I passed Salesforce Certified Integration Architecture Designer exam

I have quite good number of years of experience in integration. But, don't be under the impression that it's enough to crack this one. For me, this was toughest one so far. You need solid preparation around the topics - there are huge number of them. To make it easier, there are lot of folks (including me) who have jotted down the topics so that you don't have to.

I will take slightly different approach from my other blogs. I have reference to only 2 blogs this time, but more focus on the topics that I noted down post the exam.

• It's Maceij's blog again. Excellent topic explanation with diagrams. This guy is amazing!
• Gemma did awesome job with this blog, again. She has given crisp and clear explanation, with diagrams. A must read if you are preparing for Integration Designer exam.

Now, coming to the topics, I noted down post the exam. This list quite exhaustive, so take a deep breath... aaaand read on.

• Capabilities of Bulk API - what types of file/format it supports (XML, JSON, CSV), doesn't support base64
• Understand CA-signed & Salesforce client certified - also know what is used for Outbound message
• Know when to use Wave vs external ETL - this is excellent article given in Resource Guide
• Understand what is actionPoller and actionRegion tags
• Know what is allowed inside Test.startTest() & Test.Stop()
• Understand capabilities of Apex Continuation class - also know the difference betwee @future class
• Thoroughly understand Named credentials - where it can be used
• Understand the Integration Design Patterns - read & understand this excellent article/resource - there were good number of questions on this topics
• Salesforce Connect - know the capabilities, what's supported what's not
• Know various options for getting updated records - Data Replication API, getUpdated(), etc.
• Clearly understand the capabilities/features of Enterprise & Partner WSDLs
• Know the difference of ETL & Middleware - know when to use what, also know capabilities of middleware
• Understand usage of workbench
• Know Outbound Messages thoroughly - like others mentioned there were good number of questions around this topic - using Named Credentials, availability in Process Builder
• Understand how Duplicate Management works
• Know Force.com Canvas - again excellent tutorial given in Resource Guide
• MUST go through these 2 video tutorials given in Resource Guide (you should go through all of them, but special shout out to these 2)
• Integrating with Force.com : Security
• Integrating with Force.com Streaming API

Section-wise weightage and # of questions. Do refer to the latest study guide for any change in weightage.

	Weightage	# of questions
Salesforce Integration Testing	10%	6
Enterprise Integration Architecture Concepts	15%	9
Monitoring	5%	3
Salesforce Integration Patterns	17%	10
Integrating with Force.com: Security	15%	9
Salesforce Integration Capabilities	28%	17
Tools	10%	6

May the force be with you. The hands-on experience combined with the study, will definitely make the exam easier for you. All the best :)