Salesforce Data Cloud Consultant key terms

Salesforce's data platform that ingests, harmonizes, and unifies information from many systems into unified customer profiles, then supports segmentation, insights, activation, and analytics across the Salesforce ecosystem.

A logical partition that separates data, metadata, and configuration so different brands, regions, or business units can operate independently inside one Data Cloud org.

A packaged bundle of Data Cloud metadata such as data streams, mappings, objects, and segments that can be deployed to another org or shared as a reusable solution.

A configured pipeline that connects to one source object and defines which records and fields flow into Data Cloud and how often they refresh.

The integration definition Data Cloud uses to read from or write to an external system, such as Salesforce CRM, Amazon S3, Snowflake, or Google BigQuery.

A REST interface for pushing records into Data Cloud in near real time, chosen when no native connector exists or when updates must land quickly.

The storage-level object that holds ingested source data as it arrived, before harmonization; each data stream writes into one and maps fields onward.

A harmonized object based on the Customer 360 model that stores standardized data used for identity resolution, insights, segmentation, and activation.

The configuration that links each source field in a data lake object to a target field in a data model object, optionally transforming values along the way.

Salesforce's standard schema of subject, event, and related entities - such as individual, contact point, engagement, and sales order - that harmonized data is mapped into.

A standard data model object storing a way to reach a person, such as an email address or phone number, and a common input to identity matching.

A defined link between two data model objects, such as individual to order, that lets segment filters and insights traverse from one entity to another.

A capability that queries data left in an external warehouse or lake instead of ingesting it, useful for very large or rapidly changing datasets.

A refresh mode that pulls only new or changed records since the previous run, rather than reloading the entire source each time.

A collection of match and reconciliation rules that Data Cloud runs to decide which source records describe the same person and how their values should merge.

Criteria that compare chosen fields across records using exact or fuzzy methods plus normalizers to judge whether they represent the same individual.

Preprocessing that standardizes values such as case, spacing, punctuation, and phone format before comparison, so formatting differences do not prevent a match.

A matching method that tolerates small differences like typos or transposed characters, typically scored against a threshold rather than requiring exact equality.

The rule set that resolves conflicting values when matched records disagree, choosing winners by source priority, most recent value, most frequent value, or similar logic.

A ranking of connected sources that decides whose value wins during reconciliation when the same attribute appears with different values.

The consolidated profile produced by identity resolution, representing one real person with merged identifiers and attributes from all matched source records.

A record linking a source profile record to the unified individual it was matched into, preserving traceability from raw sources to the consolidated profile.

An object connecting a unified individual to related unified records, such as contact points, so the consolidated profile can span multiple linked entities.

A Data Cloud interface for searching an individual and reviewing the unified profile, the source records that contributed, identifiers, and related engagement data.

A metric computed over data model objects with SQL or the builder and stored for reuse, such as lifetime value or engagement score, often consumed by segmentation.

A calculated metric that updates as new data arrives, used when a score or count must reflect recent behavior within a short time window.

A defined audience of unified individuals selected by filter criteria across data model objects and insights, refreshed on a schedule or on demand.

The stored link between a segment and the individuals currently qualifying for it, read by activation targets and other downstream systems.

A SQL workspace in Data Cloud for exploring harmonized data, validating data models, and prototyping the logic behind insights and segments.

A workspace for building or bringing predictive models that train on Data Cloud data and write scores back as insights for segments and activation.

The process of publishing a segment or insight to an outside system so the audience can drive marketing, advertising, or personalized experiences.

The configured destination for an activation, such as Marketing Cloud Engagement, an advertising platform, a personalization point, or a webhook endpoint.

A configured outbound action that sends Data Cloud records or events to an external endpoint, such as a webhook, Marketing Cloud, or cloud storage location.

A Data Cloud capability that uses unified profiles and insights to select and deliver tailored content or offers in real time across channels.

Records of a person's opt-in and opt-out choices by channel and purpose, used so activations and outreach respect stated communication preferences.

A governance rule that classifies fields and enforces protections such as masking or restricted access so sensitive attributes are handled consistently.

The consumption unit that meters Data Cloud usage, covering processing such as ingestion, storage, queries, segmentation, and activation activity.

Assignable permission collections granting access to Data Cloud features such as data streams, identity resolution, segments, and activation, scoped by data space.