Adoption is architecture: Master data decisions
Why this deserves attention
A connected estate needs a clear answer to which system is authoritative for each important business fact. Clarity here reduces both delivery risk and the long-term cost of ownership.
When two platforms can independently master the same field, reconciliation becomes a permanent operating process. On 29 December 2025, this archive entry records the principle as a practical design concern rather than a product announcement.
Design the human system
Look at master data decisions through how the user experience and operating model determine whether the capability is used. The objective is not to introduce more process; it is to expose the few decisions that determine reliability, ownership and future change.
Document ownership at attribute level, define survivorship rules and make exceptions visible rather than silently overwriting them. Record the decision close to the solution so that delivery, support and future architecture reviews work from the same intent.
What good looks like
People can trust the information they see and understand how a correction moves through the organisation. The team can describe the expected behaviour, the owner, the evidence of success and the response when reality differs from the design.
A useful next step is to review one live implementation against this principle, identify the largest unowned assumption and turn it into a bounded improvement with a measurable outcome.
Official reference
Salesforce Architecture: Integration Patterns