In a standard sharing model, who has access to Opportunity records owned by an external user?

In a standard sharing model within Salesforce, access to Opportunity records owned by an external user is dictated by role hierarchy and sharing rules. The correct choice reflects that the record owner, along with any user above the external user in the role hierarchy, has access to the Opportunity records.

In Salesforce, the role hierarchy allows users in higher roles to have visibility over records owned by users in lower roles. When an external user owns an Opportunity record, the access extends to the owner of the record and users in roles that are positioned higher in the hierarchy relative to the external user. This means that if there are internal users positioned in roles that exceed the external user's role, they will gain access to those records as well.

This set up promotes collaboration among internal teams while maintaining the privacy and security needed for external users, thereby allowing justified access without compromising data control. This explains why the first answer is the most accurate — it effectively captures the principle of role hierarchy in relation to external user record ownership.

Understanding this concept is crucial for effective Salesforce administration, particularly in environments where both internal and external users are involved in record management.