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SF CTA Study Hub

Solution Architecture

This domain covers selecting the right combination of declarative and programmatic functionality and evaluating external applications.

Objectives

  • Appropriate combination of declarative and programmatic functionality
  • Benefits, considerations, and trade-offs of incorporating external applications

Study Content

Core Topics

  • Declarative vs Programmatic Solutions — Flow Builder vs Apex, automation strategy, order of execution, governor limits, and when to use each
  • Build vs Buy & AppExchange Strategy — AppExchange evaluation framework, managed package considerations, TCO analysis, vendor scorecard, exit strategies
  • AppExchange & ISV Landscape — Key ISV solutions by category (document gen, backup, data quality, DevOps, payments, CTI, iPaaS), vendor comparison tables, CTA scenario patterns
  • Modern Platform Features — OmniStudio, Einstein AI, Agentforce, Dynamic Forms, External Services, LWC vs Aura vs Visualforce
  • Agentforce Architecture — Atlas Reasoning Engine, Agent Builder, topics and actions, Trust Layer, Data Cloud grounding, deployment patterns, CTA scenario guidance

Product, Pricing & Commerce Architecture

  • CPQ Architecture — Data model, pricing waterfall, rules engine, Advanced Approvals, CPQ vs Revenue Cloud, performance at scale, CTA scenario patterns
  • Commerce Architecture — B2C vs B2B vs B2B2C, headless/composable commerce, Order Management, integration patterns, CTA commerce scenarios

Decision Guides & Analysis

  • Decision Guides — Mermaid decision flowcharts for Flow vs Apex, build vs buy, LWC vs Aura, OmniStudio vs Flow, Screen Flow vs LWC
  • Trade-Offs — Declarative vs programmatic, native vs AppExchange, configuration vs customization analysis
  • Best Practices — Solution architecture patterns, anti-patterns, and design principles

Solution design requires balancing capabilities across multiple domains simultaneously:

  • Security — Compliance and regulatory requirements shape which design patterns are permissible
  • Integration — Available integration capabilities and middleware constrain solution choices
  • Development Lifecycle — Delivery methodology, team skills, and release cadence influence build-vs-buy decisions