Data Integration Comparison: Riva Sync and Einstein Activity Capture*

If your enterprise relies on Salesforce CRM, this data integration comparison between Einstein Activity Capture (EAC) and Riva Sync is for you. Where EAC provides basic data integration functions, Riva Sync complements—or replaces—EAC by bringing Salesforce, email, calendar, task, and contacts platforms together, allowing scalable, configurable access to customer data when and where it’s needed. Read on—and learn where EAC reaches its limits and Riva Sync soars.

Capture, Curate, and Share Data Between Salesforce, Email, and Calendar Platforms with Riva Sync

Riva Sync captures and curates emails, calendar events, contacts, and tasks from Outlook, Exchange, and Google Workspace and makes that data available to Salesforce CRM and vice versa. Sync automates basic synchronization functions, and provides more complex capabilities like robust administrative oversight, scalability, and configurable data gating to ensure secure, regulatory-compliant access to customer data—while connecting customer objects to improve reporting. Einstein Activity Capture provides basic data integration functions, offering a limited ability to share data between Salesforce, email, and calendar platforms. In contrast to Riva, EAC offers limited configurability and scalability, with data security and compliance capabilities that may not satisfy enterprise-level requirements.

Standard-Setting Data Security and Compliance

Riva Sync employs pass-through architecture to transfer data between Salesforce, email, and calendar platforms without retaining it, significantly reducing the risk of a data breach. In contrast, EAC retains shared data in Amazon Web Services (AWS) by default, increasing the potential breach vulnerability. Sync provides granular privacy and security settings—including MNPI—and routinely updates for industry-specific regulatory changes to ensure compliance. With EAC, Salesforce can view and manage data across all users—and due to limited configurability, sharing is either on—or off.

Industry-Leading Configurability for Administrative Gating and Reporting

Riva Sync is highly configurable, offering administrators the ability to enforce detailed data gating protocols and to closely monitor end-user access to and use of customer data. Controls are easy to manage, and end-user monitoring offers the flexibility to view both group and seat-by-seat activity to identify misuse, observe user trends, and guide users on proper performance. In stark contrast, EAC provides no administrative panel and very limited ability to configure data access and use.

Real-Time Sync and Enterprise-Level Scalability

Riva Sync provides bi-directional sync in near real-time, so data gathered in Salesforce is automatically available to users working in email, calendar, task, and contact platforms—and vice versa. This feature ensures that users can access current, comprehensive customer histories for use in sales, forecasting, and internal collaboration. Sync can also be configured for cross-platform coordination of sync interactions, interaction summaries, deals, and custom elements from Salesforce Financial Services Cloud. EAC doesn’t sync changes from Salesforce—or data from FSC—to email, calendar, task, and content platforms, and EAC’s sync times can be as long as 24 hours, leaving end-users with potentially incomplete customer history data.

Improved Salesforce Adoption and Data Quality

Because of Riva Sync’s comprehensive, intuitive integration capabilities, end-users who work primarily on email and calendar platforms quickly learn the advantages and capabilities of the Salesforce platform. And because data is shared in real-time between platforms—and augmented by object consistency and reduced errors and omissions—Sync integration advances data quality throughout the enterprise.

Comparing Capabilities

 

Security

Security

• Sync can be deployed with private cloud, shared cloud, and on-site data storage, allowing for enterprise-specific security protections
• Pass-through architecture means customer data is shared between Salesforce, email, and calendar platforms—but never retained
• Riva Sync’s administrative gating capabilities ensure that data logging and sharing can be specifically configured to meet enterprise security and compliance requirements

• EAC’s exclusive data storage relationship with Amazon Web Services means higher-level on-site or private cloud data security protections are unavailable
• Stores captured data for Active Directory / Exchange in AWS by default
• EAC email and calendar event logging capabilities mean sharing is all-or-nothing

Data Retention

Data Retention

• Sync provides access to unlimited customer history data—with no data loss when user licenses are modified or removed

• EAC-tracked data is reportable for up to 5 years (24 months by default; only 6 months in free version) and is removed permanently after that. Users have limited control over data’s application—and can lose data when switching platforms. 

Data Flow

Data Flow

• Administrators and end-users have granular control over what data flows into Salesforce

• Data flows to Salesforce by default, and admins can only control data flow within Salesforce

Two-Way Sync

Two-Way Sync

• Riva Sync offers bi-directional synchronization between Salesforce and email, calendar, task, and contact platforms

• Changes made in Salesforce are not synced to email, calendar, task, and contact platforms

Sync Frequency

Sync Frequency

• Syncs occur as frequently as every 60 seconds

• Every 15 minutes, but events can take up to 24 hours to sync

FSC Sync

FSC Sync

• Capable of syncing interactions, interaction summaries, deals, and custom elements from FSC

• Limited sync available for interactions in Salesforce Financial Services Cloud (FSC) 

Sync Admin

Sync Admin

• Administrators and enabled users to have access to detailed data sync activity and error reports directly from their Riva Cloud dashboard

• No sync administrative panel is available

Reporting

Reporting

• Riva Sync captures all data in Salesforce for reporting purposes

• Started with Winter ’24 release, emails captured by Einstein Activity Capture are now available in standard reports. 

Email Attachment

Email Attachment

• Supported for sync setup/filters

• Not supported for sync setup, not added to Salesforce, and cannot be viewed

Instance Supported

Instance Supported

• Supports multiple Salesforce and Microsoft 365 / Exchange instances

• Default sync supports one Salesforce instance and one MS 365 / Exchange instance

Customization

Customization

• Fully customizable side panel
• Sync settings and tailored configuration—and the ability to set up and map custom fields and/or objects, and to set up filters and advanced rules

• Standardized side panel with limited customizability
• Limited options for customized data capture, with default-only event and contacts, sync capabilities

Deployment

Deployment

• Supports cloud, hybrid cloud, and on-premise deployment

• Cloud only

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