How Many Users Can SDL Tridion Support?

I've personally supported dozens of fairly smart SDL Tridion content authors in a "small" setup of three or four sites with thousands of pieces of content. I've worked with organizations with around 200-300 users and more recent ones looking to grow to some 700 users. From other colleagues I've heard of setups with tens of thousands of users. And these aren't even software limits, but more likely caused by the practicalities of supporting that many users (and all that content!).

When someone asks this question, I'm seeing potentially two parts:

• A prospective company (actually the content management organization and individuals vetting solutions) is doing its due diligence. It's making sure it doesn't get burned and is considering the big picture.
• Those looking to disqualify you. 

But since SDL Tridion is decoupled between content management, delivery, and even distribution, it's almost guaranteed server technology will be able to support more users than your organization can.

Here's the good and bad news, depending on how you look at it.

The content management industry--the CMS professionals and content management users themselves, not the vendors, are pointing out that "Big Content" has its costs. Just read a few posts by Content Strategists to see the importance of creating a content matrix or inventory, of having a strategy, and focusing on your end-users' (visitors') needs (learn about top tasks by Gerry McGovern). The paradox of content is more isn't necessarily better.

The other part is users should not be the only number you're looking for. The ability to scale is a question an organization needs to confirm with both its vendor and itself.

In terms of content authors (users), are you ready to:

• Train them now and into the future (please don't expect to successfully cram 25 users into a session and though "train the trainer" works to an extent, do you really have trainers in your organization?) 
• Support them (any system or technology has support costs--I'm de facto "iOS support" for my daughter's iPad for example)
• Convince them to change from their existing systems

Technology has the ability to transform and change roles but also to disrupt existing processes and even people. If you're asking if SDL Tridion or any system can support X users, be sure to account for the change. If done right, you'll be able to do more with the same.

• Some will get to do less manual work
• Some may do more technical work
• Some may do more analysis, design, and content modeling (my favorite)

So have a plan on the benefits and trade-offs (especially in personnel) for a new system. Change leadership matters.

The real question you should consider:

• How much content do you have
• How often will you update it
• What systems does it live in today
• Where do you want that content to live tomorrow (it doesn't all have to be in the CMS)

Is having X users actually a benefit? Are you looking forward to it? Is your organization ready for X users?

SDL Tridion, as a piece of technology (it's an application backed by database(s) like many many others not quite like it) can support as many users as you need. The real question is how many do you really need? How many can your organization support?

Cancelling Booking Requests, A Story of Slightly Scary Usability

Sometimes certain user actions are scary, though harmless. For example, cancelling an online booking request might seem twice as painful as the SDL Tridion BA certification exam (so a TBACE factor of 2).

When booking online travel through an online booking company that shall remain nameless, as a consultant I will:

1. Pick the right dates at a reasonable fair, balancing pain of the trip with what fit corporate travel guidelines.
2. Enter project-related details
3. Request approval from one of the office superstars.

I'm not sure about anyone else, but if it wasn't for GPS and online booking services, I'm not sure I'd be a consultant.

For example, my trip to Amsterdam last year was pretty much, "Alvin, book a flight to HQ for these dates." I confirmed the details of course, but Google and GPS confirmed I had the right office, that the shady cab driver got me to the right hotel, and pointed out I took the wrong train to the office as my blip got farther away from the office.

But despite the convenience, after balancing and picking from 105 flights with travel times from no stops for a direct 2-hour flight for $2,315 to 3 stops with 13 hours of travel for $215, I'll sometimes miss step 2, which prompts one of the office superstars to deny my request. :-(

And because my respect for the approving superstar outweighs the pain of re-booking, I was apparently the first to click a fairly scary option called: cancel approval request.

Wait, what happens if I click that? Apparently not much. Go ahead, try it!

Knowing a little about Web technology and content management systems makes me fairly picky Web user. Both of my complaints are data- and content-related:

Tame the Content Injection Monster

Content Injection, or rendering Content Types (Component Presentations in Tridion) within the context of another Content Type (Component Presentation) is a powerful content management option.

But be careful it doesn't wreck havoc in your implementations and become a monster to manage.

Run! It's the multi-level, deeply-nested content injected monster!
Source: TridionWorld, with a minor tweak and much respect to the authors--
I regularly cite this article in my own engagements..

Less is More? Just Enough is More.

Take a look at your last boarding pass or your next one if you haven't traveled lately.

Source Stock.Xchang

What's on it?

• Airline?
• Gate Number?
• Departure time?
• Or Boarding time?
• Arrival time? No, why not?

Notice what's not on there. As a "user of boarding passes" I appreciate the fact the numbers, times, and information are completely relevant to what I'm trying to do at the time, which is usually getting my butt to the gate with time to spare.

Next time you're thinking about content, maybe as part of a content model in a "Lift and Shift" CMS Project or even in your next PowerPoint slide deck, consider a less-is-more approach.

Or better yet, measure the impact of your content in the context it's used and go for just-enough-is-more.

Don't Let a Format Dictate Your Content Model

In the SDL Tridion workshops I've given, developers sometimes ask fairly technical questions on everything from publishing to rendering to architecture. I understand it's hard to grasp a content management system in a few sessions. And maybe I get the questions because I offer answers ("I'm just functional" doesn't seem to work anymore)?

At the 2012 MVP Summit, Nuno Linhares pointed out the related technologies on StackOverflow's #tridion tag. The snap shot to the right is already outdated by the time you read this and it doesn't even include concepts and "basic" Tridion terms nor the architecture options. Bart Koopman points out these questions reflect complexity of the product (though not necessarily its difficulty).