There are three main ways that metadata can be used in Salesforce Apex to complete the necessary processes: by importing the metadata into Salesforce, by updating it in the product’s interface, or by using the Salesforce metadata API.

Salesforce Metadata API explains how salesforce.com and Force.com development artifacts are structured. With Force.com, you only need to code as opposed to the customary development process of code-compile-package-deploy.

What is Salesforce Metadata?
Metadata is a simple lightweight language which based on XML. Salesforce metadata are parts of Salesforce that define how objects behave and how your org looks ,metadata are the “nuts and bolts” of your Salesforce org.

You may assume that metadata and data are the same – they are not.

• Data relates to the records that a business relies on, e.g. users, Accounts, Contacts, etc.
• Metadata is the data that describes data, the way that records behave and the “look and feel” of your Salesforce org.

Hard-coded applications are a thing of the past – configuration is the flair of the season.

Organisations need flexible applications that can be tailored to what their business requires, without needing high-level programming skills. Metadata is what transforms Salesforce from a simple database into an entire platform – that’s why Salesforce metadata is so powerful.

Salesforce Metadata API is used to manage our application customisation programatically as well as export and migrate meta data. Force.com Migration tools uses Metadata API to retrieve and modify our organisation structure. Salesforce.com has made this asynchronous API available to users so that you can build your own client applications on top of it.

Salesforce users frequently ignore the extensive range of Salesforce metadata. Whatever your position, it’s critical to comprehend the distinction between data and metadata. Your metadata supports a number of daily business operations and contains important information about your Salesforce org. Therefore, it needs to be handled carefully.

Auto industry changing business models

Automotive Cloud, if it is to unseat incumbent automotive applications, needs to be simple to implement, integrate and use, said Mike Ramsey, a vice president, analyst, at Gartner and longtime auto industry journalist. If Salesforce can create cloud software that anticipates and facilitates these new models -- and using it isn't a struggle -- the vendor will be the only one doing anything like it, Ramsey said.

Michael RamseyAnalyst, Gartner

«Automotive Cloud is not just a CRM system for automakers. » That represents a big IT project that automakers may consider Salesforce Automotive Cloud instead of building or buying -- and then integrating -- all those pieces themselves. But replicating the functionality of tools such as Salesforce Flow for Automotive automations and Analytics for Automotive outside of the Salesforce cloud would require a lot of developer code and integration work.

Salesforce's vertical industry playbook

Automotive Cloud follows the pattern of other Salesforce vertical clouds, where large companies such as clothing or consumer packaged goods manufacturers either didn't have relationships with consumers in the first place, or they were severed during the pandemic when retail stores closed. «Salesforce is trying to understand the realities of an industry, and then out of the box, it these data models and algorithms,» Miller said. « That's the problem Salesforce is trying to solve». Analytics for Automotive, part of Salesforce's automotive CRM, comes with industry-specific dashboards that provide overviews of sales performance, customer lifecycle and revenue trends.

Salesforce hopes Automotive Cloud will appeal to large dealer networks, which typically have 20 or more dealerships and sell cars from multiple automakers, said Achyut Jajoo, senior vice president and general manager for manufacturing and automotive at Salesforce. He added that Salesforce has targeted auto financing companies as well as regional operations groups for large automakers. That might provide an opportunity for Salesforce Automotive Cloud as these networks look to integrate customer data among its dealers.