HubDB or Custom Object - which way to go?

[MMertznich]

Hey there, 

I am currently building an integration to make data from an product API available in HubSpot and Salesforce. Due to some of the requirements around this project, I am torn what a good implementation could look like. The solution needs to support both the creation of an activity in Salesforce (preferably from a HubSpot workflow) and the use of a programmable email module to send out an email with the data.

One of the biggest caveats is that the amount of sets of properties I need to store is variable. The maximum is five sets of properties, but it could also be two. Heres a quick schematic of what I am trying to achieve: 

As arrays aren't really supported in properties, the variable amount of data would be a big pro for HubDB. I could simply create a new row for every instance and iterate through the rows in the programmable email module. However, HubDB does not work with workflows and I would need to find a workaround to create the Salesforce task. The data also isn't readily available when looking at the contact record. 

 

However, I could also use a custom object that just has properties for up to five instances (e.g. Instance1_property1, Instance1_property2, Instance2_property2, and so on). It wouldn't be a super clean solution in the programmable mail, but would still be doable. However, it would support the task creation in Salesforce natively via a custom object workflow. 

I also thought about just implementing both and using the data from HubDB for the email and the custom object for the Salesforce activity, but ensuring data consistency across both is another challenge. 

Has anyone been in a similar situation and/or has best practices on hand? Any input is appreciated 🙂 

Max

[coldrickjack · Accepted solution]

Hey @MMertznich,

Interesting situation, I'd probably lean towards using custom objects in this instance also, especially as you've the ability to use custom object workflows to automate task creation and more as and when things change.

Another thing to be mindful of which I think would position HubDB as a less viable option is that you are limited to 10,000 rows per table (and 1000 tables per hub). So depending on how much data you are working with here it could be an issue...

[MMertznich]

Hi Jack, 

thanks a lot for your input! True, the 10.000 row limit might become relevant at some point in the future, did not think about that. Will move forward with Custom Objects now.