If you’ve got data in Salesforce and you want it to play nice with another system, you’ve probably heard that integration can be a pain. Enter Ocean—a tool that promises to sync your Salesforce data without the headaches. This guide is for admins, ops folks, or anyone who’s been told, “Just make Salesforce and Ocean talk to each other.” I’ll walk you through the process, flag common gotchas, and give you a sense of what actually works (and what’s just marketing).
Why bother syncing Ocean with Salesforce?
Before you dive in, be clear on why you’re integrating. Are you trying to automate lead flow? Keep customer records consistent? Or just tired of CSV imports? If you don’t know what problem you’re solving, you’ll end up with a mess of fields and broken automations.
A few real reasons people do this:
- Stop double-entry between platforms
- Automate workflows (like onboarding or renewals)
- Get a single view of customer data
- Cut down on manual data cleanup
If none of those sound like your problem, you probably don’t need this integration.
Step 1: Prep your Salesforce and Ocean accounts
Nothing kills an integration faster than missing permissions or mismatched fields. Take 10 minutes now to check:
In Salesforce: - You’ll need admin rights—or at least enough access to manage connected apps and objects you want to sync. - Make a backup. Even if you trust yourself, it’s insurance. - Know which objects/fields you care about (Contacts, Leads, Custom Objects, etc.).
In Ocean: - Make sure you can access the integration settings. If your Ocean plan doesn’t support Salesforce, stop here. - Double-check your user role; if you’re not an admin, you’ll hit a wall later.
Pro tip: If your company has data compliance rules, check with IT before you start. Integrations can open up security risks if you’re not careful.
Step 2: Map your data (seriously, don’t skip this)
This is the most boring—and most important—part. Figure out what needs to sync, in which direction, and how often.
Ask yourself:
- Which Salesforce objects and fields do you want to sync? (Don’t just select “all”—it’ll create a mess.)
- Is the sync one-way or two-way? (Ocean supports both, but two-way syncs can cause overwrites if you’re not careful.)
- How should conflicts be handled? (If Ocean and Salesforce both update a record, which wins?)
Create a quick mapping doc:
A spreadsheet works fine. List Salesforce fields on one side, Ocean fields on the other. Fill in what matches up, and note anything that doesn’t exist in one system. If you don’t do this now, you’ll regret it when rows start vanishing.
Ignore the hype: Most integration tools say “automatic field mapping.” Sometimes it works. Usually, you’ll need to adjust things by hand, especially with custom fields.
Step 3: Set up the Salesforce connection in Ocean
Now the fun (well, technical) part. Here’s how to actually connect the two:
- In Ocean:
- Go to your Ocean dashboard and find the “Integrations” or “Connections” section.
- Select Salesforce from the list.
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Click “Connect” or “Add New Connection.”
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Authenticate:
- You’ll be redirected to Salesforce to log in and grant Ocean access.
- Ocean typically requests permissions like “Access and manage your data,” “Perform requests on your behalf,” etc. Don’t grant more than you need.
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Approve the connection.
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Configure basic settings:
- Name your connection (use something descriptive, like “Salesforce-Prod”).
- Choose your environment—most companies start with a Salesforce Sandbox, not Production. Trust me, test first.
Watch for:
- API limits: Salesforce has daily API call limits. If you’re syncing lots of data, you might hit these. Ocean usually spaces out syncs, but check your usage.
- Permission errors: If you get mysterious errors, it’s usually a permissions issue. Double-check field-level security in Salesforce.
Step 4: Set up field mapping and sync rules
Here’s where your mapping doc comes in handy.
- Select objects to sync:
- Ocean lets you pick which Salesforce objects (Leads, Contacts, Accounts, etc.) to bring over.
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Only sync what you need—more isn’t better.
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Map fields:
- Use Ocean’s interface to match Salesforce fields with Ocean fields.
- For any field that doesn’t have a direct match, decide whether to create a new field in Ocean or skip it.
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Watch out for picklists and custom field types; mismatches here can break your sync.
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Set sync direction:
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Decide which system is the “source of truth” for each field. One-way sync is safer; two-way sync can be useful but is riskier.
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Handle data conflicts:
- Most tools let you set rules like “Salesforce always wins” or “Latest update wins.”
- If you’re not sure, default to Salesforce as the source of truth—at least at first.
Pro tip:
Start simple. Sync a single object/field first, then expand. If you try to do everything at once, something will break and you won’t know where.
Step 5: Test your integration (don’t skip this)
No matter what the sales rep says, it never works perfectly on the first try.
- Start with a sandbox:
- Use dummy data if possible. Make a change in Salesforce and check if it appears in Ocean. Then try the reverse.
- Test edge cases:
- Try blank fields, weird characters, and duplicate records. See what happens.
- Check logs:
- Ocean usually provides sync logs. Look for errors or skipped records.
- Get feedback from users:
- Ask the folks who actually use the data if it looks right.
If you hit issues:
- Most common problems: permissions, field type mismatches, API limits, or duplicate records.
- Don’t spend hours troubleshooting alone—reach out to Ocean support, or look up error messages in the Salesforce community.
Step 6: Roll out to production (carefully)
If your testing looks good, you’re ready to go live.
- Switch to your production Salesforce environment. Double-check you’re not still in sandbox.
- Monitor the first syncs. Watch for weird spikes in API usage or errors.
- Communicate with your team. Let people know what’s changing, especially if records might look different or update faster.
Pro tip:
Schedule syncs during off-peak hours at first, in case something explodes.
What works well (and what doesn’t)
What usually works: - Syncing standard objects (Contacts, Accounts, etc.) is straightforward. - One-way syncs (Salesforce → Ocean) are less likely to cause headaches.
What doesn’t work so well: - Two-way syncs with lots of custom fields—expect to tweak things regularly. - Real-time syncs can miss records if API limits are hit or if field-level security changes.
Ignore: - “No-code, instant integration” promises. Plan for at least a day of setup, and some ongoing tweaks.
Troubleshooting: Common headaches
- Missing records? Check your field mappings and sync filters.
- Duplicates showing up? Make sure you have unique IDs mapped correctly.
- Sync slow or timing out? Check Salesforce API usage and see if Ocean is batching requests.
- Permissions errors? Revisit your Salesforce connected app permissions, and make sure the user account Ocean uses hasn’t changed roles.
Keep it simple (and iterate)
Don’t try to sync everything on day one. Start with the basics, get it working, then expand. Integrations are never “set and forget”—expect to check in on things every so often, especially after big changes in Salesforce or Ocean.
If something feels too complicated, it probably is. Pare it back, get feedback from the folks who actually use the data, and keep improving bit by bit. That’s how you’ll actually get value from syncing Ocean and Salesforce—without creating a data disaster.