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Digital Asset Management Intro

Whilst it has been around for a number of years, for those who are not already using it, there is still some confusion about what Digital Asset Management can do. After all, at a basic level, everyone has had a way of organising assets for years. Files are located in folders in a tree structure and the folder name gives an indication of what it contains.

This is acceptable for a single user of a system, as they know what they have called a file and have an idea where they have store it. But when multiple users a better method is required to manage these assets as they may be dozens of folders an asset could be saved. For example, supposing you have a photo of a Ferrari located in front of the Eiffel tower then where do you locate that asset?

So the above would be the location for photos of Ferraris. However supposing that photo was a Ferrari located in front of the Eiffel tower then where do you locate that asset. In the following folder?

or..?

Of course Digital Asset Management systems solve this by allowing you to enter as many keywords as are relevant to that asset.

So you could attach Ferrari, Red, Paris, Towers, Eiffel, Sunset and indeed photo to the one asset. This means that you can then search on any of those keywords and locate the correct asset very quickly indeed without having to go through the tree folder structure.

The possibilities for adding keywords are really endless. Many might attach Customer Name or Reference, Job Names or Numbers, Publication Name and so on. Whatever it is, you can quickly view only relevant assets.

One of the neatest benefits of a Digital Asset Management system for end users is that it is very visual. When you type in a search the system will deliver back thumbnails (of a size that you decide upon) as its search result.

Using a Digital Asset Management system therefore makes searching for files so much quicker and more intuitive than drilling down into a file structure. Of course by empowering highly paid workers with this ability makes them happier, more productive and enables them to work more efficiently.

Becoming Essential

Increasingly a DAM system is becoming a requirement for companies working with graphics, rather than an option. Indeed, Gartner, Inc. the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, predicts that publishing companies lacking a DAM system are likely to lose market share within just a few years.

Reuse, recycle not fade away!

Maximise the value of assets, after all they cost money to produce, so make the most of them. Whether these assets are images, documents or video, these files are of value to a business. Without a DAM system there will be lots of duplication of work, as finding previously created assets will be too time consuming, A DAM systems turns these files into an advance online library.

Online or Offline?

Typically Digital Asset Management systems are installed with a reasonable proportion of disk storage. Costs per terabyte have tumbled over recent months and it is not uncommon now for relatively small companies to have 3TB or more of data.

When this online capacity is combined with Digital Asset Management, asset retrieval is made so much quicker. As a Digital Asset Management system will pinpoint the exact DVD in a library that an asset is located in, even when assets are held offline it can make a big difference to asset locating.

The Purpose of Repurposing

Industry analysts estimate that 30% of content is recreated because it is lost or otherwise mismanaged. If this is not a huge overhead in its own right then other costs can be incurred from having to use library photos unnecessarily.

So repurposing of files is another key feature of Digital Asset Management systems. A master file might be reused many times. It may be required for print, for a web site or for a PowerPoint presentation. Rather than having to recreate these, Digital Asset Management systems can allow users to just download a copy of the master with the appropriate characteristics. So whilst the print version might be a high resolution PDF, the web version would be a lower resolution jpeg. This gives an enormous benefit to users who can access an appropriate image automatically without any user intervention.

Don't Keep it to Yourself

By enabling web access to collaborative users, Digital Asset Management really comes in to its own. A web portal into a Digital Asset Management system allows not just local users but remote offices, remote workers and clients and suppliers (where you grant them permission) to access the system and download and upload assets from and back into the Digital Asset Management system.

The Future

All in all it has been an excellent year for Digital Asset Management systems. Increasing sophistication and functionality means that Digital Asset Management is becoming an even more compelling proposition for the Graphics Industries.

Find out more about Digital Asset Management and how it can help your business, by filling in our online information request form.