Facilitating compliance to adherence to customer data privacy regulations to support expansion into newer markets
The primary challenge centered on achieving compliance with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which necessitated the identification and encryption of personally identifiable information (PII). This compliance effort was critical to enabling the company’s strategic expansion into the EU market. The client required a solution that ensured coexistence between EU and USA-based applications while minimizing operational disruptions stemming from region-specific regulatory constraints. The project’s complexity was further compounded by dependencies on multiple concurrent initiatives. Additionally, the client sought to maintain a cohesive 360-degree view of customer data, including loyalty program information, across different instances of their system.
Accellor conducted a comprehensive assessment of the client’s Salesforce configuration to identify all fields containing PII data requiring encryption under GDPR mandates. Given the substantial volume of fields across the system, a customized analytical tool was developed to map dependencies, including business rules, reports, Salesforce AppExchange products, automations, and workflows. This process facilitated a detailed impact analysis and the identification of viable workarounds.
Salesforce's Shield Platform encryption was selected as the optimal solution for securing customer data. The encryption strategy was tailored to prioritize fields based on their usage and operational importance. Over 30 objects, 650 fields, 900 reports, 90 business process automations, multiple integration systems, and AppExchange applications were meticulously reviewed. Approximately 78% of the identified fields were designated for encryption, with the encryption approach—deterministic or probabilistic—determined in accordance with record usage patterns and compliance requirements.
Through the strategic implementation of Salesforce Shield Platform encryption, Accellor successfully encrypted over 500 fields without causing any disruptions to existing business operations or system integrations. The execution was meticulously planned and completed within an accelerated timeline of approximately 8 weeks, ensuring that the client was fully prepared for GDPR compliance and subsequent expansion into the European market. This initiative not only strengthened the client’s data protection framework but also reinforced their operational scalability and readiness for international growth.
