Earlier this year, Oracle announced a huge slack in the limitation that was set on bulk APIs.
The cap increased from 2,000 syncs per day to 2000 imports and 2000 exports per hour!
Shackles that came with limitation to data syncs are now gone. Smoother third-party integrations seem possible now. This is exciting for developers. It opens up fresh possibilities for new applications and powerful features. We can solve problems with both our hands!
Having said that, we need to be cautious about a couple of things:
The effect on the Contact field: With each bulk data sync (export & import), Eloqua creates an asset, called the Bulk Export/Import Sync. This asset is hooked to the Contact field (or a CDO) as a dependency. So, the bulk sync is now a dependency to the Contact field. Each time we run the sync, there is a new asset that gets hooked as a dependency. With reduced limitations, we could end up writing a sync feature that might add tons of dependencies to Contact fields. We might enjoy the frequent syncs, but we may also end up creating excessive dependencies.
We tend to sync or export all fields instead of just what’s necessary. Eloqua creates dependencies for each field – even if that field is empty.
Why are dependencies bad? Because they slow down the Eloqua instance and make it difficult to delete the Contact field. No asset can be deleted without first deleting all its dependencies. Custom contact fields are a precious resource; since we only get 250 of them. Contact fields are basic building blocks of all campaign strategies. Each new campaign or product demands a few custom contact fields, and Eloqua users delete the defunct ones to make way for the new ones.
Deleting gets harder with a greater number of dependencies. Manual house-keeping of dependencies are unheard of; and it’s almost impossible. At Portqii, we use our Asset Dependency Manager app to clean up dependency-mess and keep our instance as good as new.
Sure, let’s be excited about new possibilities, but also let’s not forget the dependencies that it may create.
Let’s be thoughtful about picking the right frequency for data syncs & exports
