunity to structure and strengthen their knowledge of the language.
In David’s case, he works front-end and handles web components, so having a deeper understanding of JavaScript helps a lot. Also, it helps you as a tool in some types of projects. For example, in the projects that you carry out for Salesforce, in which you have to modify some component, that work is 100% Javascript. Additionally, it helps to learn new elements that you were not exposed to before, and that are not very commonly taught in the certificates. There is always more than one way to solve problems, the certification helps you to discover new functions and approaches that can make your work easier. Finally, Javascript runs better in browsers, so it is the most logical thing to learn. It is very useful!
Laura and David highly recommend this certification and they believe all developers should obtain it. It’s also a great way to learn more about Salesforce.
What are you waiting for? Start preparing for this certification. Also, if you are interested in other Salesforce certifications, our team strongly suggests following the Salesforce Platform Developer I.
Interested in obtaining your first MuleSoft certification, but still have some questions about it? Ana, a developer in our Ecuador office has some answers:
What is the advantage of learning MuleSoft?
The most important advantage that MuleSoft has against other platforms is that it allows you to develop and manage APIs easily. You can even drag and drop components and integrate systems. With MuleSoft Anypoint™ Exchange you can add your APIs to a marketplace to reach a broader audience. That same marketplace gives you connectors that can make your life easier. For example, MuleSoft allows you to use a Facebook or a Salesforce package to integrate systems more easily.
Do you have to be a programmer?
Knowing how to code, or at least understanding how to do it, is useful because it helps you better understand certain topics in the MuleSoft training. For example, DataWeave, try-catch blocks for error handling, and other concepts like that are things you will need to know to be successful.
Do I have to know a specific programming language to learn MuleSoft?
You don’t need to know any specific programming language. But you just have to know how to code; that should be all you need.
How does MuleSoft help companies to grow?
When a company needs to integrate systems, MuleSoft gives them an advantage. With pre-built connectors, MuleSoft makes it easier to connect those systems without having to write a large amount of custom code. Also, if a company wants to produce its own APIs and possibly sell them, the MuleSoft Anypoint Platform makes that easier. They can even use Anypoint API Community Manager to create a Salesforce Experience Cloud community for API developers, which can help quickly grow adoption for the APIs.
Are there any prerequisites before someone takes the MuleSoft developer certification Level I certification?
It’s important to understand programming and knows a bit about APIs, like what they are, how they’re used, and why you’d use them. MuleSoft certification is not very difficult as long as you know your basics.
It is possible to achieve the MuleSoft developer certification by myself?
Of course, it’s possible. And it’s a great opportunity since the course is free. To start, go to the training page and sign up. If you pass the training, then the exam is free. You should take advantage of this opportunity! Just remember, you need some experience with coding to know the terms and to understand DataWeave. It shouldn’t be too challenging for you.
What is the best API?
Which API is best depends on the project you’re working on. So maybe, if you want to incorporate a map in your system, consuming the Google Maps API would be the best solution for you (if it complies with all the requirements you need to meet).
What is the next step after you earn the MuleSoft developer certification Level I – Mule 4?
After you achieve your certification, your next step could be to go for the Integration Architect certification. In my case, I want to gain more experience with MuleSoft projects before I become a certified Integration Architect. For that certification, MuleSoft has training that can help you, but it is not free.
How long does it take to get MuleSoft developer certified?
That’s a great question, but it really depends on you. You could finish this course in five days if you are 100% committed, but you can also use other kinds of resources. Just to be sure you are ready before you take the exam. So it could take, five days, one week, or two weeks, it all depends on you and the time and effort you put into it.
You will use MuleSoft only for projects that require integrating systems. For example, if in your project you integrate a database and then you want to use that data in another system, you can use a specific API for that. But it really depends on the project and your requirements.
As a front-end developer, do you think it is useful? or is it only used in the back-end?
I think that as a front-end or a back-end developer it could be very useful to have a full understanding of what MuleSoft can do. So it’s worth getting this certification to give yourself a better understanding. As I said, this is a huge opportunity and the exam is free, so you must take it!
If you want to know more, watch the webinar about MuleSoft certification and Ana’s experience.
Interested in learning more? Check out some of our latest MuleSoft articles:
Ana A. has been working as a developer on our team in Ecuador for more than six months. During this time she has achieved her Salesforce Platform Developer I and MuleSoft Developer – Level 1 certification. Let’s look at what MuleSoft does and why getting certified is a good career move.
Understanding APIs
To understand MuleSoft, it is important to understand what an API is. API stands for Application Programming Interface. It’s like a user interface but is not built for humans to understand, it is built for software. MuleSoft allows the software to connect with other applications. To sum it up, MuleSoft is an API and integration platform that allows businesses to connect their data, applications, and devices with others. The entire MuleSoft Anypoint Platform™ is designed to make it easier to create, maintain, and share APIs. They’ve created an entire API ecosystem around it, expanding the API ecosystem to include not only software developers but non-developers like Salesforce administrators with MuleSoft Composer for Salesforce.
Importance of integrations
You’re probably asking yourself, why are these APIs so important? In MuleSoft’s recent survey of global IT leaders, they found that “the average enterprise has its data scattered across as many as 900 different systems, some of which don’t even belong to the organization.” Combine that with their estimate that enterprises spend $3.5 million USD per year on integration, and you’ll see that there is an incredible opportunity for developers certified in integration ecosystems like MuleSoft. The first step in getting the certification is to understand all of the MuleSoft capabilities, features, and tools.
There are four MuleSoft certification paths you can follow. We are just going to focus on just the developer path. To start working on your first certification, Ana highly recommends taking the course Anypoint Platform Development: Fundamentals (Mule 4). This course has 13 modules and is composed of videos, walkthroughs, model quizzes, surveys, do-it-yourself exercises, and a self-assessment quiz. For you to complete this course, you must finish every part, then score over 70% on the self-assessment quiz. The best part of this course is that MuleSoft allows you to make two attempts at the certification for free. Ana also complemented her study with these additional resources:
The easiest thing about MuleSoft for Ana was learning how to design an API with RAML, which is a RESTful API modeling language that is easy to learn. In Anypoint Platform, you will find the design center, the exchange tool, and the API manager. Ana enjoys working with the platform because it is very intuitive. It even lets you design and implement APIs using drag and drop components.
The most difficult part of getting certified for her was the error handling topic and order of execution. Order of execution can vary depending on the flow you’re building or if the calling flow has scope for error handling, but she was able to master the subject with the additional training resources shared above.
Salesforce and MuleSoft
If you’re a developer already working with Salesforce, you’ll be interested to know that MuleSoft has a Salesforce module with many connectors. It allows you to build an API that can manage a Salesforce org, database operations, or metadata operations like creating, updating, inserting, or deleting records and more. An example would be a connector called ‘create a record’ , which allows the API to create a record (or whenever an object is needed) specifying the configuration or a specific organization.
The MuleSoft Anypoint Platform also works with Salesforce Experience Cloud through a managed package called MuleSoft Anypoint API Community Manager. It allows companies to create developer communities around the APIs they are managing with Anypoint Platform. This helps them better manage access to their APIs and it helps their developer communities more easily adopt those APIs, and a great advantage is that the company can brand their APIs.
Training at Oktana
When Ana was studying for this certification, she heard a lot about the power of MuleSoft, and how this could improve her career, so she wanted to try it.
“Oktana helped me a lot with all the resources to start my training. I also had a mentor in the company, so he helped me every time I had a question. This was very helpful”.
Ana A.
Our team is constantly growing, in Ecuador and across the Americas. If you want to enhance your career with Salesforce and MuleSoft, apply for one of our open opportunities. Our training team works closely with the developers to help them achieve their certifications, just like Ana did.
Tips for your first MuleSoft certification
Every time you finish a module in the MuleSoft course, play around with Anypoint Studio. Practice creating new flows with different connectors that you learned in the course. That way you can debug them and understand how the order of execution works for each component or connector.
The exam has many questions about the order of execution, so make sure you understand that properly.
Ana encountered problems installing the exam proctor software on Mac, she recommends taking your exam on a Windows system to make things easier.
If you want to know more about MuleSoft, we recommend reading about our latest MuleSoft projectsto get a better understanding of the great things you can achieve.
How we experience time is one of the most visible changes brought by the pandemic. New resources and tools require us to adjust to more agile ways to collaborate and do business. That’s why we created Oktana Calendar, our latest Lightning web component that helps you manage your events and meetings without leaving Salesforce.
Think of the business meetings we all used to have before the pandemic. Decision-makers moving around the city to meet their peers in a corporate meeting room. Leaders would sit down around a table with a presentation (in most cases) to support their speeches. Business cards for appropriate introductions and handshakes to close deals. All of that is gone, but don’t be discouraged. Even if we miss the on-site conversations and meetings, there is a potential advantage we can leverage in remote work. Let me introduce you to Oktana Calendar, our digital solution to enhance time management across your team.
Oktana Calendar is simple to install and embed
As with all of our Lightning web components, Oktana Calendar is simple to install. Just go to the AppExchange and follow three steps. Once installed in your org, the embedding process is also easy to do. As a stand-alone component, you can embed Oktana Calendar on any home page or app page. Just go to the Lightning App Builder, drag the component, and drop it where you need it. Simplicity and flexibility are part of this component.
Better layout, more flexibility
“As a Lightning web component, Oktana Calendar can be added to any home page in Salesforce. Also, Oktana Calendar offers different views. Users can change from one to another according to their needs with one click”
Fernanda B. – QA team @ Oktana Uruguay
Oktana Calendar lets you take your team beyond the default calendar component in Salesforce by giving you more flexibility. Your team will be able to have a standard calendar view arranged by month, week, or day. If you feel more comfortable with an agenda view, Oktana Calendar also supports a list view of your meetings. Your team will be able to track their meetings and events in Salesforce, which will be certainly reflected in your company revenue report.
Manage your events
Your events, your rules. You control the way you want to see them and the way you want to organize yourself. As we mentioned before, Oktana Calendar can be set monthly, weekly, or as a list of meetings. It’s up to you. You can organize your events with color-coding as you can with other external calendaring apps. The most important details are also supported: Start date and time, end date and time, location, and of course a brief description to have a general context. For those who are busy, we highly recommend setting notifications to never miss an event.
“Oktana Calendar allows you to set notifications in your org to track your events and users can customize color tags to arrange their events the way they feel more comfortable. I think both features leverage the built-in Calendar component of Salesforce”
Salvador C. – Developer @ Oktana Peru
Time management is crucial in this “new normal” and having the ability to manage your meetings from the same platform you’re already using gives you an advantage you definitely want to take. Install Oktana Calendar for free and give your team an intuitive and flexible resource to manage their business meetings and be more efficient.
Founded in 2014, our focus here at Oktana is to help customers integrate their systems with Salesforce, whether through custom development or integration with third-party services. Our onshore and nearshore Salesforce experts have certifications across a wide range of products in addition to Salesforce, like Informatica (Informatica Specialist Certification) and MuleSoft (MuleSoft Certified Developer – Level 1, Mule 4 Certification).
We have helped our customers integrate their Salesforce ecosystem with almost everything. Our experience ranges from complex data migrations to building personalized user experiences, enabling companies to connect and leverage data of any kind to create a 360-degree view of their business. Across multiple industries, we have helped our customers integrate with technologies like Facebook, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Bevy, Instagram, Twitter, Google News, LinkedIn, Webex, Gotomeeting, MuleSoft, and many more. Read more about Oktana’s Salesforce Integrations stories.
The idea of integrating with Salesforce is to make your Salesforce CRM experience even better. Uniting information into personalized views helps users and managers make better decisions. In other words, connecting Salesforce with apps and tools that you already use helps you run your business more efficiently and provides much greater operational visibility.
For a Salesforce integration process to go smoothly it is important to understand your business goals, create a fool-proof plan, and provide training for your team to make the most out of your Salesforce integration services.
What are the different types of Salesforce integrations?
1. App-Based Salesforce Integration
The vast majority of organizations use Salesforce to manage data, develop leads, and provide effective customer service. Numerous third-party apps are integrated with Salesforce to streamline the CRM by providing business applications and reducing data duplication. This includes integrating apps from the Salesforce AppExchange. At Oktana, we’ve built and managed several Salesforce AppExchange apps including one of our own, Tok for real-time communication with Chatter.
Also, we have worked on implementing MuleSoft solutions since it was first acquired by Salesforce and we are experts at customizing and integrating the new Anypoint Platform™.
2. Code-based Salesforce Integration
Salesforce integration can also be done using programming languages. Apex is the default Salesforce programming language that has Java-like syntax. There are numerous advantages of using Apex, the most common ones are that it is easy to use and test, it is hosted on the Lightning Platform, and offers built-in support.
At Oktana, some of our senior staff have more than 15 years of experience programming with Apex. We’ve worked on projects that required using APEX to make API calls to external systems, allowing access to information that they needed in their Salesforce org. Integrating this way can sometimes be the only option, but it can be more work to maintain than leveraging an app-based integration.
What are the possible ways to integrate with Salesforce?
Integration typically occurs within 3 different areas: user interface (UI), business logic, and data to provide a greater level of operational efficiency, standards, and consistency to users.
1. User Interface Integration
A great way to permit users to enter multiple apps from a single platform. One such example is the Facebook or Twitter apps. Publish tweets, send messages, and follow others on Twitter automatically. Sync contact data, manage deal flow, and automate your sales pipeline in Salesforce.
2. Business Logic Integration
Use Apex to handle business logic across multiple applications. It helps extend the business logic present in Force.com with outside platforms. Apex web services are used for inbound logic integration, to write logic and express it as a web service for external applications. It provides developers with the ability to apply project-specific business logic and the flexibility to add custom logic.
3. Data Integration
Handle data synchronization needs by using SOAP and REST APIs to allow a single application in an enterprise to act as the primary source of a specific business object.
Salesforce Integration Checklist
1. Planning & Documentation
Planning and documentation of the assigned project are required to find additional insight into business needs and technical requirements for the project. It should include:
Write down the business goals
Identify data ownership
Understand integration standards & best practices
2. The Apps
The application is the most important part of any integration scheme and is vital for the successful accomplishment of the work. It is crucial to understand the apps and how they integrate. It must include:
Prepare the data
Understand the dependencies for each application
Enable APIs
Consider API limits
3. The Processes
Processes establish the flow of data from one endpoint to another, which helps in staging and modifying data before transmission to other applications.
Identify the endpoints
Provision of effective connection for custom integration & 3rd party integration tool
Determine data delivery performance for applications
Limit and control access to trusted users
At Oktana this is just one of the services that we provide to our customers. If you are looking to boost your business success and profitability request a quote from ourSalesforce integration services page. If you would like to be part of our team of Salesforce experts, check our careers page and apply for the job that best fits your skills.
