Asynchronous Processing

Asynchronous processing works by queueing SOAP API calls in an async server before they are processed. Calls are then processed as Marketing Cloud is available or scheduled to be processed in the future. Asynchronous processing improves the responsiveness and processing speed of Marketing Cloud SOAP API calls. Even when Marketing Cloud is in maintenance mode, API calls are not dropped. They wait on the async server until Marketing Cloud is ready to process them. Queued calls can be:

  • Processed in the order they are received
  • Scheduled to be processed at a particular time
  • Processed according to priority

With synchronous call processing, API calls go directly to Marketing Cloud to be processed at the time they are received. If Marketing Cloud is unavailable, either for scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, synchronous API calls cannot be received and are not processed. If calls aren't processed, it's difficult to identify when a call is dropped. For example, you can send some calls again with no significant impact to the system or your customers. For processing-heavy actions, such as an email send, duplicating the call is not recommended.