Northern Trail Outfitters (NTO) uses Salesforce to track leads, opportunities, and order details that convert...

The requirement to view and update data in real-time while ens5uring the data only persists in the external system is the definition of a Data Virtualization pattern. In this architectural model, Salesforce does not store a local copy of the data (which would be Data Synchronization), but instead acts as a window into the external system of record.

An Integration Architect implements Data Virtualization primarily through Salesforce Connect. This tool allows the external system's order table to be represented as an External Object in Salesforce. Because the data is retrieved on-demand via a web service call (typically using the OData protocol), it is always "real-time." Furthermore, since Salesforce Connect supports writeable external objects, sales reps can update the order information directly from the Salesforce UI, and those changes are sent back to the external system immediately without being saved to the Salesforce database.

This approach is superior to Data Synchronization (Option A) in this specific use case because it eliminates the need for data storage costs and the complexity of keeping two databases in sync. It is also distinct from Process Orchestration (Option C), which focuses on the sequencing of tasks across multiple systems rather than the real-time presentation of external data. By utilizing Data Virtualization, NTO achieves a seamless user experience where external orders look and feel like native Salesforce records while strictly adhering to the "no persistence" constraint.