Storage is a major concern in digital asset management. High resolution images and a corporate image library that houses hundreds of videos can put a strain on any server. Nevertheless, such challenges are easily overcome by hosting assets in the cloud. They can't slow down in-house servers because that's simply not where they are. However, even when you solve your own storage issues by using a software-as-a-service DAM system, users can run into issues when attempting to upload assets to blogs and websites.

The inclusion of digital assets is often highly beneficial to your marketing. But if you don't have the bandwidth to support this, then you’re out of luck. What if there was no way to embed those assets?

Fortunately, there is DAM software that makes it easy to embed assets int places like blogs and websites. It will also solve the challenges presented by storage issues at third party sites.

A key part of this solution is using DAM software that generates embed codes for assets. Embed codes provide a means of including an asset on a blog or other platform without needing to eat up storage and bandwidth allotted by that site. This can save you time and money in a number of ways:

Embed codes are quicker — They make it much quicker and easier to include digital assets on websites because all you have to do is copy the code and paste it into the proper place. Compare that to actually downloading the asset and then uploading it to its destination. Even if it takes just two minutes more to download and then upload an asset compared to the amount of time needed for each embed code, that extra two minutes is going to add up when you multiply the number of assets by the number of uses.

Embed codes save money — Not only do they save money in terms of increasing the productivity of system users, but they also save money on bandwidth costs. They can save the company quite a bit of money if storage limits are surpassed at blogs and other platforms. Freedom from worry about the costs of use means you can focus on strategy and not budget constraints.

Try out a demo of Widen digital asset management to see embed codes and other features in action.

Widen recently got a chance to sit down with Mike Krause, who is the production manager at Brunswick Bowling and Billiards. Brunswick's is a name practically synonymous with both of those sports, and we're proud to be able to say that the Widen Media Collective has been meeting Brunswick's digital asset management needs.

Have you ever made a technology purchase without fully being able to get your hands on the product? Sure, we all have. You wouldn’t buy a car without taking a test drive so you should do the same with your DAM system!

You’re hearing about all the benefits of digital asset management software... But, do you know how easy it can be to know what it’s like to get behind the steering wheel? Widen makes it simple to see, interact and relate our DAM tools to your workflows so you know exactly what you’re going to get before you sign on the dotted line.

Here's how...

Watch Recorded Product Demos
Watch short recorded demo videos introducing the key general user workflows of Widen digital asset management, video asset management, project collaboration, and dynamic media building applications in action.

Sign up for a Guest Pass
Take your self-guided tour of the Widen web-based digital asset management system with the ability to interact with sample assets. Search, view, collect, convert, share and download materials as most general users would.

Take the Scavenger Hunt
Take your self-guided tour to a new level with complete step-by-step tasks for searching, reviewing, selecting, ordering and building collections of assets within the Widen Media Collective demo site.

Request Your Live Online Product Demo
During your live online product demo, you will see key functionality of the Widen digital asset management system and be able to map out your use cases and workflows within Widen’s configurable tool sets. Need more than one demo for different groups within your organization? No problem!

View Admin Training Videos
Looking for more detailed demonstrations of Widen’s administrative features? Watch recorded training sessions to learn more about setting up asset groups, user roles and permissions for controlled access, developing metadata and taxonomies, uploading assets and adding metadata.

Play in Your Live Sandbox
Your live sandbox provides a unique hands-on opportunity for you and your pilot users to interact with your own digital assets within a Widen site. You can set up your own metadata schema, build your own filters, try out the governance features and get a complete understanding of what it’s like to use Widen DAM technology.

Widen wants to make it easy for you to try out digital asset management technology. Why? Because you shouldn't have to guess how it will work for you. And because you deserve to be a valued and satisfied customer.

Digital asset management software is, by its very nature, designed for people who have lots on their plates. In the case of marketing communications groups, that means juggling messaging, brand consistency, permissions, press relations, and all sorts of other things.

When you’ve got that much to deal with, an understanding of how to prioritize tasks is paramount. You’ve got goals, milestones and benchmarks—and you’re far less likely to meet or exceed expectations (be they yours or anyone else’s) if you don’t know which jobs will make the deepest impact at your organization.

In a survey sponsored by ClickSquared, The Relevancy Group recently asked 360 U.S. marketers about their top three priorities for the upcoming year.

From the top ten marketing priorities in 2012, we identified five areas where digital asset management can make a real difference:

• Improving segmentation and targeting
• Integrating into social channels, leveraging social data
• Increasing relevancy via dynamic content
• Improving response attribution
• Centralizing marketing applications into one suite

In the case of each of these priorities, identified by marketers as being among the most important, DAM can make reaching your goals a smoother, more fulfilling process by streamlining your workflow and reducing the time spent on redundant tasks—freeing you up to exercise your most creative, strategic communications muscles.

Want to know more about how DAM can help? Check out this white paper titled “How you can meet your top marketing priorities with digital asset management”. Once you’ve read it, let us know what you think. Do you have other major priorities you think DAM could help you address more effectively?

Here at Widen, we’re always looking for that next big thing that will help our customers make their marketing and communications processes more efficient and effective. After all, we’re a technology company—in this space, neglecting to look ahead means you’re bound to get left behind.

That’s a reality we’re willing to bet everyone in the DAM industry is conscious of. In software, there’s no shortage of visionaries, innovators and futuristic thinkinkers. Some do it better than others (we like to think we do it pretty well), but everybody does it.

So if everybody in this space knows their product needs to be fresh, advanced and up-to-date enough to keep up with dynamic marketing needs, what sets one group apart from the pack?

We think the answer lies in two qualities that are so elusive in this and many other industries: great customer service and dependability. Skeptics tend to assume that the existence of a SaaS DAM vendor that values those things is pure fantasy. Like a unicorn or a leprechaun.

Time after time, we get high praise from great brands about our customer service. Often, that praise is amplified by the fact that attention to detail and a genuine concern for the end user is rare in SaaS and digital asset management software in general.

Widen’s certainly not the biggest player in DAM. And yet, we’ve been around longer than most others. That’s because—more than anything—we’re committed to making sure that our product works and effectively meets the needs of our customers.

We know that great service and dependability in a SaaS DAM provider seems like a fantasy... a myth... a story we made up to draw you in. But it’s not. It exists here at Widen.

You might say we’re the leprechauns of SaaS, the unicorns of hosted digital asset management.

Contact us about a demo to find out more about how our mythical powers can meet your organization’s digital asset management needs well into the future.

'Tis the season of predictions and lists! As a follow-up on the CMSWire article "A Look Back at Digital Asset Management" by Rikki Endsley (@rikkiends) on December 29, 2011 which included bits on metadata, social and video, we look at what’s ahead for Widen Digital Asset Management in 2012.

Here are a few bits on our take of what you can expect from Widen Digital Asset Management Software as a Service in the coming year:

Metadata Makes It

Software as a Service continues to evolve by offering more services revolving around metadata & taxonomy development, site audit & clean-up, ongoing metadata administration and best practices training.

Widen’s latest upgrades include powerful search and refine filters, allowing you to truly leverage the power of your metadata fields and Collective intelligence.

Social Marketing Integration

Look for the Widen Media Collective version 6.0 coming in late January which features social integration features for publishing images & videos to popular social networks—YouTube, Facebook and Twitter—direct from Widen DAM.

DAM will also see social business and collaboration features within the Collective experience with new Facebook-like alert features and improved collaboration, workflow and community interactions.

Video Grows & Grows

Widen continues to add features and products to support the growing video demand—including high-quality previews, on-demand transcoding, HTML5 video embed links and analytics.

By leveraging the cloud, Widen DAM supports massive scalability with cost-effective storage based on a pay-for-what-you-use pricing model. We're ready to handle the video demand, are you?

Subscribe to blog.widen.com for continuous updates or contact us with new topics or questions!

‘Twas another great year of content marketing and we’re happy to share with you our top 11 Widen Digital Asset Management blog posts of 2011. From “what to know before you go” to cloud computing, SaaS evolution, tips & tricks, markets needing DAM, horror stories and the “Widen Service Challenge” the diversity of content helps those researching, justifying and making the most of digital asset management adoption. DAM is more than technology, but a combination of processes, people and platforms to assist with creation, management, distribution and monetization content. Enjoy our top Digital Asset Management blog posts of 2011!

1. Digital Asset Management White Paper – What to Know Before You Go!

2. Benefits of Cloud Computing for Digital Asset Management

3. DAM Software Challenges For 2011

4. 7 Benefits of Digital Asset Management in 2011

5. SaaS, on-premises and open-source DAM: Our new white paper helps you understand the difference

6. Digital Sampling, DAM, Green Bay Packers, NFC Champs and Hot Market Commerce

7. Cloud DAM – Where Cloud Computing Is Headed In 2011

8. DAM Software as a Service or Installed DAM Software

9. Tips For Managing a Corporate Image Library

10. The Illusion of Control with Digital Asset Management RFPs vs. DAM Software Demos and Trials

11. What Markets Need Digital Asset Management?


We had a hard time stopping at 11 with these two important bits close to the top 11...

40,000 Reasons to Deploy a DAM Solution

Widen Service Challenge - A follow-up to the SaaSisfaction Gauntlet of 2010


Subscribe to http://blog.widen.com for continuous updates or contact us with new topics or questions!

Happy New Year and we look forward to a prosperous 2012!

Choosing the right vendor for digital asset management systems is a major step in finding the best solution for managing a corporate image library. However, even after the system is set up, more needs to be done to use it to its fullest potential.

One of the most important challenges involves user adoption. Your system and your assets could end up collecting dust in cyberspace if you can’t get buy-in from your team. In other words, you can’t get a return on your DAM investment if nobody uses the software.
Here are some tips that will help you get more people on board with your new DAM system and processes.

• Training Video: Sometimes, slide shows are necessary. But using training videos are part of the orientation process can keep your team more engaged and interested that PowerPoint presentations and print-outs. You could also have them leave comments and questions about the video contents in the DAM system itself, encouraging both discussion and a hands-on experience with the software. Make the video clear and concise in explaining to users how easy it is to work with the DAM system and how they will benefit from it. Often, a DAM vendor will be able to help you with the production of this video material. Some will even offer that content as part of their service packages.

• Live Webinars: These touch on many of the points covered in the training video but also have the benefits of being live presentations. Users get different perspectives about the digital asset management tools in question and can get their questions answered during the webinar. The webinar format also makes it easy to give the presentation to every user no matter where they live.

• Surveys: After your users have had time to get a feel for the system, send out surveys to get their perspectives on it. Is the system doing what they’d hoped? Has it made it easier to find and use digital assets? Do users feel they are being more productive? Ask for their input and get suggestions on how make improvements. The results and answers will make the system better and easier to use. It also gives you a chance to answer people's questions and concerns about the DAM system.

Contact Widen for more information on how you can promote user adoption of your DAM system.

The Internet and rise of social media have caused a major step in the evolution of marketing. When people go online, the huge number of choices makes it simple to just click away from a page with unwanted, annoying advertisements. Many people do the same when watching television, but they are even less tolerant of ads when using the Internet. However, the biggest wave that keeps pushing such “outbound marketing” out of the picture comes in the form of social media websites.

In being user-driven, much of the site's content is dependent upon potential customers. Businesses can also make use of social media sites but have discovered that outbound marketing doesn't make for a good fit with this new online dynamic. People using social media sites don't have any need to click on ads or pay any attention to them. But how can digital asset management software help you increase the effective ness of the content your brand shares in social channels?
  
The ROI of inbound marketing materials is lower than old fashioned outbound materials in part, because the customer is the person who makes the decision to download a helpful white paper or watch an informative video. Infographics in particular, are especially useful in getting messages across with inbound marketing campaigns. They’re assets that are part illustration, part chart or graph. Done right, they make what would otherwise be data that’s bland or difficult to process more easy to digest—the best infographics even make it a little fun.

Every infographic comprises a number of other assets. Whether they’re photos, graphics, copy, logos, or whatever else, you need to make sure that components of your infographic are the most up-to-date, brand-consistent assets in your library. A DAM system can help you ensure that’s always the case.

To experience digital asset management programs designed to boost the efficiency of marketing with infographics, sign up for a demo of Widen software-as-a-service today.

Many companies that are evaluating Digital Asset Management solutions are often shocked to find out about what’s included with the Widen Media Collective. As a Software as a Service solution for DAM, you get more than just great technology, you get great service. What’s more, you only pay for what you use.

We like to think our service offering is like an all-inclusive vacation! With over fifteen years of providing digital media management as a service, Widen’s internal expertise continues to grow in serving the creative, marketing and I.T. demands for more than 120,000 users all over the world.


On the technology side, you get the following:


Widen’s roots, however, are in providing premedia services to creative and marketing workflows for over 60 years and we bring this experience to each deployment for our DAM customers.

On the service side, you get...


Can you believe it? All of this is provided for a modest upfront licensing & implementation fee and a low ongoing monthly subscription based on what you consume in storage and usage. Additional services and optional enhancements are provided a la carte.

Contact us or request a demo to learn more about what’s included with the Widen Collective Digital Asset Management system.

DAM comes in lots of flavors. Buyers in search of the best DAM software need to get a handle on three basic delivery models. This doesn't refer to the offerings, digital asset management tools, or ease of use of the systems in question. Those factors can and should be assessed at some point, but before reaching that part of the DAM system decision buying process, you need to understand how to best match models for accessing your DAM system and assets with your marketing needs and processes.

If you work for a large company, you might have everything you need for some sort of on-premises DAM solution. These are the DAM systems that are installed on site and hosted on company servers. The vendor sells the program to your company, it gets installed and that's it. Typically, these types of DAM systems are entirely managed by the company IT department and all hosting is carried out on company servers. For this reason, this type of DAM system is really only even feasible (with few exceptions) for large companies that already have the infrastructure in place for managing the system and hosting a big corporate image library.

But even large companies run into problems with an on-premises DAM systems. One big issue concerns the goals and productivity of the IT department. Usually, SaaS DAM systems are conducive to greater, more meaningful productivity, because they free If IT to focus on other tasks that relate more directly to the company’s growth. Vendor service generally includes system management, updates and upgrades. Another big benefit of SaaS DAM systems is hosting digital assets in the cloud instead of keeping them on in-house servers. This way, they don't take up company bandwidth or slow down your networks.

The third main category for digital asset management systems is the open-source software. Buyers are always tempted by these types of systems because the usually low costs seem to immediately outweigh any possible disadvantages. However, buyers usually aren't aware of the barriers they can run into once the system has become fully adopted. Unlike SaaS DAM systems, the in-house IT department carries out all integration, upgrades, and any changes that need to be made. Some changes might be a piece of cake, but with others can be a bear. Further, open-source DAM put the onus for constantly upgrading and improving the system on your own IT talent, which means you either need to invest heavily in expanding IT or accept that they won’t give time to other tasks.

Learn more about the different DAM system delivery models from this white paper to find the most appropriate one for the needs of your company.

The need to better manage digital assets has resulted in a wider variety of DAM system offerings. In choosing the best DAM system, that wide variety of digital asset management programs presents serious challenges to the buyer. Which DAM system is most appropriate for the needs of your company? Which provides the best value? With so much available, what' s the best way to start narrowing your vendor search?

There’s more than one way to navigate the sea of DAM programs, but understanding three basic DAM delivery models will go a long way in informing the process. It’s likely that one of them will work much better for meeting your digital asset management needs than the other two. They are:

• Open source - Many people equate “open source”  with “free”, but companies that use open-source software can end up paying much more in the long run. The reason for this is related to integrating and adapting the software to company systems and needs. This comes at a cost and if the IT department can't find a way to adapt the open source digital asset management system, the associated costs can add up very quickly. On the other hand, some organizations have needs that are so very unique, open-source is the only option flexible enough to tailor to those requirements. But these organizations are truly few and far between.
• Software as a Service (SaaS) - This refers to DAM systems that are hosted and, generally, accessed via the Internet. In being hosted and serviced off-site, they don' t take up space on company servers or require management by in-house IT employees. Costs for these types of DAM systems are typically done on a subscription basis and can be related to numbers of users and storage of assets.
• On-premises - These are the DAM systems that are installed on company servers. In not being hosted in the cloud, they require attention from and management by your IT department. These systems tend to work better for large companies that have particular security needs. They are more likely to have the resources needed to host a large corporate image library and manage the system.

To learn more about the advantages and disadvantages associated with each of these DAM delivery models, see this white paper.

If you made it to the Henry Stewart Digital Asset Management conference in Los Angeles earlier this week, then you were able to listen to many of the hot topics and champion stories from industry experts and DAM users / administrators. If you didn’t make it, the Twitter following provided a number of highlights, lessons learned and key bits of information from the event.


Here’s a selection of some of the golden nuggets from the Digital Asset Management Conference found on twitter with hashtag #DAMLA.



Go to #DAMLA to see all the Tweets from the Henry Stewart Digital Asset Management conference.


Be sure to check out Widen’s show insert to get “DAM insights and resources from the industry leader in customer satisfaction” featuring two of the top DAM white papers and links to demos and other key resources.

Visit www.damusers.com for a look at the future Digital Asset Management conferences by Henry Stewart Events.

Follow us @widenenterprise and @digitalassetmgt for coverage of future digital asset management conferences and to stay in the loop of other key resources.

For more industry information, visit DigitalAssetManagement.com – the educational resource site for those researching, justifying and purchasing Digital Asset Management (DAM) Systems.

There's a wide variety of digital asset management software choices out there. Among the differentiators are price, add-on features, customer service and user interface. But perhaps the most substantive way of characterizing solutions is to identify SaaS, open-source and installed (or on-premises) software.

One common mistake is to assume that each of those characteristics is mutually exclusive. In fact, there is often much overlap. Understanding not only what each of the three terms means, but also what the implications of those types of programs would be to your organization's workflows, is pivotal to your making an informed, effective decision on DAM software.

Widen has teamed up with Mark Davey of the DAM Foundation to produce a white paper titled "Digital Asset Management: Installed vs. Software as a Service (SaaS) vs. Open Source. Finding the best delivery model for your business."

Our hope, as always, is that this white paper will help to inform the marketplace in a way that leads to more informed software purchasing decisions and more streamlined workflows. We also think that this white paper will help people understand that choosing a solution is not about identifying the "best" offering; there is no such thing. Rather, it's about finding the best fit offering: the one that is built in the way that most closely complements your organization and its needs.

Take a look at our white paper and let us know what you think. Also, let us know what your thoughts are on the issue of SaaS, on-premises and open-source DAM. Have you made a decision on which is right for your organization? Would you see a system that combines any of those delivery models in some way?

Henry Stewart Events' Los Angeles DAM conference is next week (Nov. 14-15). Widen Enterprises is among the sponsors of DAM LA. We hope you can make it out to join us there, or at least follow us on Twitter for event highlights. We'll also be posting the most poignant tweets on this blog in the days that follow.

If you can make it, make sure you find some Widen people and ask about the booklets we'll be offering those in attendance. They're packed with useful information and web addresses (as well as QR codes, if you're into that sort of thing) that give you access to informative white papers, industry news and more.

Conferences like this one are great for getting new information that can inform the streamlining of your organization's digital asset processes. Whether it's a conference, convention, trade show, or seminar, there's ususally something worthwhile to take back home (or to the office) with you. Some of the benefits include:

Learning about innovations – DAM software developments are often announced (or at least explained) at these events. That makes conferences like this good opportunities to ensure you're ahead of the curve, rather than being left behind.

Building your DAM knowledge base – There are history experts and carpentry experts, but like so many other technologies, DAM software moves too fast for anyone to keep up so well that they can be called "expert"—there's always more to learn. Still, there are leaders, so make sure you capitalize on contact with them at these things by asking them questions that are immediately actionable and give you a view into the future of DAM.

Here are some special notes about this event:

• Widen Customer, Lance White of Corinthian Colleges Inc. will be speaking on a panel titled "Lessons learned from our Procurement and Implementation Process" at 4:10 on Day 1.
• The conference will be followed by tutorials lead by Theresa Regli of The Real Story Group on "Fundamentals of DAM: The Technology In-Depth"...
• and metadata sessions by John Horodyski of DAM Education on "Fundamentals of Metadata for DAM Professionals" and "Advanced Metadata Practices for DAM". More on that here.

• Lack of security — Where’s the security in using shared folders? A corporate image library deserves a lot more security than the weak barriers associated with this makeshift solution. It wouldn’t take a skilled hacker to compromise a shared folder, nor would it be difficult for disgruntled (or careless) employees to make you regret taking measures so lax. Avoid being the victim of thievery and accident by using a digital asset management system that incorporates much better security measures and control over digital assets. 
• Lack of replication measures — In the simplest sense, “replication” refers to back up. Simply placing a shared folder on a server does little to protect you from the effects of losing your assets to attack, natural disaster, or other hazards.
• Necessity of IT investment — Use a shared folder for assets and expect higher costs for the IT department. Whether hiring more IT people or having current IT personnel manage shared folders for digital assets, the costs will probably be higher than going with a software as a service DAM system. Why use IT people to help manage assets when their skills are needed for overall optimal network performance? They will probably be constantly struggling with ways to store assets, dealing with user complaints, and wasting time in their permanent challenge of making it easier to use the shared folder. Since all of these issues have already been figured out and incorporated into quality DAM systems, it's much easier and more cost effective to go that route.
• Version control problems — A shared folder can make it very difficult to effectively manage different versions of the same asset. This is in great contrast to DAM systems designed to easily manage several versions of the same asset.

• Identify and train asset creators - The system administrator is tasked with finding various people and agencies that can quickly produce marketing assets to be integrated into the system.
• Provide ongoing training and promotion of the DAM system - To realize the full potential of the DAM system, the administrator does a lot with promoting and training people for its use. Employees and any agencies that have access to the system get ongoing training to keep up-to-date on system functionality. The administrator also needs to send out informational material extolling the benefits of the system and why it's the only option when working with digital assets.
• Create and enforce user roles and permissions - The administrator is responsible for designating user access for assets. This is a delicate process because it determines how well the system works for branding purposes. 
• Metadata - The administrator also needs to choose the metadata used in the system. He or she needs to research which phrases will work best for finding assets with quick and efficient searches.
• Track performance and gather user feedback - To ensure that the company's digital asset management tools perform optimally, the administrator does this on a yearly basis to improve the system. DAM software with built-in analytics and reporting tools allows administrators to more easily track performance of the system.
• Create and support "best practices" - This ongoing task is done to improve the system, various processes, SLAs, and communication opportunities. Routine analysis of system performance may include such factors as user experience, search performance, and identifying points of system slowdowns. The results of these studies are used to suggest and implement appropriate solutions.
• Work closely with outside agencies to ensure consistency - The administrator needs to make sure that all agencies with access to the DAM system are consistent in terms of file uploads, metadata, and company policies and procedures.

A DAM administrator often carries out these duties and more. Their ability to realize a DAM system's potential is strengthened by working with a software as a service (SaaS) provider. To get a taste of a SaaS DAM system, take a demo today.

Digital asset management programs increase in value the more they are used. By design, most DAM software is meant to have a large base of users or at least have the potential to scale up. Digital asset management systems provide a higher return on investment with more people because they are employed as shared platforms. Quite simply, the formula for digital asset management ROI is more users + more assets = more collaboration + more repurposing.

Here are some tips on finding ways to put your DAM system to use for more of your organization:

As digital assets become the core of more and more of all of our business processes, managing them effectively translates increasingly directly into effective management of the business itself. The more of your organization you can justify bringing into the fold, the better.

To understand the value associated with brand asset management software, request a demo of the Widen Media Collective.

We at Widen are always committed to moving the DAM industry forward. Sometimes that means targeted initiatives like publishing content through our DAM resource site for the immediate benefit of those exploring what’s out there in digital asset management.

Other times, though, Widen has an opportunity to contribute to the technology industry in less direct, more broad, but equally (if not more) important ways. We were able to make one of those contributions recently, while also doing our part to give back in our local community, when we partnered with Learning Encounters to provide Monona Grove High School (neighbors of ours here in the Madison, Wisconsin area) with some new astronomy equipment.

The donation included:

• 30 StarScout Telescope Kits
• 1 SkyViewer Telescope Kit
• 1 Diagonal Kit
• 1 Cosmos Camera
• 1 Voyager Tripod
• 1 MicroViewer 200x
• 1 Microviewer 500x