SF-Data-Arch Practice Questions 2 — 50 Questions

Question 1

A global Salesforce org has implemented a data governance framework. The governance team needs to ensure that data is retained according to legal and regulatory requirements, and that it is securely deleted when no longer needed. They are evaluating Salesforce's native capabilities for data lifecycle management. Which statement accurately describes a limitation or behavior of Salesforce's native data retention and deletion features that the team must consider?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Salesforce Field Audit Trail can be used to retain field history for up to 10 years, but it does not automatically delete the data after the retention period; manual intervention is required.. Field Audit Trail retains field history for up to 10 years, but it does not automatically delete data after that period. Manual deletion or archiving is required to enforce retention limits. This is a critical limitation for data lifecycle governance, as organizations must implement their own processes to purge data when it is no longer needed, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

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When a record is deleted in Salesforce, it is immediately and permanently removed from all backups and disaster recovery systems, ensuring compliance with right-to-erasure requests.

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Salesforce automatically archives inactive records to a separate cold storage system after 2 years, and users can retrieve them via a standard API.

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Salesforce provides a built-in data retention policy engine that automatically deletes records based on custom retention rules without any development.

Question 2

A Salesforce data architect is explaining the concept of a 'golden record' to business stakeholders. Which statement best describes a golden record in a master data management context?

Accepted Answer

A single, authoritative version of a master data entity that is trusted across the enterprise.. A golden record is the single, authoritative version of a master data entity that is trusted across the enterprise. It is created by applying survivorship rules to data from multiple source systems, ensuring the best values are selected. It is not simply the latest, static, or a Salesforce-only merged record. This concept is foundational to MDM.

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A record that is stored in the system of record and never changed.

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The most recently updated record from any source system.

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A duplicate-free record created by merging all duplicate records in Salesforce.

Question 3

A data architect is planning to implement a Skinny Table for a custom object with 10 million records to improve query performance. Which two considerations are critical when designing the Skinny Table? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The Skinny Table requires a synchronization mechanism to keep data current with the main object.. A Skinny Table is a denormalized copy of a subset of fields from a large object, used to accelerate specific queries. The two critical considerations are selecting only the fields needed for common queries to minimize row size, and implementing a synchronization mechanism to keep the copy up to date. Without these, the Skinny Table would either be too large to be effective or become inconsistent with the source data.

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The Skinny Table can be used as the primary data source for all reporting to replace the main object.

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The Skinny Table should be indexed on all fields to maximize query flexibility.

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The Skinny Table must include all fields from the original object to maintain data integrity.

Question 4

The governance board at a financial services firm wants to know when critical fields on the Opportunity object were changed, who changed them, and what the previous value was, without writing custom code. Which native capability should the architect enable?

Accepted Answer

Enable Field History Tracking on the selected Opportunity fields. The board wants a native, no-code record of when critical Opportunity fields changed, who changed them, and the prior values. Field History Tracking provides exactly that for selected fields and requires only configuration. Chatter notifications, custom Flow logging, and nightly exports each capture partial or indirect information and cannot deliver a reliable, attributed field-change history.

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Build a Flow that writes a record to a custom log object on every Opportunity update

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Schedule a nightly Data Loader export of Opportunity records for comparison

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Create a Workflow Rule that posts to Chatter when Opportunity fields change

Question 5

Northern Trail Outfitters has a Salesforce org where the Account object contains 40 custom fields, many of which were created by different teams over five years. No one is certain which fields are actively used, which are populated by integrations, and which are safe to remove. The CIO asks the data architect to establish ongoing visibility into field usage and data provenance. Which approach best addresses this governance gap?

Accepted Answer

Create a data dictionary and metadata inventory that documents each field's purpose, source system, and owning team, and establish a review cadence to keep it current.. The core issue is a lack of documented knowledge about existing fields and their origins. A data dictionary paired with a metadata inventory captures purpose, source, and ownership for each field, and a review cadence keeps it trustworthy over time. This combination gives leadership the ongoing visibility needed to make informed deprecation and consolidation decisions rather than guessing from a single usage metric.

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Enable Field Audit Trail on all 40 custom fields and rely on the audit history as the primary source of field usage documentation.

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Restrict field creation permissions to system administrators and freeze the Account object schema to prevent further sprawl.

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Run a one-time report on field population rates and delete all fields with less than 10% fill rate.

Question 6

An enterprise Salesforce org has multiple business units that each maintain their own picklist values for the Industry field on Account. This has caused inconsistent reporting and integration failures. The Data Governance Council mandates a single, standardized Industry picklist across all business units. Which approach best enforces this standardization while allowing controlled local extensions?

Accepted Answer

Use a global picklist value set for the Industry field and allow each business unit to add values only through a formal governance request process that updates the global set.. The governance council needs one standardized Industry picklist while still permitting controlled local additions. A global picklist value set provides the single source of truth, and a formal request process ensures any new values are reviewed and added centrally. This prevents uncontrolled divergence, keeps integrations and reporting consistent, and gives business units a governed path to request extensions.

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Leave each business unit with its own custom picklist and create a formula field that maps local values to a standardized set for reporting.

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Replace the Industry field with a text field and rely on a validation rule that checks values against a custom setting maintained by each business unit.

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Create a single global picklist value set and assign it to the Industry field on Account for all business units, with no ability for local additions.

Question 7

A Salesforce architect is designing a data integration strategy to synchronize 5 million records daily from an external ERP system into Salesforce. The integration must handle upserts, minimize API calls, and avoid governor limits. The external system can provide data in CSV format and supports REST APIs. Which approach should the architect recommend?

Accepted Answer

Use the Bulk API 2.0 with parallel processing and CSV data.. Bulk API 2.0 is specifically built for high-volume data operations, supporting CSV input and parallel processing. It minimizes API calls by handling large batches in a single job and is designed to avoid governor limits through asynchronous processing. SOAP and REST APIs are better for smaller, real-time integrations, and the Streaming API is for outbound messaging. Therefore, Bulk API 2.0 is the correct choice for daily synchronization of millions of records.

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Use the SOAP API with a batch size of 200 records per call.

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Use the Streaming API to push records from the ERP system into Salesforce.

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Use the REST API with composite requests to combine multiple records per call.

Question 8

A Salesforce data architect is migrating 100,000 Opportunity records from a legacy system. The legacy data includes a custom field 'Legacy_Region__c' that must be mapped to a new picklist field 'Region__c' in Salesforce. The picklist values in Salesforce are: 'North America', 'Europe', 'Asia', 'Latin America'. The legacy data uses values like 'NA', 'EU', 'APAC', 'LATAM'. What is the most efficient way to transform the data during migration?

Accepted Answer

Perform the transformation in an ETL tool before loading the data.. The most efficient way to transform legacy values to match Salesforce picklist values is to perform the transformation in an ETL tool before loading. This avoids load errors and ensures data quality. Formula fields, post-load updates, and workflow rules are either not possible or inefficient for this purpose.

Answer

Load the legacy values as-is and then use Data Loader to update the picklist values.

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Use a formula field in Salesforce to convert the legacy values after loading.

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Create a workflow rule to update the picklist field based on the legacy field.

Question 9

Universal Containers wants to ensure that when a user updates a field on an Account record, the change is captured and stored for auditing purposes. The solution must be configurable without writing code and must retain field history for up to 18 months. What should a data architect implement?

Accepted Answer

Enable Field History Tracking on the Account object for the required fields.. Field History Tracking is the standard declarative feature for auditing field changes. It automatically records changes, retains them for up to 18 months, and requires no code. Other options either involve code, track the wrong type of activity, or do not store historical data, making them unsuitable for this requirement.

Answer

Configure a workflow rule to send an email notification on field change.

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Create a trigger on the Account object to write changes to a custom object.

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Use Salesforce Shield Event Monitoring to track field changes.

Question 10

A data architect is reviewing a custom object that has grown to 8 million records. Users report that list views and reports are slow because they sort on a text field, Priority__c, which has only three possible values. What should the architect recommend to improve performance?

Accepted Answer

Remove sorting on Priority__c from list views and reports, and instead sort on an indexed field or filter on a more selective field.. For large data volumes, query performance is heavily influenced by field selectivity. A field with only three distinct values is not selective, so sorting or filtering on it forces the platform to scan many records. The best approach is to avoid sorting on such fields and instead use an indexed, high-cardinality field for sorting or filtering. This reduces the data set the query must process.

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Enable Divisions on the object and assign records to divisions based on Priority__c.

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Request a custom index on Priority__c to speed up sorting.

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Convert Priority__c to a picklist field with a restricted set of values to improve selectivity.

Question 11

An architect is choosing between storing a new data domain in a custom object versus using Big Objects in Salesforce. The dataset is expected to reach billions of records with append-only writes and infrequent, key-based reads. Which two characteristics make Big Objects the appropriate choice for this scenario? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Big Objects provide an indexed, query-optimized access path for retrieving records by defined key fields.. Big Objects exist to handle data volumes beyond what custom objects can practically store, and they add an architect-defined index that makes key-based retrieval efficient at that scale. Together, scalability and indexed async query access are the two defining reasons to choose Big Objects for this append-only, high-volume domain.

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Big Objects support full DML operations including update and delete through the standard user interface.

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Big Objects replicate data across every Salesforce instance for real-time reporting in standard reports.

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Big Objects allow roll-up summary fields and validation rules on the object.

Question 12

Universal Containers has a custom object Invoice__c with 8 million records. Users report that list views and reports filtering on the Invoice_Status__c picklist field are slow. The field is not indexed. What should the data architect do to improve query performance?

Accepted Answer

Create a custom index on the Invoice_Status__c field.. Custom indexes are the standard mechanism to improve query performance on large custom objects when filtering on a custom field. Because Invoice_Status__c is not indexed, queries perform full table scans across 8 million records. Requesting a custom index on that field allows the database to quickly locate matching rows, improving list view and report responsiveness without altering the data model or field type.

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Convert the picklist to a text field and enable indexing.

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Enable the 'Allow Reports' setting on the field.

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Create a formula field that returns the picklist value and filter on that instead.

Question 13

A Salesforce data architect is asked to ensure that account records created by the sales team always include a valid 15-character or 18-character Salesforce ID in a custom external identifier field used by an ERP integration. The ERP rejects records without a valid ID. Which Salesforce feature should the architect use to enforce this at the point of data entry?

Accepted Answer

Validation rules on the Account object that verify the external identifier field is populated and matches the expected ID pattern.. Validation rules are the native Salesforce mechanism to enforce required values and format constraints at save time. A REGEX check can confirm the external identifier is a valid 15- or 18-character ID, blocking bad records before they reach the ERP. Triggers, field-level security, and email alerts do not prevent invalid data from being saved, so they cannot satisfy the integration requirement.

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Field-level security settings that make the external identifier field required for all profiles.

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Apex triggers that call the ERP synchronously and roll back the transaction if the ERP rejects the record.

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A record-triggered flow that sends an email alert to the sales manager when the identifier is missing.

Question 14

A data architect is designing a data governance program for a Salesforce MDM implementation that spans Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and an external data warehouse. Which two capabilities are essential to include in the governance model? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

A defined data stewardship role with authority to resolve match exceptions and approve merges.. A functioning MDM governance model needs both accountability and measurement. Stewardship assigns human ownership for resolving exceptions and approving merges, while defined quality dimensions and thresholds give the program objective success criteria. Integration patterns, UI standardization, and administrator-only editing are technical or operational choices that do not by themselves establish governance over master data.

Answer

Enabling Lightning Experience for all users to standardize the interface used for master data entry.

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A nightly full refresh of all Salesforce records into the data warehouse using Bulk API 2.0.

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Configuring field-level security so that only system administrators can edit any master data attribute.

Question 15

Universal Containers maintains customer master data in Salesforce and a legacy ERP. The data architect needs to ensure that when a customer's address is updated in Salesforce, the change is automatically reflected in the ERP within 15 minutes. The ERP does not support outbound calls. Which Salesforce feature should be used to achieve this near real-time synchronization?

Accepted Answer

Change Data Capture with a middleware subscribing to the change event stream. Change Data Capture provides a near real-time stream of record changes that an external middleware can consume and use to update the ERP. It is the most direct and scalable way to synchronize address changes without requiring the ERP to call Salesforce. Scheduled jobs and outbound messages introduce latency or require specific endpoints, while Platform Events add an unnecessary layer.

Answer

Platform Event published by a Process Builder on Account update

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Scheduled Apex job that queries modified Accounts and calls the ERP API

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Outbound Message on the Account object

Question 16

A data architect at Northern Trail Outfitters is designing a master data management solution where customer records from Salesforce and a legacy ERP must be consolidated into a single golden record. The architect must ensure that the most recent address is always used, but if the most recent address is from the legacy ERP, it should only be used if it has been verified. Which MDM concept should be implemented to achieve this?

Accepted Answer

Survivorship rules with trust scores. Survivorship rules with trust scores allow the MDM system to apply business logic such as 'most recent, but verified for legacy ERP' when consolidating records. Trust scores can be assigned based on data source and verification status, ensuring the golden record reflects the most reliable and recent information.

Answer

Deterministic matching

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Data lineage tracking

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Data stewardship workflows

Question 17

A healthcare organization is building a data governance program for its Salesforce org. The compliance officer wants a documented record of who owns each data domain, what the approved data definitions are, and how changes to those definitions are approved. Which artifact should the architect establish as the authoritative source for this information?

Accepted Answer

A data governance charter and data dictionary that define domain ownership, approved definitions, and the change-approval workflow.. The compliance officer is asking for documented accountability, agreed definitions, and a controlled change process. A governance charter defines the program's roles, decision rights, and approval paths, while a data dictionary records the approved definition and owner for each data domain. Together they form the authoritative governance reference that can be audited and maintained over time.

Answer

A Salesforce report listing all custom objects and their record counts.

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A set of validation rules that enforce data entry standards on key objects.

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An integration architecture diagram showing how data flows between Salesforce and external systems.

Question 18

An org has a custom object 'Invoice__c' with a Lookup to Account. Users frequently complain that deleting an Account leaves orphaned Invoice records, and reports show Invoices with no Account. The business wants the platform to prevent an Invoice from being saved without a valid Account. Which change should the architect make?

Accepted Answer

Convert the Lookup to a Master-Detail relationship from Invoice__c to Account.. A Master-Detail relationship enforces the parent reference at the data layer, so records cannot be saved without a valid Account and referenced Accounts cannot be deleted while children exist. This is the native way to eliminate orphaned child records across UI, API, and data-load paths.

Answer

Mark the Lookup field as required on the page layout only.

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Create a validation rule that checks whether the Account field is blank.

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Enable a duplicate rule that flags Invoices with a null Account.

Question 19

Universal Containers notices severe locking issues and transaction failures when updating a parent Account object that has over 15,000 child records in a master-detail relationship. What is the fundamental architectural cause of this behavior?

Accepted Answer

Parent-level database locks occur and cascade down to evaluate child records, causing row-level contention.. Master-detail relationships enforce strict parent-level locking during record saves to maintain relational integrity and roll-up summary calculations. When a parent record is updated, the platform locks the parent and cascades lock checks across associated child records. Having thousands of children spikes the probability of database contention, leading directly to row-level locking exceptions and transaction failures.

Answer

The platform automatically generates criteria-based sharing recalculations for every child record.

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Custom triggers on the child object execute recursively because of the master-detail cascading save mechanism.

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Roll-up summary fields exceed maximum calculation limits when evaluating more than 10,000 records.

Question 20

A data architect is designing a master data management strategy for customer data in Salesforce. The company wants to ensure data quality and consistency across systems. Which two practices should the architect recommend to maintain a single source of truth? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Establish a data governance council to define policies and standards. A data stewardship program and a data governance council are both strategic practices that establish accountability and policies for master data. They ensure that data is managed consistently, which is essential for a single source of truth. The other options are either tactical tools or unrelated to data quality management.

Answer

Use Salesforce's duplicate management rules to prevent duplicate records

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Schedule nightly data backups of Salesforce

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Enable field history tracking on all customer fields