In a data-driven world, acquiring a Digital Asset Management Solution is no longer the norm but has become indispensable for every enterprise.
It isn’t unusual when you feel that you are burning daylight performing the rudimentary task of searching and retrieving a file from a wide range of storage resources.
According to a Mckinsey report, workers spend almost 19% of their work-week on searching and gathering information.
You may wonder, if the generations of yore could cope with managing their core productive functions coupled with an even more physically and mentally strenuous process of retrieving information, how is it different now?
For one, we are now traversing the era of the digital revolution, an age where innovations spawn on a daily basis, where our expectations rise to match the surge in technology.
And next is the transformation of communication systems. Through digitalization your office, work or identity is no longer limited within the confines of your office space but throughout the globe – accessible with just a push of a button.
According to a Harvard business review, Digital assets have doubled over the past 15 years, as firms invested not just in IT but in digitizing their physical assets.
In light of our rising expectation, data asset management needs are more than just gaining access or storing files in a central repository like Google Drive or Dropbox. DAM needs to entail the complexities of collaboration, secure access (via permissions), and smart identification of tagged assets, quick retrieval and conversion of any sort of files or contents using smarter search options.
Lets us take a closer look at key features that modern DAM applications provide:
1. Centralized asset storage:
How is DAM storage different from any other legacy storage applications?
Commonly used cloud-based storage systems like Dropbox or other CRM systems provide half-baked functions that lack the depth of features that a DAM application can provide but has specific functions when put together can be time-consuming and expensive.
DAM is specifically built to encompass the needs of effective distribution, mass storage and scalability of all your company assets within the confines of a safe environment – making sure that assets are never lost.
2. Metadata – give an identity to your asset:
Every face that we see is a lasting memory; it can be stored and recollected using the cognitive ability of our brain which processes a number of factors from peculiarity, a name, an incident and much more.
Similarly, DAM applications use a structured pattern to name and classify assets that can be easily retrieved based on the identity that we feed into the asset; this identity is known as metadata.
Metadata narrows down the location of an asset so that it can be easily retrieved from mounds of untraceable data. With the integration of AI technology, locating assets has evolved into an automated process, where intelligent bots automatically classify an asset’s metadata through a defined algorithm and perform search functions with exceptional accuracy.
Stored data brings less value if it cannot be accessed instantly. One of the driving forces that make the organization pull the plug on existing data management solutions and opt for DAM is its ability to extract results on the go.
3. Accessibility – Control your asset:
It is impossible to manually track assets movements, especially in a universally connected storage system that warehouses tons of data. Assets can be lost, misinterpreted or misused and we wouldn’t have a clue.
Accessibility to assets from anywhere and anytime is the key USP for any DAM application, yet we wouldn’t want just about anyone viewing or downloading our assets.
Access control is the unique feature in DAM applications, where you can limit user’s or groups to upload, download, view or share assets – making sure that your assets are never in the wrong users.
Ideally, digital asset management systems should provide a clear oversight of an asset operational activity throughout an organizational structure.
4. Shield your assets:
A recent campaign by TechDirt titled “Copying is not theft’ drew flak over the social media forums for challenging the fabric of online morality and ownership infringement, yet there were others who looked at it from a legal standpoint which does cite that copyright infringement does not amount to theft.
Right or wrong, it is always better to have a “precaution is better than cure” system, where assets can never fall to the wrong hands in the first place.
Enter DAM applications – a secure gateway that stores all your assets in a safe environment making sure that users have the proper permission to access and share assets without the fear of any legal implications.
File misuse can lead to expensive repercussions or big gains (if you have created the asset), whichever way you look at it – you need to secure your assets.
5. Return on Investment (ROI) guaranteed:
Your brain is a hub of accumulated knowledge that is randomly adopted, trashed or stockpiled in accordance to your requirement. Much like how the brain functions, your enterprise assets when stored appropriately can create value throughout its lifecycle.
DAM applications can bring measurable improvement in productivity and feasibility in the workflow. Apart from eliminating time-consuming activities, certain features of DAM applications like version control or the ability to change file formats within the DAM environment saves cost on purchasing individual software.
Nowadays, marketing is primarily executed over the web and mobile platforms; it has become pivotal to quickly engage customers with relevant content to keep your projects afloat.
With DAM easy sharing options; distributing assets to customers over a social media or other online marketing platform is an effortless task, right from locating the asset, reworking on it, getting it approved and distributing it amongst a wide customer base.
Conclusion:
According to a recent survey, companies will spend over $5 Billion Dollars on digital asset management by the year 2020.
Change is inevitable, yet the complexities that arise from “staying behind” can be catastrophic especially in the face of mass digitization and technological progress.
If you have an interesting take on new features that could enhance the current digital asset management modules, let us know we would love to hear you out!