Study guide
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Study guide for chapter 1 of the Data 360 Architect course. Read the five modules first; this page helps you check what stuck.
About this study guide. It’s built only from this course’s own content and the published Salesforce exam guide’s list of objectives. It is never based on real exam questions, and it doesn’t claim to know what’s on the exam. If you’ve taken the exam, please don’t send me questions from it: the certification agreement forbids sharing them, and memorizing answers is the wrong way to become an architect.
This course covers the Data 360 Consultant exam, but the exam is just a step on the road. As architects, we go beyond it. Chapter 1 is the whole picture: one record’s walk through the platform, the words we use for each step, where Data 360 really lives, what it’s for and what it isn’t, and what to have in place before you build.
For the Consultant Exam
Section titled “For the Consultant Exam”What this chapter covers of the Data 360 Consultant exam guide (opens in a new tab)’s objectives. Tick them off as you go. Each one links to where it’s taught.
SP-1: Data 360’s key terms and business value
- I can follow one record end to end: a data stream lands it in a data lake object, mapping takes it to a data model object, identity resolution makes a unified individual, a segment selects it, and a copy field enrichment sends a fact back to core. (One Long Flow)
- I know that in Data 360, the person is the Individual, not a contact: the org’s contacts and the file’s pilots both become Individuals. (Model: the Individual)
- I know unifying links records; it doesn’t overwrite them. The original Individuals stay. (Unify: one pilot, unified once)
- I know the platform was Data Cloud until October 2025, and that some screens still say Data Cloud. (One more name)
- I know the tenant holds the data and does the processing, while the home org holds the screens. (The tenant, and the screens in core)
- I know what Data 360 is for: when there’s a volume, a type or a processing of data you don’t want in core. (When data belongs in Data 360)
SP-2: Data 360 as the foundation for AI
- I can name four ways AI uses Data 360: grounding on the unified profile, retrieval over documents, predictions, and memory. (The foundation for AI)
- I know that when an agent gives a bad answer, the data is the first place to look. (The foundation for AI)
SP-3: Good first use cases
- I start with one use case, not all the data: name the stakeholders, then work backward to the data it needs. (Your first use case)
SA-1: Permissions and org-wide settings
- I know where most setup happens: Data Cloud Setup, a second entry under the gear icon. (Find Data Cloud Setup)
- I know a new Developer Edition org gives its user the Data Cloud Architect permission set. (Find Data Cloud Setup)
- I know every org starts with a default data space, which can be renamed but not deleted, and that more data spaces need an add-on license. (Data spaces: partitions inside the tenant)
- I check whether a new org’s Allow All policy is active, because while it is, narrower allow policies have no effect. (Who can see the data in a new org)
- I know what Simple Start does: it creates the CRM streams, lake objects and mappings, syncs metadata only, and leaves the streams inactive until you activate them. (Simple Start)
As an Architect
Section titled “As an Architect”The consultant exam is the floor. This is what an architect takes from this chapter, beyond it.
- Two doors, on purpose. The core contacts come in even though the point is to send something back to core: an enrichment can only land on a core record Data 360 has already joined. (Back to core)
- Bring in the data you need to make good decisions, not everything you can. (Connect and ingest: two doors)
- Use Salesforce’s words. Seven of the course’s nine verbs are Salesforce’s; when your team says the same words as the Help, everyone searches for the same thing. (The course’s nine verbs)
- Some decisions have no verb: where it lives, who sees it, what it costs, whether it’s ready for an agent. Answer them before the first stream. (What no verb covers)
- Train the team that the tenant is a different space. The objects, limits, cost and deployment all behave differently from core. (What’s different)
- Choose the home org carefully. One production org is usually the home org; with several, decide between one of them and a governance org. (The home org)
- Data 360 is never the system of record. A correction goes to the source; an enrichment back to core is a copy. (The rule that follows)
- Watch credits from the first week, and don’t leave practice streams running. (A first word on credits)
Words to Know
Section titled “Words to Know”| Term | In one line |
|---|---|
| Data stream | A feed in from one source, with its own settings |
| Data lake object (DLO) | The stored raw layer: the data as it came in |
| Data model object (DMO) | The shared, standardized model the rest of Data 360 works on |
| Individual | The standard data model object for a person |
| Unified individual | One person, after identity resolution has linked their records |
| Segment | A set of unified individuals that meets a rule |
| Copy field enrichment | Copies a field from a Data 360 object onto a core record |
| Tenant | Where Data 360’s data and processing live, outside the core org |
| Home org | The org Data 360 is provisioned on, where its screens are |
| Data space | A logical partition of the data inside the tenant |
| Simple Start | Salesforce’s setup of the home org’s CRM streams, lake objects and mappings |
Check Yourself
Section titled “Check Yourself”Short scenarios in the style of the course. Decide your answer before you open it.
1. A pilot in the file isn't a contact in the org. Can the copy field enrichment send their years flying to core?
No. An enrichment can only land on a core record that Data 360 has already joined. With no contact, there’s nowhere for the value to go. Reread Back to core.
2. A business user wants to fix a misspelled name in the unified profile, right there in Data 360. What do you tell them?
Data 360 is feed-based, not the system of record. Fix the name in the source, and the next feed carries it through. Reread Why it isn’t the system of record.
3. A team wants to bring every system's data into Data 360 on day one. What's your advice?
Start with one use case: its stakeholders, then the data it needs, and only the data that has a reason to be in Data 360. Reread Your first use case.
4. You write a policy that lets only one team see a data space, but everyone can still see everything. Why?
The org’s Allow All policy is probably still active. While it is, narrower allow policies have no effect; only deny policies are enforced. Reread Who can see the data in a new org.
5. A new org already shows a stream called Contact_Home, but no data has come in. Is something broken?
No. Simple Start creates the streams, lake objects and mappings, syncs metadata only, and leaves the streams inactive. Activate them when you’re ready. Reread Simple Start.
6. A colleague searches the Help for "Data 360 Setup" and can't find it in the org. Where is it?
Under the gear icon, as Data Cloud Setup: the screens still use the old name. Reread One more name.
Explore
Section titled “Explore”- Salesforce Certified Data 360 Consultant Exam Guide (opens in a new tab), Salesforce Help: the official list of objectives and their weights. Always check the current version before you book the exam.