Part 1: Integrating Eloqua & SFDC using the native integration

The Eloqua SFDC Native integration connector

At the production of this guide, Oracle has said that they will stop supporting the native Eloqua SFDC integration connector.  Fear not – because I am here to help you.  Personally I think the new Eloqua SFDC integration app is pretty good BUT I always like to maintain a backup integration using the native connector, AKA Integration Studio because once upon a time I was working for a company and the new Eloqua SFDC integration had a catastrophic fail which took Oracle three weeks to fix.

Overview & Preparation

Eloqua CRM Integration is a two-way synchronization between a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system and Eloqua. Newly created and recently modified Lead, Contact, and Account records from the CRM system are imported into Eloqua. Additionally, any records created or updated in Eloqua through form submissions or list uploads can be written into the CRM system based on decisions made during the integration process. Eloqua makes the assumption that the CRM system is the system of record and treats CRM data as the gold standard.

Components of an Eloqua/CRM Integration

The following components are included in the CRM Integration:

• Synchronization of Data from CRM – Newly created or modified Lead/Contact/Account records in the CRM system are updated in Eloqua. A recommended maximum of 50 fields may be integrated on any record. Data is pulled into Eloqua every 2 hours (this timeframe can be adjusted as needed).
• Updates/Creation of Data – Records that are updated or newly created in Eloqua will Update/Create corresponding records in the CRM system. A recommended maximum of 50 fields may be integrated on any record. The timing of when the data will appear in the CRM system depends on the amount of processing required in Eloqua programs and the run mode of each program.
• Internal Event Writing – Eloqua tracked activities are created as tasks in the CRM system, and include Email Click-Throughs, Website Visits, Form Submissions, Email Opt Out, and Email Bouncebacks.

Assumptions

This guide outlines a typical process for the integration of the Eloqua platform with the Enterprise or Professional versions of Salesforce (CRM) solutions. In this guide Salesforce.com will be referred to as “SFDC”.

This guide is a technical configuration document, and is not intended as a replacement for client meetings and consultation. Specifically having a proper understanding of the state of your database(s), current business processes, and objectives of the Eloqua-SFDC Integration are not considered here. This guide should be used after adequate scoping and consulting have been completed properly.

Also, this guide also does not account for:

• SFDC record quality, completeness, deduplication prior to integration with Eloqua
• SFDC data storage constraints
• Other integration points/external databases

SFDC User Setup Prerequisites

In order to properly attribute marketing contribution to the capture and updating of SFDC records (leads and contacts) and to enhance some of SFDC’s reporting capabilities with Eloqua data, it is strongly suggested that a unique SFDC User be created exclusively for the on-going data exchange of the Eloqua integration. This will also allow for more accurate troubleshooting by being able to identify changes made via the Eloqua integration vs. another user.

Enabling the Integration Area

If the CRM system is known at the time the database was provisioned, the CRM Integration area will already be enabled. Check first if you have access to the Integration area (Settings > Setup > Integration). If it is not, create a Service Request in support.oracle.com to have the Integration area enabled – be sure to note that you are working on a SFDC Integration.

Running the CRM Integration Setup

Once you have received the CRM User Name and Password, you can run the CRM Integration Setup. This can be done before receiving the final field mapping spreadsheet and is recommended to be done prior to an onsite engagement to ensure that the login details provided work properly.

To begin the CRM Integration Setup:

1. Navigate to Settings > Setup > Integration.
2. Enter the SFDC CRM Username and Password
3. Under Error Notification, enter the admin email address (SFDC or Eloqua Admin) who should be informed if a critical error should occur. Multiple email addresses can be entered and separated with a semi-colon “;”.

4. Click Start CRM Integration in the bottom right corner. The CRM Integration wizard begins to run.

5. Once the wizard has completed, the status of the integration between the two systems is displayed.

Note: If any error messages are received, you must troubleshoot before proceeding to the next step in the integration wizard. If the errors were created in the Push/Pull settings the wizard will still complete.

The CRM Integration Setup completes the following:

1. Validate CRM Login – This checks that the CRM User Name and Password are accurate and that Eloqua can communicate with the SFDC system.

2. Setup Eloqua Business Logic – This step sets up the CRM Integration logic in Eloqua that dictates the following:
   • When a Lead in SFDC doesn’t exist Eloqua will create a New Lead in SFDC
   • When a Lead in SFDC does exist Eloqua will update the Lead in SFDC
   • When a Contact in SFDC does exist Eloqua will update the Contact in SFDC

Note: This logic will be updated and customized by using Eloqua’s workflow automation tool Program Builder. This will be discussed at greater length in a later section.

3. Examine CRM System Configuration and Field Names – This step pulls all of the data objects and associated fields from SFDC and displays them in Eloqua for integration purposes.

Note: The Integration wizard will attempt to create the necessary External Calls in order to set up your integration. If certain fields are not accessible, you will see an error.  You will need to ensure that the specified fields are accessible to the CRM user as readable/writable fields if these fields are selected on your client’s Field Mapping spreadsheet. As the Integration Wizard cannot be ‘re-run’, updates will need to be made manually to the necessary External Calls to select and map the fields. If these fields are not part of the client’s set of integrated fields, then you can ignore this error.

4. Setup Eloqua Data Push/Pull settings – This step sets up the necessary External Calls in Eloqua to update SFDC and synchronize data back from SFDC to Eloqua.

5. Setup Automatic Data Syncs from CRM System – This step sets up the auto synchs to pull data from SFDC.

6. Create Web Links – This step creates the Eloqua Web Links “Contact Activity Overview” and “Lead Activity Overview” that can be added to page layouts in SFDC. This step also detects the current custom links on the Lead and Contact entities within SFDC.
7. Enable CRM Integration – This step completes the CRM Integration process and enables Internal Events and External Calls.