When people think of External Objects, they think data sync. But I’ve started using them to improve the user experience in Salesforce.
Examples:
Viewing external inventory or availability directly from a record page
Displaying past transaction history from a billing system
Creating read-only snapshots of data that doesn’t need to live inside the org
Permission Set Groups are one of the cleanest admin upgrades Salesforce has introduced—and I now use them to enforce structure and clarity across our org.
Instead of assigning a dozen permission sets individually, I:
Create logical groups like “Core Consultant Access” or “Service Manager Tools”
Add or remove permission sets centrally
Apply muting permissions when necessary (yes, you can subtract access too)
Both Platform Events and Change Data Capture (CDC) are great tools for loosely coupled integrations—but they serve different use cases.
How I decide:
Platform Events are best for intentional actions (e.g. “ReservationConfirmed”)
CDC is best for passive data sync (e.g. whenever a Contact is updated)
“Steven. I’m late.” I could feel these whispered words echo in the hollow of my ear, reverberating with hope and a little fear.