Review: Dataloader.io
Review: Dataloader.io

Review: Dataloader.io

03/07/2014 by Larry Salvatoriello
Here is a review of Dataloader.io by MuleSoft, a Salesforce.com data loading tool.

In the last few weeks Arkus was challenged with setting up a recurring data loading process requiring exports, imports and updates in Professional Edition without access to the Salesforce API.  The Salesforce wizard was limited in what we needed to do (no error log files or ability to export) so we needed another solution that would work and be easy for the client to do on their own.  Until finding Dataloader.io we didn’t think we would be able to do it.  The experience was seamless and so much so that we might replace the use of the Salesforce Dataloader with it.  Here is a quick review of some of the key features that make it worthwhile.

Price

The first benefit worth mentioning is the cost.  If you are doing one-off data loading which is the basis of this review, the Free version gives you all you need.  If you need more robust features like scheduling jobs, connection to more than one environment or FTP support then for a few hundred dollars a month, you can get their Professional Edition.  The Professional Edition comes with dedicated support but both come with Community Support which us Salesforce Admins know that route can be faster than dedicated support.

Didn’t Know You Could Do That

The reason we investigated this tool in the first place was the need to find something that could work with the Salesforce Professional Edition. Salesforce gives you limited access to the API with Professional Edition but unfortunately the combination of reports and the Salesforce wizard was not meeting the requirement.  To make this a seamless process that our client could repeat, we needed something better.  Though there are limitations, Datatloader.io did the job.  As per their message inside the tool, Salesforce Professional Edition supports Batch API which allows for the first 10,000 rows of an object.  Our client’s data was nowhere near that limit so for now, it works.

Ease of Use

As mentioned above, the reason we used the tool was to get around the API limitation but as we used the tool we found it very efficient and seamless.  For starters, it is web-based.  You do not have to download anything or install an app to use.  (Go to their website and click the “login to Salesforce” button in the upper left.)  It also doesn’t require the need for a security token to login.  I was able to use the standard Salesforce login credentials to get in without the need of a security token.  The user interface was very self explanatory but for those who needed a little guidance they offered  easy to read “How-To” pages.  The process to do any task is driven by a wizard where you select the object, fields and then execute.  The wizard offers easy searchability throughout the steps, the ability to filter, sort and write SOQL queries and as you are just about to execute the task, you have nice summary of the job with the ability to schedule the task and select a specific destination folder for where you can send a copy of the results.  Once the task is run, you see the results in a history page.  What was really nice about this is you can edit, rerun and clone the task right from the history page without having to go through the wizard again.

Summary

What started out as a mission to find a tool to solve a problem turned into a possible replacement for an existing one.  In addition to working with the Salesforce Professional Edition that suited our needs, Dataloader.io offers some really nice time saving features that can support your data loading efforts in the future.

 

If you would like to discuss further tweet at me at www.twitter.com/Salvatoriello or comment below.