How can I explain the pricing model for Salesforce Connect?

 In the context of Salesforce, here is how you can explain and even estimate the costs:-

Data volume

The Salesforce Connect would allow you to access and integrate External data sources like databases, ERP systems, etc.

API calls

The Salesforce connect heavily relies on the API calls for fetching band updating the data from the external systems in real-time or near real-time.

Licensing costs

The Salesforce Connect demands a specific license such as Salesforce Connect External Object or even Salesforce Connect OData license for accessing external data sources.

Here is a coding example given in apex which would show how you can use the Salesforce connect External Object to access the data from an external data source:-

// Define an external data source
String externalDataSourceName = ‘MyExternalDataSource’;
Database.SaveResult saveResult = Database.createExternalDataSource(
    New ExternalDataSource(
        Name = externalDataSourceName,
        EndpointUrl = ‘https://example.com/odata’,
        Protocol = ‘OData’,
        Type = ‘OData4’,
        PrincipalType = ‘Anonymous’,
        IsWritable = false
    )
);
If (saveResult.isSuccess()) {
    // Define an external object
    String externalObjectName = ‘MyExternalObject’;
    Database.SaveResult objSaveResult = Database.createExternalObject(
        New ExternalObject(
            Name = externalObjectName,
            Label = ‘My External Object’,
            DataSourceName = externalDataSourceName,
            DisplayUrl = ‘https://example.com/odata’,
            SearchUrl = ‘https://example.com/odata/search’
        )
    );
    If (objSaveResult.isSuccess()) {
        // Access external object data using SOQL query
        List externalRecords = [SELECT Id, Name FROM MyExternalObject__x LIMIT 10];
        System.debug(externalRecords);
    } else {
        System.debug(‘Error creating external object: ‘ + objSaveResult.getErrors()[0].getMessage());
    }
} else {
    System.debug(‘Error creating external data source: ‘ + saveResult.getErrors()[0].getMessage());
}