Overview
Salesforce Data 360 consulting: unified customer data for Salesforce and AI
Data 360 is the new name for Salesforce Data Cloud, Salesforce's customer data platform. It brings data in from Salesforce clouds, MuleSoft, databases and third-party apps through a library of more than 200 connectors, or reads data where it already sits, in platforms such as Snowflake and Databricks, through zero copy integration. Identity resolution then matches records that belong to the same person or account into unified profiles. Salesforce describes Data 360 as the data foundation for Agentforce.
Getting value from Data 360 is mostly a data design job: which sources matter, which system owns each field, what counts as a match, and which segments and insights the business will actually use. Pricing rewards that design. Data 360 is billed by consumption, with Flex Credits deducted as actions run, or per profile per year, so the sources, rules and queries you run all affect cost.
Great Minds is a Sydney-based systems integrator, founded in 2009, that works in the gaps between platforms. We design and implement Data 360 alongside the Salesforce clouds you already run and the systems outside Salesforce, such as your ERP, ecommerce platform, Klaviyo, Adobe or Dynamics 365. AI agents running on Claude and OpenAI models handle repetitive profiling, mapping and test work; our senior consultants own the data model and sign off every release. If you're weighing Data 360 against other customer data platforms, start with our customer data platform and single customer view pages.
Capabilities
What a Data 360 implementation covers
Most Data 360 projects use the same building blocks. We size each one to the use cases you've agreed, so you're not paying to bring in and process data nobody uses.
How we deliver
A Data 360 project, from use cases to activation
Start with two or three decisions the business wants to make with better data, such as which service cases come from high-value customers, or which lapsed customers to win back. The use cases decide which data you need.
Sources, data streams, mapping to data model objects, identity rules and data spaces, plus an estimate of the credits the processing will use. We profile source data first, because match quality depends on it.
Ingestion, identity resolution, segments and insights, tested against counts the business already trusts. AI agents do the bulk profiling and mapping checks; consultants review every rule.
Profiles and segments connected to Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud and Agentforce, monitoring of credit use, and hand-over documentation so your team can add sources and segments later. Our data integration work covers the systems outside Salesforce.
Australian considerations
Data residency and privacy in Australia
Salesforce has offered Data Cloud on its Hyperforce infrastructure in Australia since 11 December 2023, aimed at organisations that need customer data stored locally, such as financial services and telecommunications. Salesforce says customer data is stored in the country where your org is located, provided the services you use are available there, so check every service and connector in your design.
A customer data platform concentrates personal information, so the Privacy Act matters here more than almost anywhere else in your stack. Unify only what your use cases need, record consent and purpose at source, and limit who can see unified profiles. If profiles feed automated decisions that significantly affect people, privacy policies must disclose them from 10 December 2026; our guide to automated decisions and the Privacy Act explains the change.
For APRA-regulated entities, Data 360 holds information assets covered by CPS 234, and if it supports a critical operation it falls within CPS 230's requirements for service providers. We document data flows and controls for those assessments.
FAQ
Salesforce Data 360 questions
Is Data 360 the same as Data Cloud?
Yes. Data 360 is Salesforce's new name for the platform formerly called Data Cloud. It's the same platform under a new name, so you'll still see "Data Cloud" in older documentation and contracts.
Do we need Data 360 to use Agentforce?
It depends on your use cases. Salesforce positions Data 360 as the data foundation for Agentforce, and it matters most when agents need data from outside Salesforce, or customer records unified across several systems. We check your use cases against it before you commit.
How is Data 360 priced?
By consumption, through Flex Credits deducted as you run actions, or per profile per year with credits included. Salesforce says bringing data into Data 360 is free, and Salesforce customers can provision it free with a limited amount of storage and credits. We estimate credit use from your design before go-live and set up monitoring.
Can Data 360 use data in Snowflake or Databricks without copying it?
Yes. Zero copy integration connects to live data in platforms such as Snowflake and Databricks without duplicating it. It suits large datasets that already live in your warehouse; we compare it with ingesting the data on volume, freshness and cost.
How does identity resolution work?
A ruleset combines match rules, which decide when two records belong to the same person or account (for example a fuzzy name match plus a normalised email), and reconciliation rules, which decide whose value wins for each field. The result is a unified profile that links back to every source record.
How long does a Data 360 implementation take?
A first use case with a handful of sources usually takes a few months, most of it data design and validation. Each new source or use case after that is incremental. We give you a scoped plan and price before work starts.
People
Data architects and Salesforce consultants
Data 360 projects are led by senior consultants who design the data model and stay accountable for it, working with your Salesforce admins, data engineers and privacy team. AI agents speed up the repetitive mapping and testing; people make the decisions.
Case studies
Customer data work across Salesforce and marketing platforms
Data 360 builds on the same skills as our CRM and marketing data work, such as connecting Marketo and Salesforce into one marketing automation engine for Montgomery Investment Management, and migrating more than a million email marketing recipients from Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Klaviyo for Meriton Suites.
4x faster campaign execution, 1M+ contacts migratedSalesforce Marketing Cloud to Klaviyo migration with 1M+ email marketing recipientsUnlocking personalised growth at scale through Klaviyo implementation and data migration
Marketo and Salesforce connected for 2 fund launchesMarketo and Salesforce, connected for a global fund launchMarketo and Salesforce integrated into one marketing automation engine, so Montgomery could launch two global equity funds to the right investors at the right time.
A 100-person firm running on Salesforce Sales CloudSalesforce CRM implementation for Hong Kong law firmDigital transformative journey of a 100-person law firm in Hong Kong powered by Salesforce Sales Cloud.Insights
Reading on customer data, Salesforce and AI
Migrating from Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Klaviyo: lessons from 1M+ contactsHow to move from Salesforce Marketing Cloud to Klaviyo: what the integration moves, Spam Act consent, active-profile costs, warming and cutover.
The connected enterprise: integrating Salesforce, Atlassian, Adobe and ERPHow to connect Salesforce, Atlassian, Adobe and your ERP: system-of-record map, architecture options, API limits, APP 8 and CPS 230, and where to start.
Atlassian Data Center to Cloud: the Australian migration guideAtlassian Data Center goes read-only on 28 March 2029. Key dates, Australian data residency, CPS 230 and privacy checks, and a migration plan.