Managing Your Assets

Every file you capture, create, use and store, is an asset. We refer to it as an asset because regardless of what value it holds upon receipt or creation, you build that value by having used it or even investing time looking for it. As these assets grow in quantity and quality, you must have an organized way to manage them. At first, a system of folders works well, as the structure is known to the primary users (at least until they go home or quit). As the volumes grow, the navigation of large systems becomes time consuming. In addition, having to launch applications to verify you've chosen the proper file adds to your increasing costs. Eventually the time burden and resulting costs of finding files exceeds their value and contribution to a profit generating revenue stream. You spend countless hours creating & collecting images, other digital assets, & important information about them, but what can you use to quickly find these assets when you need them?

What is DAM?

DAM, or Digital Asset Management Systems are organizational tools designed to simply catalog, search, find & retrieve digital files & or assets. The more files you have, the less cost per file to manage. A DAM system also allows you to attach metadata, important information about each asset. Metadata can be descriptive such as captions, keywords or categories; technical, such as file type, size or creation date; or legal such as rights, credit, releases or prior usage. Assigning metadata to an asset allows you to search for the asset by describing it in your own unique terms. This means you don't need to know the file name, or even where the file is located in order to find & retrieve it. In addition, extending access to approved users via the web, allows them to access and find files on their own time on a 7/24 basis.

How does DAM work?

A DAM system creates a database record for each asset. The record contains information about the asset, including its metadata, a thumbnail preview, and the location of the asset. The record doesn't contain the asset itself since this would create huge unworkable catalogs. During a search, a database search engine looks through every asset record to find and present matches to the query. Since catalogs of over 100,000 records are not uncommon, the database search engine must be extremely fast.

Why use a DAM system?

There are many benefits to using DAM. You can reduce costs, as existing assets can be easily found and don't need to be recreated. A tremendous amount of time is saved by not having to manually look for assets. DAM systems can also produce new revenue streams by virtue of their easy access and distribution possibilities. A DAM system can be used to automate workflow by keeping track of versions or routing assets to their next destination. DAM systems can also be used to build relationships. Sharing assets over

an extranet with other departments or clients can help solidify collaborative relationships and extend retainers. Each organization may use a DAM system to achieve different business goals. The bottom line is that a DAM system lets you maximize the often-considerable investment made in creating, organizing, managing and sharing digital media assets.

The use of a digital asset management system also supports a more professional IT infrastructure i.e. assets are stored on a central file/print server where it takes the responsibility of all heavy lifting and leaves the production workstations focused on what they do best. The use of a central server focuses & allows professional back-up policies, redundancy and disaster recovery planning, as that is where the data resides.

Is a DAM system right for me?

DAM systems are applicable to a wide range of requirements, from small workgroups right up to enterprise level systems. Answering the questions below will be a good start to provide your answer.

• Has the volume of your digital assets grown to a point where organization, management, finding, retrieving and keeping current information on them has become a source of daily frustration for a growing number of people?
• What is the estimated cost of the time spent managing/finding files every day?
• Do you remember any instances of time being lost to search for a file you knew you had but couldn't find?
• In addition to the cost of lost time looking for the file, have you accounted for or added the production time of the personnel who should have continued productive/billable work? (Overtime)
• Have you ever faced the embarrassment of having to ask your customer to provide another copy of a file, or absorbed the cost of recreation or recapture?)
• Have you ever used the wrong version of an asset and had to absorb the cost of a redo?
• Are you spending time and money transferring and copying files to a variety of unmanaged storage media again and again, "just to be safe"?
• Is this storage a random collection of technologies and individual processes that could be centralized and managed more professionally at a lower cost?
• Do you have a secure, efficient, self-help process for sharing files with approved users?

The above questions are a small sample of the many ways that dollars and process improvements can quickly add up to support the implementation of a DAM system.

Want to know more about DAM?

Contact Otec Solutions. The team at Otec has been helping organizations choose, implement and support Digital Asset Management systems since the mid 90's. The challenges of managing valuable assets won't get any easier as their volumes continue to grow. Invest the time now to see how DAM can protect and serve your needs better.