RESOLVING SALESFORCE AUTHENTICATION FAILURE TO RESTORE DATA FLOW
OVERVIEW
A global enterprise educational program experienced a critical authentication failure in one of its Salesforce instances, disrupting data synchronization and downstream reporting. This failure threatened timely access to key program metrics, affecting decision-making and operational continuity. Fiduciary Tech implemented a solution that restored data flow, maintained reporting accuracy, and ensured uninterrupted program operations.
THE CHALLENGE
The program’s Salesforce instance experienced an authentication failure due to an invalid client identifier, triggering a high-severity incident. This disruption left key objects incomplete and caused downstream Redshift tables and BI dashboards to be out of date. Program managers and HR points of contact could no longer access reliable metrics, affecting monthly reporting, priority dashboards, and overall data-driven decision-making.
OUR SOLUTION
We decoupled the primary and secondary Salesforce Bulk API workflows to isolate the authentication issue while maintaining critical data access. The secondary instance primarily contained historical data, allowing us to restore operational dashboards with minimal disruption. A comprehensive testing framework in the alpha environment validated data integrity and system stability. We also planned proactive data migrations to mitigate risks associated with S3 bucket retention policies, ensuring long-term sustainability.
KEY FEATURES
• Strategic Decoupling: Separated workflows to maintain critical operations while addressing the authentication issue
• Minimal Business Disruption: Ensured uninterrupted access to key objects and dashboards
• Comprehensive Testing Framework: Validated deployments across environments before production rollout
• Forward-Looking Risk Management: Planned data migration ahead of storage lifecycle policies to prevent future issues
GLOBAL IMPACT/RESULTS
• Restored data flow for key objects: Contact, ContactHistory, and RecordType
• Resolved high-severity incident without affecting core business operations
• Maintained accurate reporting for monthly and priority dashboards
• Ensured uninterrupted access to program metrics for managers and HR points of contact
• Established a scalable solution across multiple environments
• Created a sustainable plan for future data migrations and technical debt management
TECHNOLOGIES & SERVICES
AWS Step Functions: Orchestration of Salesforce data extraction workflows
AWS S3: Storage for Salesforce Bulk API extracts with a 540-day lifecycle policy
AWS Glue: Data crawling and ETL processing
AWS CloudFormation: Infrastructure deployment
Salesforce Bulk API: Large dataset extraction
Salesforce SOAP API: Alternative authentication testing
Primary Salesforce Instance: Main educational data management
Secondary Salesforce Instance: Historical case data management
CONCLUSION
The project restored reliable Salesforce data access, enabling the program to maintain accurate reporting and operational continuity. The solution safeguards decision-making, ensures business continuity, and positions the program for future scalability and success.