Introduction

Traditional integrations work like this:

Salesforce → calls → External System

But in large systems, many consumers may need the same data:

● ERP
● Data warehouse
● Analytics
● Notification services

Calling each system directly creates tight coupling and fragile designs.

This is where Platform Events come in.

What Are Platform Events?

Platform Events are message records that represent something that happened in the system.

Example events:

● Order Created
● Payment Completed
● Account Updated

Instead of calling systems directly, Salesforce publishes an event, and multiple subscribers can react to it.

Architecture Flow

Business Action
     ↓
Publish Platform Event
     ↓
Multiple Subscribers React
     ↓
Each Handles Its Own Logic

This creates loose coupling.

◆ Step 1 – Create Platform Event

Navigate to:

Setup → Platform Events → New

Example:

Label: Order Created Event
API Name: Order_Created__e

Fields:

Order_Id__c (Text)
Customer_Name__c (Text)

Save.

◆ Step 2 – Publish Event from Apex

Example Apex code:

Order_Created__e evt = new Order_Created__e(
    Order_Id__c = order.Id,
    Customer_Name__c = order.Customer__c
);

Database.SaveResult sr = EventBus.publish(evt);

Now Salesforce broadcasts this event to all subscribers.

◆ Step 3 – Subscribe Using Trigger

Create trigger on Platform Event:

trigger OrderEventTrigger on Order_Created__e (after insert) {
    for (Order_Created__e evt : Trigger.new) {
        System.debug('Order received: ' + evt.Order_Id__c);
    }
}

Each subscriber can perform:

● Integration callouts
● Data sync
● Notifications

Independently.

Why This Is Powerful for Integrations

With Platform Events:

● No hard dependency on consumers
● New systems can subscribe later
● Failures don’t block publishers
● Scales easily

This is how event-driven systems are built.

Common Use Cases

● ERP synchronization
● Data warehouse feeds
● Marketing automation triggers
● Real-time dashboards

Common Mistakes

● Treating events like REST calls
● Putting heavy logic in publisher
● Expecting immediate processing
● Forgetting event retention limits

Events are messaging, not transactions.

Conclusion

Platform Events change how integrations are designed — from direct calls to broadcast communication.

This makes systems:

● More scalable
● More flexible
● Easier to extend

If you are building multi-system integrations, this pattern is essential.

When systems listen instead of being called, integrations become far more resilient and future-proof.

Explore event-driven thinking — it’s the backbone of modern architecture. 🚀

Apex Beginner to Advance

Platform Events for Integrations