Plan For Your Eloqua SFDC Integration App Migration

Oracle recently announced they are ending support for their native SFDC integration on Feb 1, 2021.  If you use Salesforce as your CRM with Eloqua, now is the time to carefully consider how and when to migrate to the new SFDC Integration App.

Why is Oracle Making this Change?

The new SFDC Integration App offers several improvements over the current native integration.  For complete details of the announcement, please refer to the product notice.  Here are some of the key benefits of using the new app:

• Uses the Program Canvas, a much faster way to process information
• The interface is similar to the Campaign Canvas, making it easier to set up and maintain
• Offers more frequent inbound updates from Salesforce to Eloqua
• Supports multiple SFDC instances
• Improved filtering to prevent sending test data
• And most importantly, only the new Salesforce Integration App will see new enhancements and improvements

Don’t Wait, Start Planning Now

Your existing integration will continue to work after Feb 1, 2021, so you have time to prepare.  And you can run both the native and new SFDC Integration App at the same time, making migration and testing much more straightforward.  However, unless you migrate to the new SFDC Integration App, you won’t be able to leverage new features and performance enhancements.  Even if you don’t plan to move right away, you should begin planning now and get prepared.

SFDC Integration App Considerations

• The feeder to export data from Eloqua to SFDC only runs once per day. If you need more frequent exports, you can add a processing step to each form or add processing to other programs or campaigns, or consider using our Contact Cloud Feeder App, which allows feeds to the Program Canvas as frequently as every 5 minutes.
• The program canvas does not allow the use of a Match or Deduplication rule.
• You must use SFDC Object Query Language (SOQL) to filter imports into Eloqua from SFDC
• Installing App in Eloqua Sandbox require separate production installation and configuration.
• Form submit marketing activity will not be available until the May 2020 (20B) release

Migration Planning

As you look towards migration, we recommended the following steps.

Learn about the new SFDC Integration App

Review the SFDC Integration App documentation, training courses, FAQs, and community discussions.

Carefully document your current integration

The first step with any migration project is to review your existing data and processes.  Take care to examine your existing inbound auto-syncs your outbound processing, and document all of the steps and processing rules in all current Program Builder programs – Don’t forget Campaign integration, Campaign Responses, and Opportunity processing.  Also, use this opportunity to re-examine your existing integration confirm it’s functioning efficiently for your current business processes.  If it’s been running for more than 12 months, this is an excellent opportunity to check in with all stakeholders to see if modifications are appropriate.

Install and configure the SFDC Integration App

Then the next step is to install and configure the SFDC Integration App.  If required, ensure you complete any required internal application and security testing before installing new applications, and factor this into your schedule.  Start by installing in your Eloqua Sandbox environments if you have one, and connecting to a test SFDC instance.

Test, test and more testing

Carefully test the SFDC Integration App in your sandbox.  Create a test plan that includes data sent from Eloqua and how it should appear in SFDC and visa versa.  Walkthrough each scenario and make sure it’s working as expected.  Examine any discrepancies, and identify the cause, make the necessary corrections and retest.  We can’t stress enough the importance of documenting each test and results, and the proposed changes.  Involve SFDC users who may spot irregularities from their typical workflow.

Go live in production and monitor

Install and configure the SFDC Integration App in your production environment. Disable your auto-syncs and enable the SFDC Integration App.  Monitor daily for two weeks or more.    Setup an escalation plan and outline how teams should report any issues they encounter.

Conclusion

If you use Program Builder to process data, start preparing now, even if you don’t plan to migrate immediately.  The Program Canvas is currently not at parity with Program Builder, so you’ll need to plan for how to address these gaps.  There are many ways to bridge these gaps, including additional cloud apps.  Eventually, Oracle may end support for Program Builder, so the work you do now will help down the road.

At 4Thought Marketing, we’re already helping clients upgrade to the new SFDC Integration App, and migrate from using Program Builder to Program Canvas. We’ve helped many Eloqua customers integrate with their CRM.  Our expertise covers all phases of your migration project, from a simple “as-is” move to the new apps to full optimization to meet all current requirements.

Let us know how we can help.  Contact Us if you would like to speak with our team of experts.