Target Group: Architects
Complexity: Medium
Assets have always been a strange object I could never really grasp.
What’s the difference between a Product and an Asset? What to really use Assets? Why not go with a Custom Object right away?
Like every CTA student, I became very excited once I learned: Assets don’t count against data storage.
I couldn’t believe it, I had to test it myself. Using an overly complicated automation consisting of Queueable APEX, Platform Events, and Flows combination I was able to create millions of Assets in my Dev Org without any issue.
But what about LDV considerations? I was told (couldn’t see that yet myself) that there exist Orgs with hundreds of millions of Assets. As long as the object is architected properly, Asset LDV can be managed.
-> Assets can be used to store very large volumes of records.
And even better, Assets are part of every License (Sales, Service, Platform, Customer Community…).
-> Assets are versatile tools to share information between different User Groups.
And now the last questions, when to use them?
“Asset is a concrete representation of a Product.”
Typically an Asset has a serial number, while a Product has a product code.
One Product can have many Assets, but one Asset can only have one Product.
Disclaimer: Don’t misuse Assets for other purposes just because you have a large volume.
Thanks, Christian Meese for reminding me of the awesomeness of Assets.
PS: There’s the Asset Token Flow I spent lots and lots of time memorizing but I still can’t explain what it’s used for in the wild.