Case Study: Salesforce Integration for Centro Community Partners Using Heroku Connect

Overview

Centro Community Partners (Centro) empowers under-resourced entrepreneurs by providing business education, resources, and access to capital. To better serve its entrepreneurs and engage with funders, Centro sought to unify its multiple data systems into a streamlined, integrated solution.

Key goals for the new system included:
✅ Automating critical workflows
✅ Delivering dashboards and customizable reports
✅ Monitoring and improving data quality
✅ Consolidating data into fewer systems
✅ Strengthening data security with defined user roles and permissions

To achieve this, Centro implemented a Salesforce integration using Heroku Connect to synchronize data between its Salesforce CRM and its Ruby on Rails backend application hosted on Heroku.

Challenges

Before the integration, Centro faced several challenges:

• Data fragmentation across platforms, making it hard for staff to access a single source of truth

• Manual workflows prone to error and inefficiency

• Limited reporting capabilities, restricting visibility for both internal teams and external funders

• Lack of automated synchronization between Salesforce (used for CRM) and the Centro backend (used for core operations)

Centro needed an integration that could provide real-time data flow, ensure data consistency, and support custom application logic without compromising system security or stability.

The Solution: Heroku Connect Integration

Centro selected Heroku Connect as the integration backbone to synchronize its Salesforce data with its backend Postgres database. This approach allowed Centro to:

• Use a Heroku-managed Postgres database as the common integration point between Salesforce and its backend app

• Ensure bidirectional data sync between Salesforce and Centro’s systems

• Leverage its existing Ruby on Rails architecture, Sidekiq (for background jobs), and Redis (for queue management) to build custom synchronization logic

Integration Architecture

The integration design followed these key principles:

• Salesforce ↔ Heroku Connect ↔ Heroku Postgres ↔ Centro Backend (Rails App)
  Salesforce communicates directly with the Heroku Connect-managed Postgres database.
  The Centro backend application writes to and reads from this shared database via background Sidekiq workers, polling every few seconds for changes and updating the native Centro database as needed.

This architecture gave Centro:
✅ A clean separation between systems
✅ Flexible control over how Salesforce data was consumed
✅ Safety and minimal risk of database conflicts

Implementation Steps

1. Configure Heroku Connect
   Set up the Heroku Connect add-on within Centro’s Heroku environment.
2. Define Salesforce Entities
   Create the necessary objects/entities in Salesforce (starting with resources and lenders).
3. Map Entities in Heroku Connect
   Define mappings between Salesforce objects and the Heroku Postgres database.
4. Develop Custom Sync Logic
   • Write Ruby on Rails code to push Centro database entities to the Heroku Connect Postgres database.
   • Build background jobs using Sidekiq to pull updates from the Heroku Connect Postgres database into the Centro native Postgres.
5. Deploy and Initialize
   Deploy the code, perform an initial data dump, and test the bidirectional sync process.
6. Iterate and Expand
   Start with the resources and lenders integration—chosen because their data structures are relatively stable but complex enough to establish groundwork for future entities.

Outcomes and Benefits

With the Salesforce-Heroku Connect integration, Centro achieved:

• Automated Workflows
  Eliminated manual data transfers between systems, reducing errors and freeing up staff time.

• Unified Data View
  Integrated data across systems, providing a single, reliable source for reporting and decision-making.

• Customizable Dashboards and Reporting
  Enabled predefined and custom reports for internal teams and funders, improving transparency and insight.

• Monitored Data Quality
  Continuous background syncing ensured data remained up-to-date and consistent across platforms.

• Enhanced Data Security
  Leveraged Salesforce and Heroku’s robust security models, including role-based access controls, to safeguard sensitive information.

Next Steps

The initial success with the resources and lenders integration paves the way for integrating additional entities and expanding automated workflows. Over time, Centro aims to consolidate even more systems, creating a master platform that fully supports its mission to uplift underserved entrepreneurs.