Quick Reference: Scenario Analysis

Fast-track refresher for reading, annotating, and architecting from a CTA scenario document. The 180-minute preparation phase is your most constrained resource. How you spend it determines your board performance.

The 180-Minute Battlefield

Figure 1. The 90-minute design block is deliberately front-loaded with System Landscape and Data Model, the two highest-scoring artifacts. Migration and Governance take the final 20 minutes of design; if time is short, these can be covered at a higher level and defended verbally in Q&A.

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Time Allocation by Scenario Type

Phase	Standard (3-4 systems)	Integration-Heavy (5+ systems)	Org-Strategy (complex BU)
Pass 1: Skim	15-20 min	15 min	20 min
Pass 2: Annotate	25-30 min	20-25 min	25-30 min
Solution design & diagrams	90 min	100 min	90 min
Presentation prep	20 min	15 min	20 min
Review & buffer	15-20 min	15 min	15-20 min

The number one time trap

Spending too long on the data model or system landscape and running out of time for governance, dev lifecycle, and presentation prep. Set hard timers for each phase and move on even if the diagram is not perfect.

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What Every Scenario Contains

Every CTA scenario, regardless of industry, includes these elements:

Element	What to Extract	Maps to Domain
Company overview (industry, size, regions)	Scale, regulatory implications	D1 System Architecture
Current state systems	Integration landscape, technical debt	D5 Integration
User types & counts	License strategy, sharing model	D1, D2 Security
Business requirements	Solution components	D4 Solution Architecture
Data volumes & growth	LDV strategy, archival needs	D3 Data
External systems	Integration patterns, middleware decisions	D5 Integration
Compliance / regulatory mentions	Security model, encryption, audit	D2 Security
Timeline & phasing	Environment strategy, release plan	D6 Dev Lifecycle
Stakeholder concerns	Prioritization, change management	D7 Communication

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The 9 Essential Artifacts Checklist

#	Artifact	Domain(s)	Must Show
1	Company Overview & Context	D7	Business context, scope, success criteria
2	Actors & Licenses	D1, D2	All user types, license types, access channels
3	System Landscape	D1, D5	All orgs, external systems, integration points
4	Data Model (ERD)	D3	Key objects, relationships, cardinality, volumes
5	Role Hierarchy & Sharing	D2	Role tree, OWD settings, sharing rules
6	Identity & Access (SSO)	D2	Auth flow, IdP, SSO protocol, MFA
7	Data Migration Strategy	D3	Source-to-target, sequencing, tooling, cutover
8	Governance Model	D6, D7	Decision structure, change mgmt, stakeholder cadence
9	Development & Deployment	D6	Environments, branching, CI/CD, testing

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Hidden Requirements - What the Scenario Won’t Say Explicitly

Never stated, but always expected in your solution:

Category	Scenario Clue	What to Address
Performance	Data volume numbers, user counts	LDV strategies, caching, async processing
Scalability	”Plans to expand,” growth projections	Elastic design, multi-tenant considerations
Availability	Global ops, 24/7, mission-critical	DR strategy, backup, SLA commitments
Security	Regulated industry, data sensitivity	Encryption, audit trails, compliance
Maintainability	Multiple dev teams, ongoing ops	Code standards, documentation, governance

Implicit Requirements by Industry

Industry	You Must Address (Even If Not Stated)
Healthcare	HIPAA, PHI handling, consent, audit trails
Financial Services	SOX, PCI DSS, encryption, regulatory reporting
Government	FedRAMP, data sovereignty, accessibility
Retail	PCI for payments, seasonal scaling, CCPA/GDPR
Any global company	Data residency, GDPR, multi-currency, time zones

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The “Big 3” Diagram Priority

Put 80% of diagram time into your first 3 diagrams. A polished Big 3 scores higher than 6 rough ones.

Scenario Signal	Diagram 1 (Must)	Diagram 2 (Should)	Diagram 3 (Should)
Multi-system enterprise	Integration / Data Flow	System Landscape	Security Model
Complex business units	System Landscape (Org)	Data Model (ERD)	Integration Flow
Large data volumes	Data Model (ERD)	Migration / ETL Flow	System Landscape
Regulated industry	Security Architecture	System Landscape	Data Flow

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Ambiguity Handling - The Five-Finger Method (study-aid mnemonic)

When you encounter vague or missing information (and you will), use this structure:

Finger	Say This
1. “In order to…”	State the business requirement
2. “I recommend…”	State your solution
3. “Assuming that…”	State your assumption
4. “I considered…”	Name the alternative
5. “But I chose this because…”	Justify your decision

Example

“In order to support real-time inventory sync between SAP and Salesforce, I recommend a Platform Events integration via MuleSoft, assuming that SAP supports outbound real-time notifications. I considered a batch polling approach, but I chose event-driven because the scenario specifies ‘near real-time’ visibility for the sales team.”

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Reverse-Engineered Use Cases

Use Case 1: The Buried Mobile Requirement

Scenario: A manufacturing company scenario mentions in a stakeholder quote on page 6: “Our field reps need to update work orders on-site, even in areas with poor connectivity.”

What most candidates miss: This buried sentence requires offline-capable mobile architecture - Salesforce Mobile App with offline briefcase or a custom mobile solution.

What to do: During Pass 2, when you color-code this as a D1 (System Architecture) requirement, flag it prominently. Address it in your system landscape with a mobile architecture component and in your solution architecture with the offline data sync strategy.

Use Case 2: The Conflicting Stakeholder Priorities

Scenario: The VP of Sales wants “real-time pipeline visibility across all regions” while the CIO wants “minimal integration complexity and low TCO.”

What to do: Acknowledge the tension explicitly. “These priorities are in tension - real-time visibility requires more integration infrastructure. I balance this by using Change Data Capture for the highest-priority pipeline data (satisfying the VP) while keeping the integration architecture event-driven and serverless to minimize operational overhead (satisfying the CIO). The trade-off is a 5-minute data freshness lag on secondary objects.”

Use Case 3: The Unstated Compliance Requirement

Scenario: A financial services company operating in the US and EU. The scenario mentions “customer financial data” but never says “GDPR” or “SOX.”

What to do: Address both regulations proactively. State your assumption: “Given the EU operations and financial data handling, I assume GDPR and SOX compliance are required.” Then design for data residency (EU data stays in EU), encryption at rest (Shield Platform Encryption), audit trails, and data retention policies. Judges expect you to identify implicit compliance needs.

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Deep-Dive References

• Scenario Patterns & Domain Coverage Strategies: full scenario analysis guide
• Complete Review Board Guide: exam structure, prerequisites, scoring, prep strategies
• Reading Framework Quick-Reference

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Sources

• CTA Certification Guide & Tips - Salesforce Ben
• CTA Mock Scenarios - Apex Hours
• Public Mock Scenarios List - CTA Gang of Four
• CTA Review Board Prep (Winter ‘26) - TrailblazePrep
• Guidance for the CTA Journey - Melissa Shepard
• Becoming a Salesforce CTA (2nd Edition) - Tameem Bahri, Packt Publishing