Scenario Types & Reading Strategies

Common industry types found in CTA scenarios, what the scenario document typically contains, and strategies for rapid parsing during the 180-minute preparation window.

Scenario Patterns — Common Business Scenarios

Industry Types

CTA scenarios draw from a wide range of industries. Based on analysis of 27+ publicly available mock scenarios and community accounts of real exam experiences, these are the most common verticals:

Industry	Example Scenarios	Why It Appears
Financial Services / Insurance	Pollard Financial Services, Musicians Incorporated (insurance)	Complex compliance, multi-entity structures, data residency, regulatory requirements
Healthcare / Medical	Medical Equipment, Healthcare & Compliance Challenge	HIPAA-like regulations, patient data sensitivity, compliance-heavy integration
Retail / E-Commerce	Innovative Retailers, Retail & Supply Chain Focus, High End Clothing	B2C + B2B models, CPQ, commerce integrations, seasonal scaling
Manufacturing / Supply Chain	United Builders, Constructus Temporary Buildings	ERP integration, field service, IoT, asset management, complex data models
Transportation / Logistics	Universal Parcel, City Scooter Share, Roads for Everyone	Real-time tracking, route optimization, high-volume transactions, mobile-first
Agriculture / Food	Greens & Veg, Wine & Sunflowers	Farm-to-table supply chain, seasonal operations, partner portals
Education / Non-Profit	Laptop to Schools	Grant management, volunteer coordination, community engagement
Technology / SaaS	Online Wizz, Lightning Utility, Digital	Platform-on-platform challenges, subscription models, self-service portals
Environmental / Sustainability	Green Roof Systems, Greenhouse Recycling	Emerging industry complexity, IoT data streams, regulatory reporting
Entertainment / Events	Xmas Santa Clause, Flower Racing	Event management, seasonal spikes, consumer-facing applications
Automotive	Pioneer Auto, Galaxy Cars (retired)	Dealer networks, warranty management, connected vehicle data
Staffing / HR	Hire Me Services	Candidate matching, multi-stakeholder workflows, job board integrations
Furniture / Home	Modern Furniture, Baby Box	Order management, delivery logistics, customer service

Company Sizes and Complexity Levels

Scenarios are designed to force enterprise-level thinking. Typical characteristics include:

Global operations spanning 2-5+ regions (North America, EMEA, APAC common)
Multiple business units or subsidiaries with different processes
User populations ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of internal users
External user communities (customers, partners, dealers) adding access complexity
Revenue scale implying enterprise licensing and multi-cloud Salesforce deployments
Acquisitions or mergers creating multi-org or system consolidation challenges

Common Business Problems Presented

Nearly every scenario includes a mix of these recurring business challenges:

System consolidation — legacy systems being replaced or integrated with Salesforce
Global rollout — phased deployment across regions with different requirements
Data migration — moving data from multiple legacy systems with quality issues
Customer 360 — unifying customer data across channels and business units
Partner/channel management — dealer networks, resellers, or franchise models
Self-service portals — customer or partner communities with specific access needs
Field service or mobile workforce — employees who need offline-capable mobile access
Compliance and regulation — data residency, industry-specific regulations, audit trails
Reporting and analytics — executive dashboards, cross-system reporting, BI integration
Process automation — complex approval workflows spanning multiple departments

Scenario Components — What the Document Typically Contains

Typical Scenario Document Structure

A CTA scenario is approximately 8-10 pages, single-spaced. The document is a comprehensive narrative about a hypothetical company. Important: scenarios do not always follow a rigid section structure. Some use a “novelty approach” where information is scattered throughout the narrative rather than organized into clean sections. This is intentional — it tests your ability to extract and organize information from unstructured requirements, just like a real client engagement.

Standard Content Sections

Despite structural variation, every scenario contains information that maps to these areas:

Company Overview and Context

Company name, industry, founding story
Organizational structure (divisions, subsidiaries, regions)
Business model and revenue streams
Growth trajectory and future ambitions
Number of employees and their roles
Customer types and segments
Partner ecosystem

Current State Architecture

Existing CRM or enterprise systems (often a legacy CRM being replaced)
Current Salesforce implementation (if any) — orgs, products, customizations
Other enterprise systems (ERP, HRIS, billing, marketing automation)
Current integration landscape — how systems connect today
Known pain points and technical debt
Current data volumes and growth rates
Existing identity and authentication infrastructure

Business Requirements

Functional requirements for each business process (sales, service, marketing, etc.)
Process flows that must be supported
User stories or use cases (sometimes implicit rather than explicit)
Reporting and dashboard requirements
Mobile access requirements
Self-service portal requirements
Specific feature requests from stakeholders

Technical Constraints

Budget limitations (sometimes stated, sometimes implied)
Timeline constraints and phasing requirements
Technology mandates (e.g., “must use existing SAP ERP”)
Platform constraints (governor limits, license restrictions)
Performance requirements (response times, data volumes)
Availability requirements (uptime SLAs)

Stakeholder Concerns

CIO priorities (TCO, vendor consolidation, IT governance)
VP Sales concerns (pipeline visibility, forecasting, mobile access)
VP Service concerns (case resolution time, customer satisfaction, omnichannel)
IT Director concerns (maintainability, support, developer productivity)
Compliance Officer concerns (data privacy, audit trails, regulatory adherence)
End-user adoption concerns

Integration Landscape

Enterprise systems requiring integration (ERP, billing, marketing, analytics)
Third-party services (payment processors, shipping providers, credit bureaus)
Data flows between systems (direction, frequency, volume)
API availability and constraints of external systems
Real-time vs. batch requirements
Error handling and retry expectations

Data Considerations

Current data volumes per object/entity
Expected growth rates
Data quality issues in legacy systems
Data migration scope and constraints
Archival and retention requirements
Reporting data needs (real-time vs. historical)
Master data management implications

How to Read the Scenario — Strategies for Rapid Parsing

The Two-Pass Reading Method

Recommended approach

Most successful CTAs use a two-pass reading technique during the 3-hour preparation window. Do not try to solution while reading the first time.

Pass 1: Skim for Structure (15-20 minutes)

Read the entire scenario quickly to understand the overall picture
Identify the company, its industry, and the scope of the project
Note how many systems, user types, and regions are involved
Get a sense of the complexity level
Do NOT start solutioning yet

Pass 2: Detailed Read with Annotation (25-35 minutes)

Read again carefully, this time annotating as you go
Highlight or mark requirements by domain (see color coding below)
Note ambiguities and where you will need to make assumptions
Start identifying the “Big 3” diagram elements: systems in the landscape, key data objects, user roles
Begin sketching rough artifact outlines

Annotation / Color-Coding System

Use a consistent marking system to categorize requirements as you read:

Color/Mark	Domain	What to Look For
Blue	System Architecture	Systems mentioned, org strategy clues, mobile references, reporting needs, license implications
Red	Security	User types, access requirements, authentication mentions, data sensitivity, compliance references
Green	Data	Data volumes, migration mentions, object relationships, archival needs, data quality references
Orange	Solution Architecture	Feature requirements, AppExchange references, build vs. buy decisions, declarative vs. code
Purple	Integration	External systems, data flows, real-time vs. batch needs, API references, middleware mentions
Yellow	Dev Lifecycle	Timeline, phasing, team structure, governance, testing requirements, release cadence
Pink	Communication	Stakeholder concerns, executive priorities, change management references

Time Allocation During Preparation (180 minutes)

Activity	Time	Notes
First read (skim)	15-20 min	Understand scope and context
Second read (annotate)	25-35 min	Mark requirements by domain, note ambiguities
System Landscape diagram	20-25 min	All systems, integration points, data flows
Data Model diagram	20-25 min	Key objects, relationships, volumes
Role Hierarchy / Security diagram	15-20 min	Users, roles, sharing, identity flows
Integration details	10-15 min	Patterns per integration point
Dev Lifecycle / Governance	10-15 min	Environments, branching, release plan
Presentation flow / speaking notes	15-20 min	Story structure, transitions
Review and gap check	10-15 min	Verify all domains and requirements covered
Buffer	10-15 min	Absorb overruns from any area

Time trap

The most common time management failure is spending too long on the data model or system landscape and running out of time for governance, dev lifecycle, and presentation preparation. Set hard time limits and move on.

What to Build While Reading

Draw artifacts incrementally as you read rather than waiting until you finish:

As you read about current state systems: Start sketching the system landscape
As you read about data entities and relationships: Start the data model
As you read about user types and access: Start the role hierarchy
As you read about external systems: Add integration arrows to the system landscape