Spread the love

Salesforce has integrated Data Cloud capabilities into its sandbox environments, allowing developers to build, test, and deploy Data Cloud-powered applications without impacting live production systems. This integration enhances the development process by providing a secure, isolated setting for innovation.

Availability and Access

  • General Availability: As of November 2024, Data Cloud in Sandbox is generally available. To utilize this feature, customers need to purchase the new Data Cloud Sandbox SKUs. After acquisition, creating a new sandbox or refreshing an existing one will enable Data Cloud functionalities within the sandbox environment.
  • Supported Sandbox Types: Data Cloud is supported across all sandbox types, including Developer, Developer Pro, Partial Copy, and Full Copy. This flexibility allows teams to choose the sandbox type that best fits their development and testing needs.

Features and Capabilities

In the sandbox environment, developers can:

  • Test Data Streams and Models: Integrate various data sources into Data Cloud, configure data models, and ensure accurate data mappings and transformations.
  • Configure AI and Analytics Tools: Set up and test AI models within the sandbox to deliver precise insights and predictions. This includes creating new models in Model Builder or importing models from platforms like Databricks, Google Vertex AI, and Amazon SageMaker.
  • Prototype Data Cloud-Triggered Automations: Develop and test new automations triggered by changes in Data Cloud tables, ensuring seamless integration with existing workflows.

Considerations

  • Data and Authentication: While Data Cloud configurations from the production environment are replicated in the sandbox, data and authentication information are not. After creating the sandbox, connections must be reconfigured, and authentication information provided to ingest data into the Data Cloud sandbox.
  • Usage and Billing: Data Cloud usage in sandboxes consumes credits and multipliers from the production org’s Data Cloud credit cards, covering categories such as Data Service, Storage, and Segmentation and Activation. This ensures that sandbox usage is accounted for in overall consumption.

By integrating Data Cloud into sandbox environments, Salesforce provides a robust platform for developers to innovate and test new features securely, ensuring that all components work cohesively before deployment to production.

We’ve been talling about Data Cloud and new features in the Salesforce Sidekicks Podcast (in Italian).

Sources: Salesforceblogger.com, Salesforce Dev Blog