Digital Asset Management for the Enterprise

August 21st, 2010

Corporate TeamAs digital asset management is becoming more and more integral for corporate marketing teams, companies of all sizes are adopting DAM systems. With the explosion of digital content, the need for digital asset management goes beyond marketing and creative teams and can impact corporate-wide workflows. From content generation to delivery, digital asset management is at the core of the digital supply chain, spanning departments and even divisions within a company. When deploying DAM for the enterprise, there are several key features to consider. These considerations apply regardless of the deployment model: SaaS, licensed, or in-house system.

What is Enterprise Digital Asset Management Software?

Simply put, enterprise digital asset management software is a special type of digital asset management software that can be implemented across an enterprise, accessible by associates of an organization such as employees, colleagues, partners, and customers,. It’s designed to meet the specific needs of larger organizations, across departments and divisions: a large user base, workflow integration, data security, accountability, among other things.

Key Features of Enterprise Digital Asset Management Software

When exploring digital asset management software solutions for implementation across an enterprise, here is what you should look for:

  • Role-based permissions: When working within different departments and divisions in a company, roles become critical. An enterprise digital asset management system provides the ability to specify permissions based on real-world roles within the digital supply chain. For example, distributors need access to retrieve content while the marketing department needs to manage the content.
  • Security: In the past decade, digital files transitioned from a luxury to a mission-critical aspect of any business. To keep a company safe, enterprise digital asset management software must be the guardian of organizational data. This means providing appropriate safeguards to protect both user information and digital assets from misuse and also data backup/disaster recovery adaptable to any situation.
  • Scalability: Enterprise-level companies can grow very quickly, especially in today’s 24/7 global economy. Enterprise digital asset management software must accommodate this, providing the scalability to grow with a business, whether it’s located in one building or across the world. That means the ability to handle anywhere from thousands to millions of files based on the needs of the organization. However, it’s not just processing the files, it’s also about granting access — a worldwide corporation might require thousands of simultaneous requests, and good enterprise digital asset management software must be able to handle all of it without losing availability or data integrity.
  • Reliability: For any business, downtime can bring things to a screeching halt. This is amplified umpteen times at the enterprise-level– the more users, the greater potential for lost time and money. This means that an enterprise digital asset management software solution must be mature and stable, ensuring high availability and uptime. For organizations choosing to outsource, the proper research must be performed so that the selected vendor comes with a solid track record.
  • Integration: Intranets, content management systems (CMS), and other core organizational systems are an everyday part of enterprise-level business. That means that good enterprise digital asset management software must flow with this, not against it; workflow integration with systems are absolutely necessary so that users get a seamless experience. To achieve this, enterprise digital asset management software often offers plug-ins to other enterprise software applications or open APIs to integrate with custom systems.

The digital business world is continuously evolving, making digital asset management software a requirement for today’s business. At the enterprise level, it can be more than just a requirement — it can be the central nervous system that binds and unites the organization’s entire workflow. Each of the aforementioned points is a key piece to the puzzle that is a digital asset management solution. And just like any puzzle, it’s not complete without all of the pieces in place.

You know your company needs a DAM when…

August 12th, 2010

• Your digital files currently reside in drawers.
• You find yourself asking your colleague to pass the external drive.
• Your electronic delivery method of choice is FedEx.
• Your policy on copyright is: If you can find it, you can use it.
• It takes twice as long to find a graphic as it does to create a new one.

Digital Asset Management Software: To Build or To Buy

June 23rd, 2010

Within the digital asset management (DAM) community, return on investment, or ROI, is a hot topic. Businesses know they need a DAM, but clearly showing ROI to upper management isn’t always straightforward. Consultants and analysts have deconstructed the debate over and over. At WebDAM, we often hear a slightly different perspective – not so much a debate on ROI, but rather a case of paying an outside vendor for a solution (“buy”) vs. internally developing and maintaining a solution (“build”). DAM is becoming business-critical thanks to the exponential increase in digital media and most companies recognize the need to invest in it. These days, companies spend their time exploring the different ways to incorporate DAM. Should they create an in-house solution with complete control over features, workflow, and interfaces or should they use an outside vendor and focus solely on their core business? That’s the true dilemma facing companies these days – hence, buy vs. build.

Upon first glance, the “build” option seems to be a better way to go. After all, it’s a tailor-made solution developed and maintained by a company’s internal staff for total control. But upon closer inspection, choosing to “build” doesn’t quite seem as practical. Here’s a look at the key differences involved between “buy” and “build”:

Upfront development cost

Build: Building any type of software means an upfront investment in hardware requirements and software development – especially internally developed software designed to meet company specifications. It can be very difficult to estimate the total costs involved in development of a sophisticated software application, such as a DAM, especially when you consider the logistical side, such as facilities and personnel (project managers, engineers, testers, etc.).
Buy: Purchasing DAM software involves licensing fees or subscription costs (SaaS) and often a setup or installation fee. The costs are well-defined and known upfront.

Upfront development time

Build: Many companies quickly recognize the downside of development time. After all, it’s not just about writing the application’s code and testing it. There are meetings upon meetings for planning and design, proof-of-concept development, hardware/software coordination – all of that before the application goes into its first round of testing. Each stage could take anywhere from weeks to months, and the launch version could be several iterations away depending on the number of critical bugs discovered.
Buy: When you buy a DAM solution, the product is ready and the only requires a time investment for training.

Ongoing software maintenance

Build: A software application becomes outdated the moment it is released. That’s why updates and patches are released – not just to fix bugs, but to improve functionality and update features. For internally developed software, that means overhead cost for development, testing, and design as software becomes stale, systems evolve, or hardware demands grow. If a company doesn’t invest in this, it could lead to further problems down the line, just like a car that’s gone years without maintenance or oil changes.
Buy: When you buy DAM software, updates and maintenance are the responsibility of the provider. SaaS solutions often have the added benefit of rolling out new releases without additional licensing fees.

Software maturity

Build: Software takes time to reach a stable level, especially internally developed software. The term “mature” software applies when the application has a minimal amount of bugs, but this can take years of development and maintenance to achieve. It’s a continuously moving target that requires the effort of many engineers to overcome.
Buy: When you buy a DAM solution, it should arrive with a mature level of quality (assuming it is published by an established, reputable vendor).

Real-world issues

Build: Companies reorganize. Budgets get cut. Software engineers move or change jobs. When only a handful of people hold the keys to your internally developed DAM solution, any of these changes can represent a seismic shift in your application. How will you make the appropriate updates when budgets don’t allow for it or the lead developer leaves the company? These situations are impossible to predict and almost as difficult to adapt to.
Buy: When you buy a DAM solution, the provider’s business focuses on that product. It’s not merely an internally developed tool, it’s their source of revenue. Thus, significant resources will continue to be devoted to it regardless of personnel moves or organizational structure.

When you put it all side by side, the benefits of buying over building become clear. Of course, the built solution is totally customized, meaning that it is tailor-made for your internal workflows (assuming IT delivers upon expectations); there’s no need to shift or augment the way things are done. Bought solutions may require a company workflow to slightly adapt, and while this might provide an initial hump to overcome, staff members often prove more than capable of integrating a bought solution into their everyday tasks. Thus, when you lay out all the pros and cons, purchasing a DAM system can save time, money, and resources when compared to the effort required to build an in-house system.

Those DAM Hashtags

April 30th, 2010

Business colleagues reading a textTwitter is an interesting phenomenon. At first sight, it seems a bit pointless. Upon closer inspection, you become intrigued by the tiny bits of industry news that you can gather with just a few glances. Before you know it, you are sucked into the twittosphere.

If you have made it to the other side, then you are well familiar with hashtags: keywords added to tweets and prefixed with a hash symbol (#). Like photo metadata, hashtags add context and search-ability to your tweets. For instance, if you are interested in tweets about Software-as-a-Service, you can search Twitter for #SaaS. Hashtags, however, are driven by the Twitter community. In other words, there are no real conventions or standards for using hashtags. This makes it a little tricky to know which tag to use for a given subject matter. In addition, it often leads to inconsistencies. For instance, one can find tweets on cloud computing tagged with #Cloud and #CloudComputing. In another example, the hashtag #DAM has dual meaning. It is often used within the Digital Asset Management community to tag DAM-related subject matter. More commonly though, it is used as slang.

The website hashtags.org tracks Twitter hashtags and reports metrics such as usage frequency. However, like most user-generated content, there is a lot of information to sift through when you are looking for specific subject matter. So I have compiled a list of hashtags related to the Content Management industry. Enjoy!

#Accessibility
#Adobe
#Cloud or #CloudComputing
#copyright
#CMS – content management system
#DAM – digital asset management
#EXIF
#InDesign
#Interoperability
#IPTC
#License
#LinkedData
#MAM – multimedia asset management
#metadata
#Opendata
#OpenSource
#Photoshop
#Privacy
#ROI
#SaaS
#SemanticWeb
#Storage
#Usability
#UserAdoption
#WCM – web content management
#Workflow
#XML
#XMP

What is your favorite DAM/CMS-related hashtag? Comment below!

5 Best FTP Programs

April 21st, 2010

FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is commonly used by designers, photographers and other types of creatives to transfer large files between servers. Since WebDAM fully support FTP transfer as one method of uploading to your online digital asset management system, I often get asked for my recommendations of the best, free (or cheap) FTP programs. Here are my picks:

FETCH SOFTWORKS
http://fetchsoftworks.com/

Fetch is a full-featured file transfer client exclusively for Mac users. Fetch supports both FTP and sFTP file transfer protocols to ensure compatibility with most internet providers, web-hosting companies, publishers, and more. The Droplet shortcuts and Dashboard widgets make it easy to upload files and track the progress of the upload through the user friendly interface. View your files effortlessly on the web using the WebView tool, which also allows users to copy web addresses. Tired of wasting time and energy on monotonous tasks? Simply use the Automator actions and AppleScript recording to automate repetitive tasks. Fetch assures that all your questions and concerns are addressed through their extensive online help support.

FILEZILLA
http://filezilla-project.org/

For those of you looking for a free FTP solution, FileZilla is what you have been searching for. This open source software is distributed free of charge and provides both clients and a server. Easy to use, this cross-platform FTP, FTPS and sFTP client has numerous features. Unlike other FTP solutions, FileZilla is not exclusive to Mac or PC users but is able to run on Windows, Linux, Mac OS and more. Not to mention that it is available in many different languages. Stay on task and organized with FileZilla’s powerful site manager, transfer queue, bookmarks and filename filter. For files larger than 4GB, this FTP solution supports the resume and transfer of those large files.

ACEFTP 3 PRO
http://software.visicommedia.com/en/products/aceftp/

Whether you’re a novice or a tech savvy professional AceFTP 3 Pro is a FTP client software solution for everyone. Securely transfer your files with the ease and efficiency that AceFTP Pro provides. There is no question that your files will be secure with the software’s password protection and SSL security protocol integration features. The familiar Windows XP-style interface and the dual-plane interface make AceFTP 3 Pro easy to navigate. File transferring has never been easier as this software allows users to execute multiple file transfers simultaneously, conduct server-to-server file transfers, resume interrupted transfers, open numerous FTP sites concurrently and much more.

FLASH FXP
http://www.flashfxp.com/

For Windows users, FlashFXP may just be what you are looking for. Make file transfers easier with FlashFXP as it allows you to transfer files between other local computers running a FTP server, via the Internet, or between two servers using site-to-site transfers. Some of the benefits of FlashFXP include the multi-language support, internal text editor for quick edits, internal schedule and site states to keep track of all uploads as well as downloads among many other features. FlashFXP makes this FTP solution simple to use through the FTP only and FXP views, advances queue control, enhanced drag and drop functionality and the folder bookmarks.

CoffeCup
http://www.coffeecup.com/free-ftp/

If you are looking for a simple FTP solution without the frills and unnecessary features then CoffeCup is for you. This FTP solution is a simple and reliable way to transfer your files, and the best part is its free! Simply upload files by dragging and dropping them from your computer to your server. Due to the set up on multiple server profiles you are able to transfer your files in binary, ASCII, or auto mode. Keep your files organized using the Combo Bookmarks, which allow users save the local and remote folder. This FTP solution also makes it possible for users to pull them both folders up at the same times. CoffeCup’s direct FTP also makes it possible to make changes directly on your server to save you time and energy.

If you are looking for a complete desktop image management solution with built-in FTP, check out my recommendations for the top photo workflow tools.

Case Study: WebDAM and the American College of Rheumatology

April 8th, 2010

Our new case study details how the ACR is utilizing WebDAM to power the foremost collection of rheumatology images. The new Rheumatology Image Bank expedites image request fulfillment through its 24/7 web access, granting journalists, teachers, and researchers the ability to instantly retrieve high-resolution imagery. Read more at: http://www.webdamsolutions.com/casestudies/acr-image-bank.php.

SaaS vs. Hosted, Part 2: The User Experience

March 16th, 2010

In our last post, we looked at some of the technical differences between a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and a hosted solution for an application. Of course, the real world involves much more than just network architecture and software design. In this post, we’ll continue to compare differences between a SaaS application and a hosted solution; this time, though, we’ll take a closer look at how it impacts the users.

From a practical perspective, SaaS creates a service-oriented experience with dedicated teams that understand the software, hardware, and infrastructure needs of the application. Because the application’s design is built specifically for this model, support can be provided at all levels. On hosted solutions, the support team may have limited knowledge about the server and the architecture involved because all of that flows to an outside company. Similarly, SaaS software upgrades are instantaneous and experienced by all users at once because of the multi-tenant design. For hosted solutions, upgrading is often handled on a per-customer basis and the latest software version may require costly license upgrade fees.

Data availability is probably one of the most important priorities from a customer perspective. After all, if the customer can’t access the data, then it doesn’t matter what features come with the application. The SaaS model provides another benefit with its level of redundancy and backup. Multi-tenant architecture makes this all possible, and in general, customer data can be backed up in geographically distinct locations with a fail-over process and disaster-recovery plan in place. Hosted services depend on the actual hosting provider; in most cases, a single-server model is used without redundancy or frequent backup. An examination of reliability gives us the same picture: SaaS companies offer service-level guarantees or agreements (SLAs) that establish the customer’s standard for high availability. With the hosted solution, the same problem comes into play: since a third-party data center hosts the application, guarantees generally don’t fall into the domain of the application provider.

Hosted solutions and SaaS applications both have their spot in the marketplace. However, it’s important to know that just because a solution is hosted, it doesn’t necessarily offer the same scalability, reliability or functionality as a SaaS model. SaaS applications are built with the specific cloud infrastructure in mind, and because everyone is on the same page, fixes, updates, and support are all easier to provide. In short, it’s a more streamlined and efficient way to go, with fewer parties to deal with and a more dedicated focus from the provider. For these reasons, studies from groups such as Forrester Research cite SaaS as one of the key technology trends for business, both for now and for years to come.

Spitfire Photo Pro Changes Name to WebDAM Solutions

March 10th, 2010

New name reinforces WebDAM brand as an industry leader in digital asset management

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. February 10, 2010 – Virtual Moment, LLC today announced the change of its DBA name from Spitfire Photo Pro to WebDAM Solutions. The move is part of the company’s overall shift to completely focus on WebDAMTM, its successful Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) digital asset management application, while reinforcing the WebDAM brand as a market leader.

As a completely hosted, 100% web-based solution, WebDAM has seen rapid growth due to its ease of setup, predictable costs, and intuitive interface – attributes commonly overlooked by traditional DAM vendors and their applications. Utilizing a SaaS approach, WebDAM makes it easier for creative teams to do business by providing 24/7 availability of digital media across an entire organization for storing, managing, archiving, searching, retrieving, and collaborating. When combined with a dedicated support staff and a host of professional services, WebDAM sets the industry standard for digital asset management from beginning to end.

“Since WebDAM’s launch as an enterprise solution two years ago, we’ve experienced tremendous growth across many different sectors,” says Jody Vandergriff, VP of Marketing and Sales. “As we move beyond photos to complete digital asset management, it is the appropriate time to re-brand our company name to meet this new standard.”

Current WebDAM customers – including such notable names as Stanford University, USC, University of Washington, American College of Rheumatology, Temple University Health System, Inter-American Development Bank and Sodexo Corporation – will experience a seamless transition during the rebranding process. All existing credentials will remain the same while company and support emails will shift to the new domain name of webdamsolutions.com.

The most tangible benefit of the WebDAM Solutions rebrand is a company-wide re-organization to focus solely on DAM-related activity. This includes an expanded development team that creates new innovations and improvements at a faster rate, and a support staff dedicated to the needs of asset managers and content creators within businesses of all sizes.

“The digital asset management community has spoken loud and clear about their needs,” says Vandergriff. “The response to WebDAM has been tremendous. Organizations want a completely hosted, no-hassle solution with 24/7 web access, and that’s exactly what WebDAM delivers.”

About WebDAM Solutions
Formerly Spitfire Photo Pro, WebDAM Solutions is a leader in digital asset management, revolutionizing the way companies manage and share digital media. Our flagship application, WebDAM, provides creative teams with online tools for storing, managing, archiving, searching, retrieving, and distributing digital files throughout an organization. WebDAM has been implemented across industries such as academia, nonprofit, travel and tourism, manufacturing and government. Our clients include Stanford University, USC, University of Washington, American College of Rheumatology, Temple University Health System, Inter-American Development Bank and Sodexo Corporation. For more information, visit www.webdamsolutions.com.

Media Contact:
Jody Vandergriff
VP of Marketing and Sales
jvandergriff@webdamsolutions.com
415-227-4886

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