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In the highly-digitalized world of the 21st century, any business with big-time aspirations relies heavily on high-tech products to streamline and facilitate their internal workflow as well as customer services. But since the usage of ERP and CRM software is a universal practice in 2022, they will hardly give companies a competitive edge as standalone solutions. These platforms can become game-changers only after their integration with state-of-the-art know-how, above all the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud technologies. Salesforce IoT is an excellent example of such a happy marriage made in heaven (or rather in the clouds).
Salesforce is one of the top CRM systems employed by businesses all over the globe. To keep abreast of the modern IT trends, its creators launched Salesforce IoT Cloud in 2015, trying to make the best of the nascent advent of the Internet of Things. Like any other solution in this field, Salesforce IoT is honed to store and process data obtained from connected devices. Besides this primary purpose, the Salesforce IoT platform was upgraded in 2017 to enable its users to build elementary IoT apps and tailor them to their needs even without any serious coding skills.
How does Salesforce IoT work? The software is integrated with multiple Internet of Things sensors and gadgets, allowing you to monitor data registered by them in real-time. This information is then leveraged in the pipeline processes that are managed via Salesforce IoT Cloud. Moreover, devices get automated feedback from Salesforce IoT, receiving push notifications and alerts or initiating some actions (like sending users guides to fix minor issues or creating tickets for the service team to deal with more serious ones). Such a plethora of functions is enabled by the components contained in the Salesforce IoT platform.
The core of the Salesforce IoT framework is the event-processing engine called Thunder (this is why the solution is often referred to as Salesforce Thunder IoT). This mechanism collects big volumes of data that the Internet of Things devices dispatch, processes them, and triggers event-driven actions. The engine contains several elements, each with its own responsibilities.
Heroku is an Internet of Things platform whose function is to support huge amounts of data written in all programming languages we know of. This can be employed to build and manage scalable apps, making maximum use of the potential that cloud-based solutions offer. Heroku is audited on a regular basis to ensure its security and compliance (PCI and ISO included).
This solution serves as a transmission medium that allows elements within the Salesforce IoT system to exchange data via TCP protocols. To do so, the producer API provides data to be entered into the system, and the consumer API furnishes the output.
Being powered by machine learning technology, this module processes data and stores it in the cloud. It also streamlines the data-handling procedure by analyzing the frequency of requests a certain piece of information gets and displaying only the relevant metrics.
The name of this solution speaks for itself. Its job is to accelerate data processing relying on the master and worker nodes hierarchy. The tasks that it receives are assigned to free slots and then executed in accordance with the determined priority at a million-tasks-per-second rate. At the same time, tracking tools come into play to keep the system healthy.
This is a database management tool that replicates data across numerous servers. Such a move ensures flawless data processing and guarantees the stability of the entire data bank. Unlike the hierarchy-based Storm, Cassandra is grounded on an equal distribution of nodes meant to provide the system’s fault-proof functioning in case some nodes are compromised or damaged.
Thus, a typical use case of Salesforce IoT is as follows. As soon as a piece of data centers, it is directed into Kafka. From there, the profile data is captured by Spark and placed into Cassandra for updates. While all this happens, Storm utilizes Kafka-based data to tackle real-time events. Such an efficient mechanism used in Salesforce IoT promises plenty of advantages for its users.
Businesses report multiple perks that leveraging Salesforce IoT Cloud brings in its wake.
Cloud reliance opens many doors to personnel utilizing Salesforce IoT since they get access to specialized cloud-powered software. One of such tools is Einstein Analytics, which augments data processing immensely. Thanks to it, users can select relevant indices and metrics not only from the input provided by the Internet of Things devices. They also make use of ERP records, website logs, and other sources, and the tool is smart enough to offer the most suitable data visualization techniques (charts, diagrams, tables, etc.). As a result, users develop meaningful insights into the field of their query (client service, quality of products, customer behavior) to improve the organization’s performance in these domains.
The definite fortes of Einstein Analytics are its dashboard, instrumental in creating custom analytic apps, and its availability to a range of endpoints, including mobile gadgets and wearables. Plus, Salesforce extends online training to those who want to master the tool.
Taking a reactive approach means lagging behind your rivals in the cut-throat competition symptomatic of the business realm in 2022. To ride the storm, you should keep track of your major indices in real-time, and Salesforce IoT, with its data visibility powers, is a superb tool to get a bird’s-eye view of what is going on in and around your organization. Moreover, it will help you develop a proactive mode in your business operations to forestall bottlenecks and nip problems in the bud.
If your company has considerable internal assets (like vehicle fleet or machinery), Salesforce IoT is a second-to-none means of monitoring their movements, maintenance, and spare parts supply and sending instructions to manage all these aspects.
The orchestration rules that are at the heart of Salesforce IoT allow even IT laymen to utilize this software. Plus, if you put replies and triggers in place, Internet of Things devices and software will automate the lion’s share of your business routine.
In 2022, data from connected devices alone is not enough to obtain a 360-view of the client. These must be supplemented by information about the environment where purchasing decisions are taken (location, previous service history, client history, etc.). Being filtered by Thunder, such relevant data will let you have a complete picture of your customer and adopt a personalized approach in your marketing efforts to boot.
Personnel have other, more urgent or sophisticated tasks to do than to dispatch maintenance reminders, congratulations, or high usage warnings to the multitude of your clients. All such elementary tasks can be entrusted to Salesforce IoT, which will support a direct interaction channel between the smart gadget and its owner, your customer.
Salesforce IoT is a model example of a top-notch consumer service tool. By leveraging it, your reps can step up all aspects of this complicated process—from lead generation and customer engagement to issue handling and client referrals.
Being a cloud-based platform powered by the Internet of Things, this solution shows a tremendous integration capacity. For Salesforce family products and services, it is affected by Lightning Experience, and for other high-tech systems (even such complex ones as Amazon Web Services), it is carried out via REST API. Such integrations will augment the potential of the platform remarkably, providing it with additional functionalities and access to a vast collection of versatile data. It will also serve as a bridge through which employees can reach out to relevant corporate subsystems.
Despite the unquestionable benefits provided by the Salesforce IoT platform, there are certain concerns that may accompany its adoption.
As a long-time expert in developing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, NIX United would like to focus on three major issues that invariably accompany any project in this niche.
The absence of control over hardware and software employed in IoT-related products often makes organizations that onboard this technology feel ill at ease. They are worried about the safety of their financial and business data that may be stolen by cybercriminals (or competitors) to be later used against them. Such anxieties seem quite justified if we remember that most connected devices have close to no cybersecurity protection. Salesforce IoT takes care of this problem by introducing specialized identification tokens to guarantee secure access to the system.
These are characteristic of customers whose personal dossiers containing sensitive data may be tapped. Or, their financial data may be compromised, which will spell the loss of money for people and the loss of reputation for organizations who allowed such leaks to happen. To counter these harmful emergencies, companies should agree with their customers on how much personal information they would like to share and institute stringent software protection measures.
The low-code approach enabled by Salesforce IoT paves the way for all kinds of customizations that users enjoy in their bespoke apps. However, the finite roster of pre-configured elements that are available for customization endeavors serves as a limitation preventing employees from addressing the needs of the company they work for.
Once avoided, these pitfalls become no obstacle for numerous use cases Salesforce IoT can be employed in.
The implementation potential of Salesforce IoT Cloud is virtually unlimited. In which fields can it benefit most?
IoT-powered solutions can facilitate treatment and improve the quality of services rendered to patients. Wearable devices of all kinds help monitor a person’s critical health indices (blood pressure, pulse rate, glucose level, etc.) 24/7 and send alerts to doctors or caregivers who will take necessary steps to remedy the situation if the parameters deviate from normal. Activity trackers used for fitness purposes function in a similar way and issue recommendations on the diet and workout load a person gets.
Salesforce IoT can identify anomalies in the manufacturing pipeline or product standards, upgrade the supply chain, and facilitate the production cycle. For instance, Samson Rope employs Salesforce IoT to monitor the conditions of ropes that are being used by customers and detect when they need replacement, as well as manage all their production lines. The chief IoT devices used in this sector are various sensors instrumental in data gathering.
Outlets and warehouses dealing in various goods leverage sensors, RFID tags, and even smart shelves connected by the IoT software to optimize their inventory records, track the condition of products during their transportation, and send automatic orders to replenish items that are running short. The technology is also instrumental in getting insights into consumer behavior, enabling specialists to discover store departments frequented by shoppers, goods that attract their attention most, demographics of their clients, etc.
It is nice to be woken by the smell of coffee that is made by a smart coffee machine exactly when you need it and have the refrigerator restocked automatically when you are out of some food. Or, you can order your smart home appliances to have your apartment heated and rooms cleaned by the time you come home from work. The performance of these chores can be monitored via special IoT apps installed on your phone.
The concept of the smart city has been gaining significant traction lately, and many municipal authorities have introduced its elements into their operations. For example, the US town of Cary in North Carolina employed Salesforce IoT Cloud to manage its traffic light system. A lot of urban governments utilize various IoT solutions for optimizing garbage collection, waste sorting, parking lot management, etc.
Salesforce is highly efficient professional software that is employed by numerous businesses to streamline their workflows and increase efficiency. The capabilities of the cloud and the Internet of Things empower the Salesforce IoT platform to step up all shop floor operations significantly and find its application in numerous spheres of industry.
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