Maybe you have been using Salesforce for a while now, but you suspect your data’s integrity and quality are inconsistent. Also, you may find that you need to utilize some of its features; a Salesforce Data Audit can help you identify those areas that need improvement.
Suppose your users regularly report bugs in the system. In that case, workflow automation is not performing the desired actions, or integrations to other methods are not working correctly; an audit can give you a fresh perspective on optimizing your use of the platform.
Data audits are essential for ensuring the integrity and quality of your data. They can help identify errors, inconsistencies, and duplicates in your Salesforce database, which can significantly impact the accuracy of your reporting and the effectiveness of your business processes. A Salesforce audit can be a valuable means for any company that wants to ensure it is getting the most out of its investment in the platform. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of Salesforce data audits, the various types of data audits that can be performed, and the steps you can take to conduct a successful data audit in your organization.
Why are Salesforce Data Audits Important?
Auditing provides information about the use of the system, which can be critical in diagnosing potential or actual security issues. Salesforce auditing features do not secure your organization automatically; you need to have someone in your organization perform regular audits to detect possible abuse. Salesforce data audits can help identify and fix issues with data quality, such as duplicates, errors, and inconsistencies. This can help improve the efficiency of your business processes, as it ensures that you are working with reliable data.
In addition to the impact on decision-making, inaccurate data can lead to compliance problems. For instance, if you must maintain certain records for regulatory purposes, the data you store must be accurate and current. If you are audited and your data needs to be corrected, you may be subject to fines or other penalties.
There are several different types of Salesforce data audits that you can perform. These include:
Data Completeness Audit
This audit checks for missing data in your Salesforce database. This can help identify gaps in your data, which can be filled in to improve the accuracy of your reporting and decision-making.
Data Accuracy Audit
This type of audit checks for errors and inconsistencies in your data. For example, check for incorrect spelling, incorrect formatting, or data that does not match the standards set for your organization.
Data Duplication Audit
This audit checks for duplicate records in your Salesforce database. Duplicate records can cause reporting problems and impact the efficiency of your business processes.
Data Security Audit
This audit checks for potential security vulnerabilities in your Salesforce database. This can include checking for unauthorized access to data, weak passwords, and other potential security risks.
Conduct a Successful Salesforce Data Audit
So how do you conduct a successful Salesforce data audit? There are a few key steps you should follow:
Determine the Scope of the Audit
First, you need to determine the content of the audit. This includes deciding which types of data you want to audit and which objects in your Salesforce database you wish to have.
Field Audit Trail is an Add-On Feature. You can select specific fields to track and display the field history in the History related list of an object. When Field Audit Trail is not enabled, the API retains field history data for 18 and 24 months. If Field Audit Trail is enabled, field history data is maintained until manually deleted. You can manually delete field history data at any time. Field history tracking data does not count against your data storage limits. Contact XTIVIA if you want to look at lower-cost solutions to retain your audit history for longer.
Identify the Data Quality Issues you Want to Address
You need to identify the problems you wish to handle during the audit. This could include things like duplicates, errors, or inconsistencies. You can enable auditing for individual fields, which automatically tracks any changes in the values of selected fields. Although auditing is available for all custom objects, only some standard objects allow field-level auditing.
Use Salesforce Tools to Identify and Fix Issues
There are several Salesforce tools that you can use to identify and resolve data quality issues. For example, you can use the Data Quality tool to identify duplicates or the Data Loader tool to fix errors in your data.
Please Set Up a Regular Schedule for Data Audits
It is essential to conduct regular data audits to ensure the ongoing quality of your data. You can also review a list of your organization’s successful and failed login attempts for the past six months.
Record Modification Fields
Administrators can view a Setup Audit Trail, which logs when modifications are made to your organization’s configuration. All objects include fields to store the name of the user who created the record and who last modified the record. These fields provide basic auditing information.
If your company is looking for a partner to help clean up your data. Contact us anytime if you need help making your business work more efficiently.