How can a flow be utilized to access external systems?

Using a flow to access external systems through actions registered by External Services is an efficient method for integrating Salesforce with those systems. External Services are designed to bridge the gap between Salesforce and external APIs, allowing users to call out to web services seamlessly within a flow. This involves defining an integration that describes how the external service interacts with Salesforce, which can include operations for creating, reading, updating, or deleting records in the external system.

When you call these actions in a flow, you can leverage the functionality of the external service without needing to manually interface with the data or code, streamlining processes and promoting automation within your workflows. This capability enhances the overall efficiency of business operations by allowing for real-time data exchange and processing between Salesforce and external systems.

The other options lack the direct integration and seamless workflow that External Services provide. Manually entering data into external systems can be error-prone and less efficient, while importing data through CSV files is not a real-time solution and does not involve calling external systems dynamically. Using Salesforce's API to pull data directly from external systems requires additional configuration, programming, and management of API calls, making it a more complex solution compared to utilizing the built-in capabilities of flows with external services.