To achieve a competitive edge, businesses must implement a highly comprehensive business intelligence platform. An efficient business intelligence platform offers effective SFDC reports and dashboards, analytics, and sales performance dashboards. Reporting & analytics have been one of the top features of any Salesforce application, whether it’s Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Marketing Cloud. When we talk about Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Marketing Cloud, the data is quantitative & creating complex Salesforce reports is seamless. But how about using standard report types in Salesforce & dashboards when the data is of a billion records? Yes, we are talking about Big Objects.
Designed for massive datasets, Big Objects lets businesses store, manage, and analyze historical or external data without performance issues. Unlike standard objects, they scale effortlessly, ensure fast queries with indexing, and allow easy integration with external sources. Big objects in Einstein Analytics also provide extended capabilities for analytics beyond Salesforce.
Salesforce (SFDC) reports and dashboards transform raw data into actionable insights. Object reports help filter, group, and analyze data for in-depth analysis, while CRM dashboards provide high-level visual overviews through interactive charts and graphs. With customization, businesses can tailor sales dashboards to match their unique needs and even create sales dashboard examples for different teams.
To make Big Object data work in SFDC reports and dashboards, follow a structured approach:
- Create a Custom Object – Extract key data using SOQL queries.
- Transform Data – Aggregate and filter for precise insights.
- Optimize Performance – Use indexed fields and data partitioning for faster queries.
Salesforce makes data visualization simple, but handling huge datasets requires the right approach. Big Objects ensure scalability, powerful service cloud reports and dashboards, and data-driven decision-making without hitting storage or performance limits.
Understanding the Limitations of Big Objects Reporting
Overcome Big Objects Reporting Limitations with DataArchiva
Limited SOQL Functionality
Big Objects rely on Async SOQL, which has strict constraints. Certain SOQL operators like “LIKE”, “NOT IN”, and complex aggregations are not supported, limiting advanced object-level reporting. Queries must always use an indexed field, restricting flexibility in filtering and retrieving data.
No Standard UI Access
Unlike standard objects, Big Objects cannot be accessed via standard Salesforce list views, detail pages, or homepages. This means they do not support direct reporting through the standard report types in the Salesforce interface, requiring additional steps to extract and analyze data.
Asynchronous Operations Required
Because Big Objects store vast amounts of data, retrieving and querying them requires asynchronous Apex calls. This adds complexity to report generation and can introduce delays, making it difficult to create real-time, dynamic dashboards.
Immutable Schema
Once a Big Object schema is defined, it cannot be modified. If your reporting needs evolve and require a different data structure, you must create a new Big Object and migrate data, which can be time-consuming.
No Sharing Rules Support
Unlike standard objects, Big Objects do not support sharing rules, meaning access control must be managed at the object and field level. This can be a challenge when handling sensitive data that requires role-based access.
Index Limitations
Big Objects rely heavily on indexing for query performance, but once an index is set, it cannot be changed. Poorly planned indexing can result in slow queries and inefficient reporting, making it crucial to design an optimal indexing strategy from the start.
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Creating Standard Reports with Big Objects
Since Big Objects cannot be used directly in SFDC reports and dashboards, businesses need a structured approach to extract and analyze data efficiently:
- Extract Data to a Custom Object Use Async SOQL or Batch Apex to pull relevant Big Object data into a custom cloud reports and dashboards object. This allows full use of Salesforce’s reporting capabilities.
- Pre-Process Data for Reporting Aggregate, filter, or transform data before storing it in a custom object to improve query performance. Indexed fields should be leveraged for efficient retrieval.
- Automate Data Transfers Schedule data extraction jobs to ensure object reports remain up-to-date without manual intervention. ETL tools or Apex-based automation can help ease this process.
- Use External BI Tools If the dataset is too large for Salesforce reporting, tools like Tableau, Power BI (dashboard vs report in Power BI), and Einstein Analytics offer better visualization and querying capabilities.
By implementing these strategies, businesses can overcome Big Object reporting limitations while still leveraging Salesforce’s native SFDC reports and dashboards for real-time insights and better decision-making.
Using Async SOQL for Data Movement
Async SOQL is a game-changer for moving large amounts of Salesforce data, especially when working with Big Objects. Unlike standard SOQL, Async SOQL runs in the background, breaking queries into chunks and processing them asynchronously. This makes it ideal for extracting, archiving, or migrating millions of records without hitting governor limits.
Since Big Objects aren’t designed for real-time querying, Async SOQL helps extract and process data efficiently. Businesses can schedule queries to move data into standard or custom objects, making it accessible for SFDC reports and dashboards without slowing down performance.
The catch? It’s not real-time and requires setup, but if you’re handling historical data or need periodic extractions, it’s a hands-free way to keep your data structured and actionable.
How to Use Async SOQL for Standard Reports & Dashboards with Big Objects
To create SFDC reports and dashboards with Big Objects, follow this process:
- Identify the Big Object that holds the data for which you need a report.
- Create a Custom Object to hold the working dataset for reporting purposes.
- Build an Async SOQL Query to pull Big Object data into your custom object using Workbench:
- Queries → Async SOQL
- Source object → Big Object
- Select fields & filter criteria
- Operation type → INSERT
- Target object → Custom object
- Map source fields to target fields
- Run and wait for completion
- Query the Custom Object in Workbench to ensure data availability.
- Build Reports using the working dataset:
- Setup → Report Types → Custom Report Type → Select Primary Object
- Set report to Deployed → Run the report
- Use in sales dashboards, sales CRM dashboards, or any Lightning Platform features.
Asynchronous Processing in Salesforce
Asynchronous processing in Salesforce lets you handle heavy tasks without slowing down your org. Batch jobs, Bulk API, and Async SOQL help process and move large datasets efficiently, making object-level reporting possible even for Big Objects.
Need to analyze Big Object data? Apex Batch jobs and scheduled processes can extract relevant records into standard objects for reporting. Best reporting tools for in-house teams can also be integrated to make reporting more efficient.
Standard SOQL vs. Async SOQL: What's the Difference?
- Standard SOQL – Ideal for real-time queries and small datasets, perfect for UI displays or quick responses in Apex. Limited for big reports.
- Async SOQL – Handles massive datasets (billions of records) without hitting system limits. Executes in the background, allowing multiple queries to run simultaneously. Essential for Big Objects and historical data reporting.
Bottom line: Choose Standard SOQL for immediate results, Async SOQL to scale and manage complex Salesforce reports efficiently.
DataArchiva’s Native Reporting
With DataArchiva, you can archive historical data efficiently to cost-effective storage like AWS, Azure, or On-Prem, while keeping it fully accessible. Archived records stay reporting-ready, supporting sales dashboards, service cloud reports, and CRM dashboards, without slowing down Salesforce performance.
Fetching and exporting data is easy: pick any object, select the fields you need, filter by multiple criteria, and export directly to Excel or CSV. DataArchiva also unifies live and archived records, so your dashboards and BI tools always show the complete picture.
Ready-to-use dashboards provide instant insights into archived records, backup jobs, storage usage, and restores, while customizable reports let you analyze archived data, metadata, backups, or logs just like normal Salesforce reporting. With automated archiving and extraction, your reports always reflect current insights, while role-based access ensures compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulations.
Big Objects are powerful, but reporting doesn’t have to be complicated. DataArchiva makes Salesforce data management and reporting effortless, reliable, and fully scalable.
DataArchiva ensures you can efficiently manage, store, and report on your Salesforce data without limitations.
