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.

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.

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!

Photo metadata can be a bit convoluted and overwhelming at first glance, especially since different standards exist for storing it. Things don’t get easier when you add in different applications that read, write, and handle metadata in various ways. Still, a consistent element exists with all photo metadata, and these simple concepts can help anyone get more out of their photos.

What is metadata?
A simple and very common definition of metadata is data about data. However, I much prefer the definition from Everything is Miscellaneous: Metadata is what you know and data is what you’re looking for.

What is photo metadata?
Photo metadata is a specific type of metadata that refers to the attributes of a digital photo. It is different from other types of metadata due to its embedded nature – photo metadata is typically embedded within the image header for additional functionality and usefulness. This provides flexibility, allowing the metadata details to travel with the photo independent of the application or environment. In other words, photo metadata is interoperable.

Let’s look at an example of photo metadata in action. If a photographer uses Adobe Lightroom for post-processing his images, he can add key metadata details such as location, copyright, and keywords using Lightroom’s captioning tools. He can then send the image to a client that uses Apple Aperture. The client can open the image in Aperture, and even though the application is different, the metadata is still accessible.

Without photo metadata standards, this simply wouldn’t be possible – each application would read and write in application-specific fields, meaning that information couldn’t be exchanged between Lightroom and Apple Aperture. It’s easy to imagine how this would create headaches for everyone involved.

What are photo metadata standards?
Photo metadata standards describe consistent available metadata fields so information can cross platforms. The standards provide instructions for application developers on how to read and write information to and from the image. The most common and widely adopted metadata standards are EXIF, IPTC, and XMP.

Why are there several different standards?
In any industry, communication is easier when there is a single standard to use. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened here, and it’s really just because that’s the way things evolved. The good news for consumers is that only application developers really have to deal with the different standards. As a user, the standards provide different types of information and benefits and most software applications handle these standards fairly seamlessly, providing the benefits of each sans the confusion. Let’s take a closer look at each of these standards:

EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format): EXIF is metadata embedded in an image by a digital camera when the image is first captured. EXIF data includes information such as camera manufacturer, model, focal length, color space, date, and time. Most EXIF fields are write-protected and can’t be edited by software applications; this is because any editing or updating of these fields would impact the integrity of the original photo capture information. EXIF metadata is supported in JPEG and TIFF files.

IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council): IPTC is the standard that defines information such as copyright, location, and keywords. Originally developed for news agencies in the 1990s, IPTC allows different organizations (such as news agencies) to exchange photo information by adding the metadata using photo management and capturing tools. IPTC metadata is supported in JPEG and TIFF files and has seen wide adoption by third-party software vendors.

XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform): XMP is an XML-based standard that supports a wider range of file formats (including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PDF, AI, EPS, and DNG files). Developed by Adobe, XMP is generally easier to work with for software applications because of the extensible XML format. While XMP is viewed as a better platform by many in the industry, Adobe understood the need to work with previous standards. Because of this, Adobe integrated IPTC metadata into XMP to prevent older images from being left behind.

Despite the best intentions of Adobe to integrate IPTC into XMP, there’s still a gap in terms of compatibility. Some applications support XMP, some support legacy IPTC, and some support both. To make things more complicated, some applications may offer different levels of support for these standards (e.g. reading from both but only writing to one).

Other applications, WebDAM included, offer an all-encompassing solution by writing to both standards. This helps keep them in sync. For example, if you wanted to put metadata in your photo regarding country of origin, you could save “country=USA.” The application would simultaneously save the metadata to the legacy IPTC “country” field and the XMP “country” field for maximum flexibility regardless of application.

In terms of software, choices exist when it comes to compatibility. The popular Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, etc.) support EXIF, IPTC, and XMP, and even includes different types of functionality for handling images and associated metadata. Outside of Adobe’s products, hundreds of other applications, ranging from editing tools to photo database and digital asset management systems, support at least one of these standards.

Given the huge investment involved with annotating an image archive, your application of choice should include support for these widely adopted standards. The wrong choice could create a ripple effect through your digital media pipeline, forcing you to backtrack and make retroactive updates and corrections. If you’re considering software that uses proprietary standards for handling metadata, it’s best to let it be – those types of applications will only cost you valuable time and money in the end.

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.

Adobe Bridge CS4
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/bridge/
Adobe Bridge lets you browse, locate, organize, view and tag your digital photos. Bridge is included in all six editions of Adobe Creative Suite 4. This is the perfect solution for less advanced workflows looking to centralize and access local files.

Photo Mechanic
http://www.camerabits.com
Photo Mechanic touts itself as both an image browser and workflow accelerator and is a very popular tool amongst professional photographers. Offering a thumbnail view of your images in a contact sheet display window, Photo Mechanic makes it easy to compare and select the best in a group. Batch processing and IPTC and EXIF metadata support make it easy to organize and catalog large volumes of images.

Microsoft Expression Media
http://www.microsoft.com/prophoto/expressionmedia2
Organize, share and protect your digital assets quickly and easily using Microsoft Expression Media 2 (formerly iView MediaPro). This software handles organization, cataloging, metadata, editing, presentation, publishing and archiving. Streamline your tasks by simplifying the process of transferring an image from your camera to print.

Adobe Lightroom
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom
Spend less time importing, editing, managing and showcasing your images with the help of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. The software’s top new features make it essential for today’s digital technology workflow. These features include (but are not limited to) enhanced organizational tools that sort and filter large volumes of data using powerful metadata, multiple monitor support to easily and efficiently manage image workflow, streamlined Photoshop CS4 integration and volume management to manage and organize images across multiple drives.

Apple Aperture
http://www.apple.com/aperture
Lightroom’s biggest competitor, Apple’s Aperture 3 makes it quick and easy to import photos onto your Macintosh computer, even making it possible to preview and adjust images as they are being imported. Organize your files anyway you choose, whether it be through faces, places or descriptive keywords and captions. Aperture 3 allows you to compare images side by side to make selections, flag specific images and add color labels.

How can these tools integrate with your digital asset management workflow? Like WebDAM, all of the above include IPTC and XMP support so your metadata is completely compatible between applications. To further streamline your workflow, each of these tools integrates FTP so you can connect directly to your WebDAM account from your desktop to seamlessly publish your assets to the web to archive, share and distribute throughout your organization.

What are your favorite desktop tools for photo editing and image workflow?

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.

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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