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Questions
What is the architectural change Marketo is making?
Today, we have two packages in the Salesforce AppExchange:
- The Marketo Lead Management (MLM) Package
- The Marketo Sales Insight (MSI) Package
When installed, the MLM package auto creates a set of fields in Salesforce. Marketo populates these fields with data as a part of our regular sync. The MLM package is not currently required for syncing. However, it has been a prerequisite to install before you install the MSI package.
The MLM package has reached the end of life and is going to be retired. The MSI package will no longer be dependent on the MLM package and our customers will be able to directly install the MSI package. As a result, Marketo will stop updating the fields created by the MLM package. The configuration change will begin on August 15th and will be staggered out over the next 6 months. If some or all of the fields created by the MLM package are important to your organization, you can recreate them by following the instructions here: Adding Marketo Fields to Salesforce
How will the primary Salesforce integration affected?
It won't be. Marketo continues to invest in and create value for customers through our strategic partnership with Salesforce.com. Because of this, we’re excited to share some news with you on our continued commitment to our partnership. Please see the documentation here for more information: Marketo Continues Best-In-Class Integration with Salesforce for Customers
We never installed the MLM package. Does this change affect us?
No, it does not.
Do I need to uninstall the MLM package from my Salesforce instance?
No. Marketo will simply not update the fields created by this package. If you prefer to uninstall the MLM package, that’s fine too. There will be no impact to the data in those fields.
If I do uninstall the MLM package, should I do that before or after recreating the new fields?
It's best to recreate the new fields prior to uninstalling the MLM package.
What should I be aware of before making these changes?
We've prepared lots of documentation (found at the bottom of the doc here) that should be reviewed prior to making the configuration changes here. Some customers may have other dependencies on the affected fields, (such as Workflows, ApexTriggers, other AppExchange packages, Formula Fields, or Reports), so these should be evaluated before making the changes. Check out our documentation here for more detailed information: Changes to Marketo Salesforce Sync – Preventative Troubleshooting
Is there any data loss?
No, the fields in the MLM package consist of marketing data that will continue to exist in your Marketo instance. If you would still like to have them in Salesforce, you can create new fields, and Marketo will sync the data to Salesforce. Instructions to create these new fields are documented here: Adding Marketo Fields to Salesforce
What if I do nothing?
Both MSI and your sync will continue to work. However, once the sync of data is shut down on January 31st, 2017, Marketo will no longer be able to update the fields that were created by the MLM package. This can result in stale data in Salesforce, as data for these fields will continue to change in Marketo, but will not be pushed to Salesforce.
Do we need to create all the fields? We only care about Lead Score.
Since we are sun setting the MLM package, there is no longer an “all or nothing” proposition. You can create just the fields you want in Salesforce.
Can we create a few fields now, and a few later?
Yes, you can create some of the fields now, and some later when/if you need it.
What happens once we create these new fields?
Once you create these new fields, Marketo will automatically recognize these fields in the next sync cycle and map them to the appropriate Marketo fields. Marketo then starts a background process independent of the regular sync to update Salesforce with values from Marketo. For example:
- You create a new field in Salesforce for Lead Score on the lead and the contact. The API name for this field per our instructions is mkto71_Lead_Score__c
- In the next sync cycle, Marketo detects that this field has been created and automatically maps it to the Lead Score field in Marketo.
- A background process is kicked off automatically to start populating these new fields in Salesforce with the appropriate Lead Score from Marketo.
- Once the “backfill” is done, a notification is sent to the Notification Center letting you know that this process is complete. Think of the backfill process as an initial sync where we push data for these fields into Salesforce.
How long will it take for Marketo to complete this “backfill”?
It is tough to give an exact timeframe. To a large extent it depends on the number of records Marketo needs to update in Salesforce. As a rule of thumb we expect to update at roughly the rate of 10K records per hour.
Will this affect my Salesforce sync backlog?
The backfill process is separate from our regular sync queues and will not be affected by any backlog there may be in your instance. However, when Salesforce is updated with data during the backfill, it will change the SysModStamp of the records updated. This in turn will require our regular sync to check if any of the other fields have changed on these records. This check is done as a part of the regular sync and could have an impact on your backlog for a short period of time.
For a particular field eg: Lead Score, do we need to create it both on the Lead and the Contact?
While not absolutely required, it is highly recommended that for any field that you need, it is created on both the Lead and the Contact. Don’t forget to setup the conversion mapping in Salesforce too.
Is there any change to MSI?
Your MSI package has already been patched to remove the dependencies it has on the MLM package. This will allow you to uninstall the MLM package if you want to. Additionally, if you currently use the “Debug Mode” setting in Sales Insight Config (very rare), the mouse over on Stars in the Best Bets sections will no longer show the Lead Score.
I have some other questions not covered here. How do I get them answered?
Discussion thread
We've created this discussion thread in the community to address any questions you may have. This discussion thread will be monitored by the Marketo team to ensure you get answers to your questions: Changes to Marketo Salesforce Sync – Questions and Discussion
Recap Summary
Now that the changes have been completed, and the deprecation date has passed, this doc will give you the overview of what has happened: Changes to Marketo Salesforce Sync - Recap Summary
Overview Documentation
This doc will give you a high level overview of what the configuration changes are and what to expect moving forward: Changes to Marketo Salesforce Sync - Overview
Release Schedule
The release is being staggered over the course of 6 months. This doc will give you exact details so you can know precisely when your Marketo instance will be updated: Changes to Marketo Salesforce Sync – Release Schedule
Under the Hood Documentation
This doc will give you all of the nitty gritty details of exactly what is happening. If you're looking for in depth technical details, this is the go-to doc to check out!
Changes to Marketo Salesforce Sync – Under The Hood
Recreating Affected Fields
There are different versions of Salesforce, but don't worry, all of the details on how to recreate the affected fields as well as a video tutorial can all be found in the documentation here: Adding Marketo Fields to Salesforce
Preventing Problems In Salesforce
Recreating the new fields in Salesforce can cause your Workflows, Apex Triggers, Reports and AppExchange apps behave differently. They'll need to be updated and this doc will show you what to watch out for: Changes to Marketo Salesforce Sync – Preventative Troubleshooting
Contact Marketo Support
If you would prefer to talk to someone live, please contact Marketo Support over any of the channel listed here: Contact Marketo Support
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