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What Steps Can You Take After Data Loss?

2021-10-28by Jiggy Clark

Data loss is frustrating for Salesforce admins and potentially dangerous for users. The first rule of backing up Salesforce is that there are no hard-and-fast rules. Whether you're just starting or migrating to the cloud, following some simple general rules can help keep your data safe.

When it comes to disaster recovery (DR), the "R" part always involves interacting with many employees' lives, so having a solid backup strategy in place before an emergency strikes are crucial. As with all service providers, it's essential to know what features are available for Backup and Recovery before deciding on which tools you will use to perform your backups. Users will want this information along with the frequency of the backups, retention policies, and ability to test/restore data.

Some things to consider when choosing a Salesforce backup solution include: Integrations with other tools on the market that you are already using

  • Ability to build customizations into your platform or product.
  • The cost of licensing Salesforce resources for data exports
  • Frequency of usage - will the tool help automate this task?


There are various ways to create backups with salesforce data backup apps. Some standard methods are via Data Loader, Change Sets, User Interface (for example, Setup Screen) & API. You can even use some third-party tools within your organization, such as Spring Social Twitter. Choose what works best for your business needs.

Since no two companies are alike, no one backup solution will fit every business's needs. One size never fits all when it comes to Salesforce data backup apps. Here are the four most common tools for creating backups on the Salesforce platform:

Data Loader

Data Loader is an app that allows you to export your Salesforce data to a local CSV file and then back up this file using another software or service. You can download Data Loader from AppExchange for $99/year per user license. To use Data Loader, you need to set up an Access ID & Password so that your CSVs are linked with your specific account.

The benefits of using Data Loader include:

* Simple interface

* Free

* Supports Salesforce API version 22 and above.

The downside to Data Loader is that not only does it take more time, but you must also keep track of your CSVs. With so many programs and services available today, the Salesforce ecosystem of data backup apps is constantly changing, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution. As part of this ever-evolving process, we've recently introduced Mavens add-on for Data Loader. This integration allows you to automatically create a CSV backup after each mass delete operation performed in Data Loader.

Change Sets

Changesets are used when you want to make changes or update custom objects or standard objects in Salesforce with the intent of making the changes live. You can use Change Sets to make backups in Salesforce and then rerun the changeset in production.

The benefits of using Change Set include

* Free

* Runs on API version 15 and above

The downside to Change Sets is that it's not an automated process which means more work for you when it comes time to run the changeset in production.

User Interface (for example, Setup Screen) & API

You can use Salesforce's native UI or API to create backups directly from your Custom Objects, Fields, Custom Layouts, etc. The benefit of this method is that you're able to back up anything, including custom objects and metadata, with a few clicks of a button.

The downsides to using Salesforce's UI and API include:

* It can be complicated for new users

* Time-consuming

* You’re limited to a maximum of 50MB per backup.

Third-party tools

There are various third party tools available that allow you to create backups on the Salesforce platform. Some popular versions include Backupify, Apex Data Loader, Mavens Change Set, etc. The benefit of using a third-party tool is that it's automated and allows you to schedule as many backups as necessary with minimal work from your end.

The downsides of using a third-party tool include:

*    Costs - most third-party vendors charge an annual fee for their service

*  Not all third-party tools are built equally

Frequency of usage - will the tool help automate this task?

To determine whether or not a specific backup solution fits your needs, it's essential to consider how often you perform backups and what kind of content you're backing up. For example, if you use Change Sets for making mass updates on your records, there's no need to back those records up afterward because they'll be saved with the next changeset update.

However, if you use custom fields to collect data on your users, which are used in multiple reports, it may be beneficial to create one backup per day so that every 24 hours, you have new data to work with. It also depends on how much time your business is willing to invest in backing up data. You may need an automated solution that backs up your Salesforce data every night at midnight using multiple servers, or you might choose to manually backup your data one time per week.

Ability to restore backups quickly

For some businesses, it's more important to restore their original Salesforce data in the case of an emergency than it is for them to have multiple backups stored in different locations. If this sounds like something that would apply to your business, you should look for a backup method that will allow you to restore your Salesforce data within minutes or hours instead of days or weeks.

For example, if you use Data Loader and keep all of your CSVs on Dropbox, then restoring your data would involve finding the last backup you took, opening the CSV file in Data Loader, uploading it to Salesforce, and deleting all of the existing records that were created since then. Suppose you use Mavens add-on for Data Loader. In that case, restoring backups is as easy as opening another CSV using the same filter settings, which will overwrite any new records so that they'll match whatever, was in your backup.

Do I have enough technical knowledge to handle this task myself?

If creating a Salesforce backup sounds complicated or overwhelming to you, don't worry! Unlike WordPress, you're not alone, and you're not alone, where users must create their backups by default, Salesforce has more technical know-how needed need it.

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