Account Engagement User Migration Overview Retirement

Beginning on February 15, 2021 and coinciding with the Spring ’21 release, Account Engagement's user authentication system will be discontinued and all users will be required to use Salesforce single sign-on (SSO). All Account Engagement users not enabled with Salesforce SSO by February 15, 2021 will lose the ability to log into Account Engagement until they are connected to a Salesforce user.

This change will not have an impact on any Account Engagement features or change the level of access that any particular user has. It only impacts the way in which users authenticate to Account Engagement.

In addition to this overview article, there is an FAQ with answers to several detailed questions.

Why is Salesforce making this change?

Security is the primary driver of this change. Trust is Salesforce’s #1 value and user security is a key part of that. By requiring that all users access Pardot via Salesforce SSO, Account Engagement can eliminate its own user authentication system and consolidate all customers onto Salesforce’s robust and extensible user security system. The majority of users accessing Account Engagement today are already using Salesforce SSO, but we want all customers using Salesforce SSO so that everyone can take advantage of Salesforce’s security features that aren’t available in Account Engagement today; features like custom password policies, login hours, and a multi-factor authentication system that is far more customizable than what Account Engagement offers.

Account Engagement's recent releases and future roadmap are also key drivers of this change. As Account Engagement deepens its integration with Salesforce, Account Engagement users lacking a Salesforce seat are missing out on an increasing number of features: Account Engagement Lightning App, Business Units, B2B Marketing Analytics, and the new Lightning Email/Landing Page Builder, just to name a few.

What are the details of the change?

On February 15, 2021, Account Engagement will stop supporting direct login using Account Engagement credentials and require that all users accessing Account Engagement do so via single sign-on using Salesforce credentials. This means that all Account Engagement users will need to be connected to a Salesforce user.

To support customers with Account Engagement-only users who can not obtain full Salesforce licenses, 100 Salesforce Identity licenses have been added to all customer orgs. These Identity licenses can be used as a no-cost way of transitioning Account Engagement-only users to Salesforce.

How will this change affect my users?

It depends on how your users are currently configured.

If all of your users already access Account Engagement via Salesforce SSO, then you will not need to take any action. If, however, you have Account Engagement-only users that are not connected to a Salesforce user, then you will need to connect them before February 15, 2021. They can be connected to either new or existing Salesforce users, and the 100 bundled Identity licenses can be used for users who can not obtain full Salesforce licenses.

Finally, if you are in the small group of Account Engagement customers who do not have a Salesforce org at all, then your account executive will be reaching out to you this fall to get you set up with a Salesforce org. This new Salesforce org will be free of charge, but will have several restrictions placed on it.

How will this change affect my API integrations?

All integrations with the Account Engagement API will need to be updated to use Salesforce authentication instead of Account Engagement authentication. More information on accessing the Pardot API with Salesforce authentication is available on the API documentation site.

If you are using a third-party API integration, like Zapier, then you’ll need to wait for the owner of that service to update their integration. Account Engagement is proactively reaching out to Drift, FeedOtter, On24, TaxiForEmail, Tray.io, Qualified, Zapier, and Zoom to make them aware of this change. Given Account Engagement's open API integration policy, there are certainly third-party integrations in existence that Account Engagement is not aware of. If you are a consumer of a service not included in the list above, please reach out to that service provider to make sure that they’re aware of this change.

What is Account Engagement doing to support me in this change?

Account Engagement is committed to ensuring this transition is as smooth as possible with minimal disruption. In addition to providing all Account Engagement customers with 100 Identity licenses, changes were made in the Summer ’20 and Winter ’20 releases to help make this a smooth transition:

1. The Account Engagement API is now available to Salesforce users
2. The Account Engagement API previously required a Account Engagement user to access, but starting with the Summer ’20 release, the Account Engagement API is available to Salesforce users as well. All Account Engagement API integrations will need to be updated to authenticate with a Salesforce user.
3. Salesforce User Sync improvements
4. Salesforce User Sync makes user administration easy by automatically creating and deactivating users in Account Engagement as they are created and deactivated in Salesforce. The feature previously required entire Salesforce Profiles to be enabled, which was too broad for many customers. Improvements in the Summer ’20 release provide admins far more granular control over exactly which Salesforce users are given access to Account Engagement. The user assignment controls have also been moved to Salesforce Setup, making it possible for Salesforce admins to control Account Engagement access without leaving Salesforce.
5. The Account Engagement account switcher, which allows a single user to jump between multiple Account Engagement business units, is now available to all Account Engagement business unit customers. This eliminates the need to create multiple users to move between business units.
6. Account Engagement’s WordPress plugin now supports Salesforce authentication. All customers using Account Engagement's WordPress plugin will need to make a small change to utilize Salesforce authentication.

What action should I take?

Now is the time to transition your users and Account Engagement has put together a User Migration Admin Guide which walks administrators through every step that they’ll need to take to have a successful migration. Account Engagement encourages all customers to start making this transition as soon as possible.

How can I get more information?
Answers to detailed questions are available in the User Migration FAQ.

If you have more questions, open a case with support via Salesforce Help or contact your Salesforce account team. To view all current and past retirements, see Salesforce Product & Feature Retirements.

For more information about Salesforce’s approach to retiring products and features, read our Product & Feature Retirement Philosophy.