What Is Digital Asset Management?

Digital asset management (DAM) - a system for storing and retrieving videos, audio files, photos, Web pages, publication layouts, banner ads, computer-generated art, etc. - used to be restricted to large corporations, especially publishers and broadcasters. Today, however, all sizes and kinds of companies need to manage digital media throughout its entire lifetime (forever?) and irrespective of the way the assets are ultimately published or output.

When small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) began the long march down Computer Road in the 1980s, there was no time (or margin of error) for trying to predict the storage/retrieval systems of the future. Everyone had to use the technology that was available at the time, and still do, so DAM is a subset of that ever-changing high-tech landscape, too. Therefore, the first real DAM systems came about with the rise of the PC. There were floppies, local hard drives and then CD-R and CD-RW media, as they developed through the 1980s and 1990s.

The development of DAM
Dropping costs allowed for massive growth in Ethernet networks and use of centralized servers - single hard drives or RAID arrays - DAM technology had already experienced significant progress. However, because different solutions were adopted in different types of industries, DAM vendors matured in specialized areas, even as the early 1990s brought the Internet into the mix for "hosted" solutions. Museums and publishers used photo library-type services, graphics and ad firms used the brand asset management tools, and broadcasters deployed the solutions developed for video ("time-based" assets). Many buyers chose DAM technology on the basis of their companies' specializations, and it made sense at the time since few vendor offerings could perform efficiently in more than one setting.

Today, DAM solutions exist along a continuous spectrum from oldest to cutting-edge. The fact that some one- and two-person firms handle their DAM demands with DVD-RWs or local network storage is commendable when companies "get by" without too many emergencies, they tend to consider theirs a successful DAM approach. Perhaps it is, for them. For more demanding users, the cutting edge of the practice means having a corporate DAM system as part of a large in-house intranet or server-based approach, or a hosted solution. One benefit of the latter is that DAM vendors do not just rent you "parking space," but provide the tools that make assets easily usable, and therefore more valuable.

Current DAM trends
DAM industry veterans, users of various systems and vendors maintain a robust community online (and off), where discussions range from philosophical to uber-technical. It is a good way to get a sense of where things are headed vis-a-vis DAM. There is now a trend toward more widespread adoption of the Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) for making the most of the information that accompanies a particular asset (photo, file, etc.). Adobe's standard for enabling metadata to "hitch a ride" on assets is supported by most vendors, but implementation is not uniform. Some DAM systems separate the XMP information from assets as they enter the system, placing it in a separate location. Other approaches keep the metadata and the asset in a single package, using the metadata to identify and manage the asset. It appears XMP will remain a key way to organize assets going into the future.

Another recent trend is the renewed attention being given to digital rights management (DRM) and media asset management (MAM). This is extremely important to many firms - their very lifeblood, even - but this is an area still under development for some vendors. If DRM and MAM are important to a firm, every vendor's capabilities in those areas should be noted. Today, that might be a rather short list, although there are companies doing it right, right now.

The Web wins?
There is, unarguably, much more focus on Web clients now, as opposed to traditional desktop clients of yore. With the concomitant rise of content management systems (CMS) and enterprise-level tools for search or structure, vendors have been coming up with more "dashboard" type interfaces for Web clients. So far there are few products that have achieved the level of stability and functionality of desktop "thick clients," but again, a good hard look at the competing offerings will reveal who is leading the pack here. Several companies are doing very good work in simplifying the DAM process and distilling it into a browser environment.

Of course, there is the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for DAMs, as well. One of the "pure-play SaaS vendors" has seen solid growth for several years, and other vendors jumped on the SaaS bandwagon, too - including firms that have other, different offerings. Whether SaaS or another model, one of the last widespread weaknesses is in video support, and the lack of integrated solutions has led to many companies adding third-party solutions at extra cost (in money, time and implementation issues). Some DAM users that work with video in the Avid and Apple (Final Cut Pro) arenas set up separate servers to store, manage and deliver these video assets.

The future? Integration of video is key, as is the continued refinement of the user interface. Reporting and management functions are fairly mature, but as the systems add functionality, these are constantly revised. No one in DAM expects "stasis" - the establishment of a technological status quo - because progress is continuous. Managing digital assets means managing the DAM solutions, as well.Are you looking for a digital asset management or photo archive? Brand management, marketing asset management or video management platform? Widen provides web-based digital asset management systems aka Hosted aka Software as a Service (SaaS). All hardware, software, implementation, training, integration, upgrades, maintenance, security and technical support is handled by Widen.