Explanation

The core requirement is establishing a Single Source of Truth (SSOT) for customer data across two Salesforce orgs, legacy systems, and the ERP, while ensuring scalability for high-volume orders. An Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) like MuleSoft is the only architecturally sound solution; it acts as a central hub, standardizing data, and decoupling all systems for maximum flexibility.

Correct Option

A. Use MuleSoft Anypoint Platform as the single point of data orchestration across the different systems and Salesforce environments. ✅
MuleSoft enables API-Led Connectivity, establishing itself as the central orchestration layer. This hub manages the complex data standardization (canonical model) and routing between the two Salesforce orgs, ERP, and legacy systems. This approach enforces consistency, establishes the SSOT, and provides the necessary decoupling and governance for scalable Order processing across the entire enterprise.

Incorrect Options

B. Map all of the points of data with a different ETL tool for each Salesforce environment and drive synchronization from Salesforce to the other systems. ❌
Using separate ETL tools and driving the master data sync from Salesforce is poor practice when the authoritative source (SOR) for customer and financial data resides in the ERP/legacy systems. This decentralized approach lacks centralized governance, adds complexity, and makes data consistency difficult to manage across the entire landscape.

C. Use each Salesforce org as its own system of record (SOR) and use Salesforce Connect to synchronise the two Salesforce orgs. ❌
Designating multiple SORs for the same data (customer information) directly violates the core principle of a Single Source of Truth. Salesforce Connect is designed for real-time viewing of external data (virtualization), not for robust, bi-directional, and complex synchronization across multiple operational and financial systems (like the ERP).

D. Map all of the points of data within a custom data manager and drive synchronization between the different systems with a point-to-point approach. ❌
The point-to-point approach (direct connections between all systems) is the most brittle, non-scalable integration anti-pattern. As new systems are added, the number of integrations explodes exponentially, leading to unmanageable complexity, high maintenance costs, and zero flexibility for future changes.

Summary
The Architect must recommend a centralized iPaaS solution like MuleSoft Anypoint Platform. This is the only approach that can establish a governed, scalable Single Source of Truth by enforcing API-Led orchestration across the multiple Salesforce orgs, legacy quoting systems, and the central ERP, thereby resolving data inconsistency and supporting future order volume growth.

Reference
Refer to Salesforce Architecture documentation on API-Led Connectivity and Integration Patterns for achieving a Single Source of Truth (SSOT) using an iPaaS solution like MuleSoft in multi-org and ERP environments.

Explanation

Before implementing any archive, the architect must define the rules and categorize the data.

✅ B. Understand the organization's regulatory requirements around right to retain or delete data.
This is the mandatory first step for compliance. Archiving customer and financial data is governed by laws like GDPR. The architect must identify legal retention periods and deletion rules before designing the solution to avoid risk.

✅ D. Segment the data in terms of data needed for daily operations, data that is used occasionally at demand, and data that is used purely for historical purposes.
This is the core business analysis. Segmenting data by usage (active pipeline vs. historical records) allows for a tiered archive strategy. This directly addresses the concern about accidentally archiving active sales data while preserving necessary history.

❌ A. Propose Skinny Tables to the CIO before doing anything else.
Skinny Tables are a performance tool for reporting, not an archiving solution. They do not reduce data storage volume and should not be proposed as the first step for a data limit problem.

❌ C. Recommend AppExchange solutions that provide capabilities around data archiving to the CIO.
This is premature. Selecting a technical tool should happen after defining the compliance framework (B) and data segmentation strategy (D). Recommending a tool first skips the necessary discovery.

📝 Summary
Start by establishing legal retention rules, then segment data by business use. This creates a compliant, strategic foundation for selecting technical archive tools later.

Reference:
This aligns with the "Data Governance & Integration" principles in the official Salesforce B2B Solution Architect Exam Guide.

Explanation

✅ A. The CEO should have a Platform Plus license given that the role is a consumer of information and should be at the top of the Role Hierarchy
The CEO primarily consumes information (e.g., dashboards, reports) and does not need to create or process transactions like standard users. Platform Plus is cost-effective and provides access to apps, dashboards, and analytics without paying for full Sales Cloud licenses. This satisfies budget constraints while giving the CEO appropriate visibility.

✅ C. The Role Hierarchy should mirror the organization chart. Therefore, sharing settings need to be put in place for the executive assistant given the need to have access to the data of all of the VPs being supported
Salesforce best practices recommend that the Role Hierarchy mirror the organization chart, not invert it. The executive assistant should not be placed above VPs; instead, sharing rules or manual sharing can be configured to give the assistant access to all VP data while maintaining proper hierarchy alignment.

❌ B. The CEO should have a Sales Cloud license given that the role is a processor of information and should be at the top of the Role Hierarchy
The CEO is primarily a consumer, not a processor, so a Sales Cloud license is unnecessary and more expensive. Using Sales Cloud would increase cost without providing additional needed functionality.

❌ D. Given that the executive assistant will need access to the data for all of the VPs being supported, the assistant should be placed higher up in the Role Hierarchy than the VPs
Placing the assistant above VPs would break Salesforce best practices, giving unnecessary visibility and misrepresenting the organizational structure. Access should instead be provided via sharing rules or delegated permissions.

📝 Summary:
The CEO should use a Platform Plus license as an information consumer, which aligns with budget constraints. The Role Hierarchy should mirror the organization chart, with sharing rules configured for the executive assistant to access VP data, maintaining proper alignment and governance.

📌 Reference:
Salesforce Role Hierarchy Best Practices
Salesforce User Licenses Overview

Explanation

✅ A. Identify the high-level workload capacity and planning of the IT and Legal teams
Understanding the availability and capacity of IT and Legal teams ensures the roadmap is realistic. It allows proper scheduling of tasks that involve development, compliance, or technical support, preventing bottlenecks during implementation and aligning resources with program priorities.

✅ D. Prioritize the transformation of activities related to customers' interactions
Focusing on customer-facing processes ensures that the digital redesign directly improves experiences and relationships. Activities like improving lead capture, support history tracking, or multi-channel engagement have the highest impact and should be prioritized for transformation.

✅ E. Explain how the program contributes to the business's goals
Aligning the roadmap with business objectives—such as increasing customer satisfaction, reducing manual processes, or improving revenue—is critical. Clear communication of value helps secure stakeholder buy-in and ensures that the program supports measurable outcomes.

❌ B. Prioritize the transformation of activities involving the least development
Prioritizing based on development effort alone may neglect high-impact customer processes. Low-effort changes may not deliver meaningful business value, which could undermine the goals of a digital redesign program.

❌ C. Create project plans for each of the projects that will be on the roadmap
Detailed project plans come after roadmap planning. The roadmap sets priorities, sequencing, and business alignment; creating individual project plans prematurely can lead to misalignment or resource conflicts.

📝 Summary:
A program roadmap should focus on customer-centric transformations, align with business objectives, and consider the capacity of key teams. Prioritizing high-impact activities ensures the program delivers tangible value while being realistically achievable.

📌 Reference:
Salesforce Architecture Framework – Program Roadmap
What is Digital Transformation? A Complete Guide

Explanation

The CIO's single, explicit goal for the discovery workshop is to understand existing technical dependencies. All workshop activities must be directly focused on achieving this goal. The architect must recommend a step that creates a tangible artifact documenting the current technology environment and its interdependencies.

✅ Correct Option: B. Plot the map of the current system landscape and identify key areas where the B2B multi-cloud solution will fit in.
This directly addresses the CIO's goal. A current system landscape map is a visual inventory of all applications, databases, and platforms, showing how they are connected. Creating this map is the foundational step to understand technical dependencies. Identifying where Salesforce fits into this existing landscape is the logical next part of the same activity.

❌ Incorrect Option: A. Plot the map or the future system landscape by making assumptions about the changes needed to improve customer satisfaction.
This jumps ahead to designing the future state ("to-be") based on assumptions. The CIO's goal is to understand the current dependencies first. Creating a future-state map without this understanding would be speculative and likely inaccurate, leading to poor planning.

❌ Incorrect Option: C. Plot the process map using Universal Process Notation (UPN) through workshops involving a diverse set of stakeholders.
A process map (like UPN) is excellent for understanding business process dependencies and workflows. However, the CIO specifically asked for technical dependencies. While related, technical dependencies focus on system integrations, APIs, and data flows, which are not fully captured by a business process map. This is a secondary priority.

❌ Incorrect Option: D. Plot what the customer is thinking, doing, and feeling at the varying stages of their experience, and connect them to interactions with the bank.
This describes creating a customer journey map or empathy map. This is a crucial activity for understanding customer experience and business requirements to improve CSAT. However, it is focused on the human experience, not on uncovering the underlying technical system dependencies between applications, which is the stated workshop goal.

📝 Summary
When the stated goal is to understand technical dependencies, the architect's first priority must be to document the "as-is" technical landscape. Mapping the current system architecture with its integrations is the only activity that directly fulfills this request and provides the necessary foundation for all future solution design.

Reference:
This aligns with the "Discovery & Customer Success" domain of the official Salesforce B2B Solution Architect Exam Guide, which emphasizes starting any transformation by understanding the current state architecture and technical landscape.