Sandbox Seeding

4 common techniques along with pitfalls to avoid

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Salesforce

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Ultimate Guide to

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Table of Contents
Introduction
 3

What You'll Learn in This Guide
3

Why Use Salesforce Sandboxes?
 4


Reduce Development Errors
 4

Realistically Test New Apps or Integrations
 4

Safely Train Users
4

Salesforce Sandbox Refresher
 5


Four Types of Salesforce Sandboxes
 5

Sandboxes Available per Edition
 5

How Sandboxes Are Used
 6

Developer and Developer Pro Sandboxes 
 6

Partial Copy Sandbox
 6

Full Copy Sandbox
6

Top 5 Data Seeding Challenges
 7


Maintaining Parent-Child Relationships 
 7

Filtering and Refining Test Data and Attachments
 7

Seeding On-Demand 
 8

Protecting Confidential Data
 9

Keeping Data Consistent Across Orgs
9

Typical Approaches to Seeding
 10


Sandbox Refresh 
 11

Sandbox Cloning 
 11

Data Loader 
 12

Automated AppExchange Partner Solutions
12

Dramatically Simplify Sandbox Seeding with OwnBackup

13

Why Enhanced Sandbox Seeding?

14

Frequently Asked Questions

15

Run in the Cloud. Never Fall Down.™

16

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 2

Introduction
Look around. Think about all your different stakeholders. More
likely than not, you don’t have enough developers to keep
pace with the demands of the business. The question forward
thinking technology leaders are trying to answer is how do you
increase the pace of innovation given current resources?

To narrow this gap, many companies have turned to Salesforce

as their development platform of choice. Using a wide array of
services ranging from low-code to pro-code, they can
accelerate the delivery of new workflows, automation, and
reimagined customer experiences. According to IDC,
companies who made the switch to Salesforce developed 60%
more apps per year and got their releases out the door 69%
faster.

But loose processes, coupled with immature platforms, and

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inexperienced “developers” can prove disastrous. No

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Salesforce Platform Owner wants to look incompetent after a

messy data disruption. Being on the hook to clean up the mess

only adds to the pressure.

That’s why companies use Salesforce Sandboxes and

OwnBackup!

What You'll Learn in This Guide

• Why sandboxes are essential to catching bugs

• The different types of sandboxes and how they work

• Pros and cons of different types of sandboxes

• Top challenges that make sandbox seeding more complicated than most anticipate

• Typical approaches to sandbox seeding, along with pros and cons for each

• How adding OwnBackup helps you innovate faster, with less risk

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 3

Why Use Salesforce Sandboxes?
One way to balance the desire to release new features fast with the risk of preventable errors in
production is to work in sandboxes. These complement Salesforce by allowing you to stage
changes first for streamlined development, testing, and training.

Reduce Development Errors

Whether you're customizing your quote-to-cash process or building a customer
portal, early detection of errors is critical. Sandboxes provide a safe place to create
and refine enhancements without worrying about corrupting live production data,
exposing confidential data, or impacting your users' day-to-day activities.

Realistically Test New Apps or Integrations

Sandboxes allow you to run various tests using actual data before pushing new
updates to production. You can perform integration testing, performance testing,
load testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT). That way, you minimize the risk of
time-consuming bugs making it into production.

Safely Train Users

Sandboxes provide an environment where you can train people on new workflows
and features before they’re released into production, ensuring a smooth rollout.

Companies spend 30x more to fix bugs released into production.

— National Institute of Standard Technology (NIST)

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 4

Salesforce Sandbox Refresher
Four Types of Salesforce Sandboxes

Developer 
 Developer Pro 
 Partial Copy 
 Full Copy 


Sandbox Sandbox Sandbox Sandbox
200 MB
1 GB
5 GB
Same as 

production org

1 day permissible 1 day permissible 5 days permissible

refresh interval
refresh interval
refresh interval
29 days permissible
refresh interval

Metadata only Metadata only Metadata and only

a fraction of Metadata all of your
production data production data

Sandboxes Available per Edition

Fee to
Sandbox Type ssentials rofessional nterprise nlimited
Salesforce
E P E U

Developer Sandbox
Free

Developer Pro Sandbox

5% of net spend

Partial Copy Sandbox

20% of net spend

Full Copy Sandbox 30% of net spend

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 5

 How Sandboxes Are Used

Performance
Build Unit Test QA Integration Training UAT Test Staging

Developer Developer Developer Pro Developer Pro Developer Pro Full Copy Full Copy Full Copy
Developer Partial Copy Partial Copy

Developer and Developer Pro Sandboxes

Developer sandbox environments are intended for coding and testing by a single developer to
provide an environment in which changes under active development can be isolated until they are
ready to be shared. Because Developer Pro sandboxes provide increased file and data storage,
they can be used for additional tasks such as data load and integration testing and user training.

Partial Copy Sandbox

A Partial Copy sandbox is intended to be used for quality assurance tasks such as user acceptance
testing, integration testing, and training.

Full Copy Sandbox

A Full Copy sandbox is intended to be used as a testing environment. Only Full Copy sandboxes
support performance testing, load testing, and staging.

Pro Tip

Start each new project with your own fresh sandbox. This will
allow you to create and test functionality without interfering
with other developers code.

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 6

Top 5 Data Seeding Challenges

Challenge #1

Maintaining Parent-Child Relationships

Accurate development and testing hinge on production-like data sets. Without replicating

parent/child relationships in your sandbox, it will lack a critical element that impacts your app's

real-world usage.

If your partial copy sandboxes include only a random sample of the production org’s data, you

won’t have control over the included records or the relationships between them.

For example, let’s say your Opportunities have “lookup” relationships rather than “master-detail”

or “required lookup” relationships. That means some of your Accounts, Contacts, and Leads

under Opportunities will be randomized, potentially leaving relevant companies, individuals, and

prospective clients out of development, testing, and training scenarios.

Pro Tip

Sandbox refreshes won’t pick up related records unless your

Salesforce instance objects are associated with each other by

a “master-detail relationship” or “required lookup.”

Challenge #2

Filtering and Refining Test Data and Attachments

Seeding smaller sandboxes can feel like using a funnel to filter only red grains of sand from a

giant dump truck of rainbow-colored sand. You'll end up buried in tons of irrelevant data. That

means no matter how thorough your testing, irrelevant data will make it easy for bugs and errors

to slip into production.

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 7

Why is it difficult to filter test data and attachments?
Similar to recovering lost data with the Weekly Export .CSV files, filtering and refining data within
.CSV files before seeding with Salesforce's Data Loader requires multiple steps.

1.
Defining the required objects to replicate.

2.
Exporting all .CSV files and preparing them for Data Loader processing.

3.
Creating the external ID field used to map those records.

4. Preparing all of the records under each object for insertion into the sandbox.

You must also take extreme care to account for records with multiple parents, polymorphic fields,
intra-object relationships, and attachments. These are incredibly challenging to reproduce from
one org to another.

The decision to include or leave out attachments depends on the sandbox capacity. Developer
and Developer Pro sandboxes only allow 200 MB and 1 GB of file storage, so you may not fit all of
your attachments.

Pro Tip

When uploading Salesforce Files, ensure you include

"ContentDocumentLink" and "ContentVersion" where
appropriate.

Challenge #3
Seeding On-Demand
Even teams that successfully overcome the first two challenges might find themselves in a
difficult situation when development cycles outpace their ability to refresh sandboxes, causing
unavoidable discrepancies. You might spend days manipulating multiple .CSV files and pushing
countless Data Loader uploads (an application used to bulk import or export data) to finally seed
your sandbox with the perfect data—only to have new requirements identified partway through
the project! You’ll have to re-seed all over again.

This frustrating scenario is an unfortunate reality for many. If you don’t find ways to tighten your
seeding cycles, you’ll end up with code that works in the Developer sandbox, but breaks in QA
environments.

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 8

 Challenge #4

Protecting Confidential Data

Are you anonymizing sensitive data before sending it over to your sandboxes? Sandbox
anonymization is an essential practice every company should consider.

Since sandbox data is a subset of production data, it’s likely to contain confidential information
that could be accessed by several people during your development, testing, and training.
Unauthorized access to personal information is a massive liability that many teams overlook
when testing with real data.

Regulations such as GDPR and CCPA require companies to evaluate and report on their
technical and organizational controls for compliance. In addition, industry-specific standards and
regulations, such as PCI DSS and HIPAA, also include strict privacy and security requirements.

Pro Tip

Data anonymization an especially important consideration

when using third-party contracted developers.

Challenge #5

Keeping Data Consistent Across Orgs

Consistent data allows for faster development by preventing errors from slipping into a new
environment. It’s best practice to always compare your origin and destination environments both
before and after each release.

However, this presents a significant challenge. Without a tool to compare your data and
metadata, the only way to uncover differences before and after deployment is to download and
compare large numbers of .CSV files in Excel using V-Lookup. A process that’s so painful that
most teams don’t even bother.

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 9

Typical Approaches to Seeding
As the challenges in the previous chapter demonstrate, it's best to seed sandboxes that precisely
mirror your production environment. So, the natural next question is, how can we populate the data
and metadata we need into our sandbox environments? Let’s review four possible approaches.

Pros Cons

Sandbox
Takes minutes for small orgs
Takes days-weeks for large orgs

Refresh Data and metadata for Full Copy & Only metadata for Developer &
Partial Copy sandboxes
Developer Pro

Included for free

No version history

Limited frequency

Sandbox
Replicate existing sandbox
Must seed ideal data set prior

Cloning Can use same data within different Post-clone changes left out
sandboxes

Included for free

Data
Can partially automate with Manual process

command line

Loader Time-consuming

Included for free

Prone to errors

Requires careful planning

AppExchange
Speed seeding by 6-8x with Additional cost
templates

Solutions
Data and metadata for Partial
Copy, Developer, & Developer
Pro sandboxes

Seed ideal data sets on demand

Replicate from sandbox or

production

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 10

Approach #1

Sandbox Refresh
One option Salesforce offers to customers is to refresh a full Copy or partial copy sandbox by
updating the sandbox’s data and metadata from its source org. Keep in mind that refreshing a
developer or developer pro sandbox only updates the metadata. Still, if the sandbox is a clone,
the refresh process will update its data and metadata.

During the refresh process, Salesforce marks the new org as the current version and flags your
old org for deletion. At some future point in time (usually about two days), the system
permanently deletes the org's old version from the database.

It’s also good to know that Salesforce limits the frequency of refreshes based on the type of
sandbox you're using, and refreshes occur in a queued fashion. Your refresh time will depend on
your instance's size, any customization to your org, how much data it contains, the number of
objects and configuration choices, and server load. If timed correctly, it can take only a few
minutes to refresh a small sandbox, but if you're attempting to refresh a large org during peak
hours, it can take days or even weeks.

Approach #2

Sandbox Cloning
With cloning, Salesforce enables you to create a sandbox by replicating an existing sandbox
rather than using your production org as a source. This approach is best to use once your ideal
data set is ready. It allows multiple users to work on identical sandboxes without interfering with
each others' work.

Pro Tip

Once you have a relevant data set that’s appropriately sized

and structured, cloning can be a quick and simple way to seed
a new sandbox.

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 11

Approach #3

Data Loader
As a client application for the bulk import or export of data, Salesforce’s Data Loader allows you
to bulk import or export records as .CSV files via a user interface, as well as to Insert, Update,
Upsert (upload new records and update existing records at the same time), Delete, or Export
records as .CSV files. You can use the Data Loader command line to move data to or from any
relational database.

However, building an Excel spreadsheet with exported data from production and then using it to
populate a sandbox requires a multi-step process prone to errors. It’s also challenging to
recreate relationships when your records have multiple parents, intra-object relationships, or
attachments.

Pro Tip

When using Data Loader, be prepared to set aside a couple of

extra weeks to fully replicate the necessary objects and their
dependencies.

Approach #4 Recommended
Automated AppExchange Partner Solutions
Not all methods of populating sandboxes are equal. The first three strategies we reviewed often
add time to the development process, delaying your go-live. And remember that sandboxes are
only as valuable as the data they contain. Populating them with perfectly sized, relevant data sets
is an arduous task. On the other hand, automated seeding solutions from the Salesforce
AppExchange make it easier to identify coding errors before you release code so that you can
innovate quickly.

Pro Tip

When evaluating AppExhange solutions, carefully consider the

effort required for implementation and what other customers
say about the on-going service they receive.

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 12

Dramatically Simplify Sandbox
Seeding with OwnBackup
OwnBackup’s Seeding Solution is the perfect complement to Salesforce Sandboxes. Whether
you’re a power admin or sophisticated development organization, it should be easy to define,
fine-tune, and automate data seeding for Salesforce.

Let’s take a look at how it works:

Step #1 Create a Template

It could be a new template, or you could clone and edit an existing template.

Step #2 Define Objects

Identify the root object and add any number of parents, children, or
additional roots to include.

Step #3 Apply Filters

Refine results to hone the number of records or create a random,
heterogeneous sample.

Step #4 Optimize the Size

Monitor the seed data size at each step to ensure it will fit within the target
sandbox destination.

Step #5 Preview Your Data

See the exact data that will be seeded to identify any necessary adjustments.
Note that one option OwnBackup provides is to anonymize sensitive data.

Step #6 Seed Your Data

Select the destination and choose from options to create a new seed or
update a previously seeded sandbox.

Step #7 Reuse Your Templates

Once you’ve created your ideal template, you can save it and reuse it to
accelerate your development and testing process.

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 13

Why Enhanced Sandbox Seeding?
Enhanced Sandbox Seeding is an intuitive and powerful sandbox seeding solution for organizations
that develop on the Salesforce platform. It enables administrators and developers to effortlessly
define, fine-tune and automate the replication of precise subsets of data schemes from production
environments or other sandboxes, then quickly seed them to Developer, Developer Pro, or Partial
Copy sandboxes with identical metadata.

Replicate Any Environment Customize Templates Relationship Integrity

Seed perfectly sized, relevant Configure re-usable templates Automatically maintain complex
data sets to Developer, and built-in filters to isolate parent/child relationships
Developer Pro or Partial Copy perfect data sets to seed to without difficult and error-prone
sandboxes from production any sandbox with an identical workarounds.
orgs or other sandboxes. data structure.

Continuously Update Manage Seed Size View Sample Data

Update template filters in Size data sets to fit within Instantly preview a sample of
seconds to add or remove targets with filters and the data that will be seeded
data based on new real-time counters to track the for precision control of the
requirements then reseed number of records included desired data set.
to update the destination. for each object type.

Sample for Coverage Control Automations Secure Data

Create heterogeneous sets of Disable pre-configured Apply custom templates to
records for specified objects Salesforce validation rules, Apex anonymize and protect
to produce a range of triggers and other automations sensitive information before it
permutations for developers. to keep them from running is seeded to its destination.
during the seeding process.

Seed with Precision Rapid Time to Value Reduce Production Errors

Control what data is seeded An intuitive interface and Mirror production environments
for initial and subsequent dropdown menus backed with in sandboxes for more effective
projects with options to add all 24/7 support enables admins development, testing and
records or update incremental and developers to hit the training.
changes without creating ground running.
duplicates.

Define. Finetune. Automate.

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 14

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the implementation effort to get started with OwnBackup’s

Sandbox Seeding?

Getting started with OwnBackup is as easy as logging in to Salesforce. Our intuitive interface

and dropdown menus enable you to seed sandboxes in minutes. We’ll provide onboarding,

but you probably won’t need it.

What are the top 3 business benefits?

Innovate faster, with less risk: Propagate data to sandboxes for faster innovation and

ideal environments to safely develop, test, and train

Shorten release cycles: Create the ideal development and testing environment with

subsets of data from production orgs or other sandboxes. Your team will love you for it.

Secure sensitive data: Don’t expose sensitive information in sandboxes. Apply custom

templates to mask data before it is seeded.

How is it priced?
OwnBackup Enhanced Sandbox Seeding is $2.20 per Salesforce user/month for end-user

organizations.

How does it stack up to other AppExchange solutions?

OwnBackup is the #1 Cloud Data Protection Platform on the Salesforce AppExchange with 4x

five-star reviews. The company has 2,000 customers and has raised over $100M in Venture

Funding, including participation from Salesforce Ventures.

“Our seeding time went from 2-4 weeks to just 24 hours

with Enhanced Sandbox Seeding.”
— Tarun Bakhru, IT Manager - CRM, AGCO

The Ultimate Guide to Sandbox Seeding 15

 Run in the Cloud. Never Fall Down.™
Sandbox seeding is just one way that OwnBackup helps you move faster without risking a messy
disruption to your business—or your life. Agile development teams take comfort in knowing that
OwnBackup provides them an undo button if a buggy code or an integration inadvertently corrupts
mission-critical data. Together these three services offer the most comprehensive cloud data
protection platform available today.

Data 
 Data
Data
Seeding
Protection
Governance

Innovate faster, with less risk Eliminate data downtime Streamline data governance
and compliance
Propagate data to sandboxes Protect data and metadata with
for faster innovation and ideal comprehensive, automated Preserve data in archives with
environments to safely develop, backups and rapid, stress-free customizable retention policies
test, and train. recovery. and simplified compliance and
reporting.

Data 
 Data 

Seeding
Protection

Data 

Goverance

4x
more five-star reviews
2,000+
customers across every
$100M
in funding including investments
1 00 %
year-over-year revenue
than the next competitor industry and market segment

from Salesforce Ventures growth the past two years

Visit www.ownbackup.com to learn more about these products or schedule a demo. 16