Dreamforce 19: Salesforce promotes enhanced MuleSoft data integration

Salesforce has announced some enhancements to its MuleSoft data integration software on the eve of its annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco.

MuleSoft, which Salesforce acquired in May 2018, is an integration and application programming interface (API) platform by which data and applications can be connected across on-premise and cloud computing environments.

At last year’s Dreamforce, the supplier announced a technique for connecting Salesforce apps, dubbed “Customer 360”. At this year’s conference, it has put forward a development of that, under the branding “Customer 360 Truth” and “Customer 360 Data Manager”.

Salesforce is presenting the developments as making up a new set of tools, pre-packaged connectors and learning modules “to empower anyone to compose connected customer experiences, without writing a single line of code”.

It said: “Now anyone can become [what Salesforce described in a statement as] an integration Trailblazer and easily connect data sources – wherever that data resides; accelerate integration with automated, intelligent data mapping powered by [Salesforce] Einstein; and learn about the power of API-led connectivity.”

“MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform will allow anyone to integrate systems without writing a single line of code. Meanwhile, IT can continue to centrally govern, secure and monitor these APIs.”

Tony Leon, chief technology officer at French sportswear and sports equipment retailer Decathlon, confirmed the value of MuleSoft’s API technology to his firm’s business on an eve-of-conference press tour. Leon said he and his seven-person US technology team had adopted a software-as-a-service approach to an “exploration project”, to which MuleSoft’s integration software has been of strategic importance.

Decathlon entered the US market this year, opening three stores in the San Francisco Bay area – in San Francisco, Emeryville and Potrero Hill. The stores have eschewed a physical checkout area in favour of a mobile commerce system, from NewStore, founded by Demandware founder Stephan Schambach, where assistants use smartphones to serve customers.

They also deploy an RFID (radio frequency identification) trolley system that enables customers to check out a basket of goods at a time, and a robot, called Tally, that systematically checks inventory in the shop while assistants use their sports goods expertise to advise customers.

Salesforce also said that MuleSoft, along with Accenture and Deloitte, will commit to skill up 100,000 “integration Trailblazers” over the next five years.

Adam Burden, chief software engineer at Accenture, said: “We are bridging the divide of legacy and cloud by combining MuleSoft’s API-centred integration platform with our unique digital decoupling architecture patterns. Unlocking the trapped value of data in the enterprise is a key priority for our clients and MuleSoft’s low-code approach will help enable ‘citizen integrators’ to accelerate this journey.”

Simon Parmett, CEO at MuleSoft, added: “By understanding the power of APIs and integration, anyone can accelerate digital transformation from wherever they sit within their company and dramatically increase the clockspeed of innovation. Integration is the missing link to digital transformation and every member of an organisation must understand how API-led connectivity can power connected customer experiences.”