Marketing Resource Management

The recent KMWorld article DAM takes on many roles reports “The market for digital asset management (DAM) solutions remains robust, driven by increasing demand for rich media on Web sites, for marketing materials and in technical documentation. Ideally, assets for those purposes are managed centrally and published as needed to different destinations.”

KMWorld reports the annual market stands at about $600 million, and historically has posted double-digit growth. ABI Research forecasts the market to top $1 billion in 2013.

Feeding the DAM growth is the increased volume of rich media coupled with the wealth of devices to create, send and receive digital media. Furthermore, The Association of Graphic Solutions Providers (IPA) reports an increasing number of multi-channel targeted marketing programs have caused an explosion in the number of digital assets to manage.

Moreover, Frost & Sullivan reports that apart from the increased creation and use of digital media, the average file size of content is also increasing. To take the example of images, both the files size and the pure number of digital images taken have steadily increased each year. This is true for almost all media types from text to images and audio/visual content. The emergence and popularity of high definition video has been further fueled by the availability of numerous devices to receive content. This burgeoning demand has created a huge infrastructure challenge. High resolution images and video are storage and bandwidth intensive. For more on the DAM Market Overview and Challenges, download the DAM as SaaS 2.0 Whitepaper from Frost & Sullivan.
 

It’s a “Wired” World – Devices to Create, Send and Receive Digital Media

The increasing volume of digital media is again fueled to the increasing number of devices available to create and consume digital media. The mobile wireless market for handheld devices is another market that has become a huge user of digitized media. Interestingly, Widen worked with a 3rd-party market research company in the first half of 2009 for an analysis of digital asset management programs and social media. One of the questions asked was “What consumer electronic devices do you own and use?”  Just for fun, here are the results…



Digital Camera, Laptop/Notebook Computer, Portable Media Device (iPod) and Cell Phone with Camera are the most common electronic devices owned and used (n=94).


Top Digital Asset Management Market Drivers according to ABI Research

• Increase in the need to collaborate workflows across divisions in an enterprise
• DAM systems no longer operate in a silo environment
• Move to nonlinear digital workflows will drive demand
• Improved operational efficiencies maximizes the ROI on a DAM system
• Increase in bandwidth, fall in the storage cost will boost the demand of DAM
• Continued effort in marketing initiatives will increase the demand for DAM
• Creative professionals adopt DAM tools
• New and emerging markets will drive the demand for DAM systems
• Adoption of digital media technology enhances the growth of the market
• Multiple channels of content delivery will increase the demand for DAM solutions
• Content is king: Premium content, HD and video services will drive the growth

Below is an excerpt from the KM World article, DAM takes on many roles by Judith Lamont, Ph.D., about UNICEF’s adoption of Widen Digital Asset Management tools and services. The full article provides three unique case studies from digital asset management vendors. The excerpt below introduces the digital media management needs from UNICEF and explains why they selected Widen DAM SaaS.

[Excerpt]

Rich media assets

UNICEF was founded by the United Nations in 1946 to help save, protect and improve the lives of children through immunization, education, healthcare, nutrition, clean water and sanitation. It delivers those services and material resources on a regular basis, and responds to emergencies throughout the world.

The UNICEF Web site is the primary means of conveying information about activities in which the organization is involved. With nearly 200 offices operating in 156 countries, and fundraising partner organizations in 36 industrialized countries, UNICEF has deployed a Web content management (WCM) system that allows distributed editing and publishing of content, and localization of field office Web sites.

As rich media, particularly video, became more prevalent, UNICEF also saw a need for a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system that could help staff members deal more effectively with the increasing number of digital assets.

"We drop professional UNICEF journalists and photographers into all sorts of places where children are affected by crisis, as well as serious ongoing challenges," says Alexander Struminger, executive project manager in UNICEF’s Internet, broadcast and image section. "Video is a good format for quickly telling complex stories and effectively feeding into news cycles, but we needed to be able to store, retrieve and distribute the files more easily."

SaaS delivery model

UNICEF had tried several approaches to DAM, including developing its own software, but usage of the systems had been limited. "One of the lessons we learned in our early attempts was that the way in which we rolled out the system was critical," says Struminger. "We knew we needed a good software product, but better software alone is never the answer. We also needed to facilitate adoption by involving stakeholders." After researching the available options and requesting proposals from best-in-class vendors, UNICEF selected the DAM platform from Widen Enterprises.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model of Widen’s DAM platform removed the burden of installing and maintaining the software. UNICEF also took note of the company’s long history of high-quality service. "Widen helped us start out with a pilot project so we could introduce the product to a small group of beta testers," Struminger explains. "We made sure we had a group of motivated UNICEF stakeholders involved. This ensured early adoption and a sense of ownership by key stakeholders."

The system was introduced by UNICEF’s Geneva office at a gathering of UNICEF fundraising organizations, and several of the individuals involved in the pilot spoke enthusiastically about its merits. "This event changed the conversation," Struminger says, "and we realized it was the kind of advocacy we needed in order to get that vital adoption."

Other parts of the organization began to request the DAM system, and a global rollout is now in progress. Feedback has been very positive, and users are beginning to suggest new applications, like asset sharing between divisions, countries and partner organizations. Widen’s application for video Web streaming is also under consideration.

Users can quickly find video clips they need, along with scripts and shot lists. They can send those files directly to a journalist or news organization for review. UNICEF offices and partners can have access to up-to-date branding assets, as well as print publications files for localization, printing or electronic distribution.

"The robust search engine is really one of the keys to this system," explains Struminger, "and its ability to leverage metadata." Although the metadata and taxonomy needed to be sorted out as the system expanded, the Widen DAM system is now becoming the preferred distribution platform for digital assets.

Widen Enterprises draws its expertise from its own experience in pre-press workflow, so in addition to offering a software product it also has substantial subject matter expertise.

"Our emphasis is on service and being with customers throughout their process," says Matthew Gonnering, CEO of Widen. "For example, we staffed our own video production studio to make sure we understood the workflow. Our product handles every major video format as well." That ability provides support to social marketing efforts, allowing the distribution of video to many channels. "We don’t just get our customers set up with the software and then part company," Gonnering emphasizes. "We are available throughout the entire time of our relationship."

View the full article from KM World: DAM takes on many roles

It is undeniable how important tracking, measurement and analysis are in business today.  All organizations are pushing resources to the max under restricted budgets and it is imperative to leverage usage data and analytics to make the best strategic decisions for digital asset creation and use.  Widen is helping customers apply usage data and quantifiable metrics to develop steps toward digital asset management best practices.  When applied under the guidance of best practices, digital asset management technologies and services are proven resources to assist in maximizing profitability.
 
In the clips below, I talk about how Widen, as a Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, is set up to collect all sorts of client data about digital asset usage and apply that data in a way that helps customers constantly improve their marketing operations and digital asset management best practices.

Video 1:  How does Widen help apply best practices?

Widen is continually working to build strong partnerships with third party vendors who provide technologies and services that are complementary to our own digital asset management programs.  By partnering with industry leading vendors we can expand into new markets and bring more features and functionality to our own Widen Media Collective customers.  It’s a win win for everyone.  Through strategic partnerships and the technologies that they bring to the table, Widen can help our customers build out entire media workflow environments that go far beyond digital asset solutions.  One of the central messages I have tried to focus on in some of my previous blogs was that DAM systems should be the backbone to our customer’s larger marketing operations, brand and creative software technology environments.  So I thought it would be helpful to start a series of blogs highlighting some of our partner relationships and how our customers are using these external services and technologies to streamline and improve their internal media workflows.  Level III Services is one of those partners who immediately came to mind as a great place to start.   

Level III Services offers print on-demand and product fulfillment services that are second to none.  Their online suite of products leverages Widen’s hosted DAM platform to give customers instant access to their marketing materials from anywhere in the world.  Need to manage a large inventory of marketing literature or products online?  Need to ship the latest brochure to the event for your biggest customer and need it there tomorrow?  Tired of drowning in extra materials and cost because your printer requires you to adhere to large print runs instead of paying for just what you use and need?  Yeah, they do all that.  Level III Services saves their customers thousands by embracing the simple idea that less is more.  You can save money and the environment by producing only what you need, when you need it.  That sounds good to Widen and is one reason we think Level III is such a good neighbor.  Customers of Widen’s hosted DAM service have been paying for only what they use, rather than what they can install, for over 12 years.  For more info on Level III Services, visit www.level-3.com. 

Color Management: 10 Years Back and 10 Years Forward - How Times Have Changed: Part 1

This session at The PIA Color Management Conference featured three industry experts who took the audience back in time and then took a peek into the future of color management technology. I will cover each speaker's presentation in a seperate blog post. First up is Dave Hunter...

Dave Hunter
Dave Hunter, President of Pilot Marketing and one of the founders of the conference, discussed the previous 10 years and reflected back on how things have changed since the conference's inception in 1999.

Dave began by talking about what he referred to as the "bleeding edge technology" of color management. "Bleeding edge technology means that the technology doesn't always work, and when it doesn't, you get cut. And depending on how bad it doesn't work, you bleed. And sometimes you bleed a lot. If I knew then, what I know now, I wouldn't be up in front of you talking today. Because I've lived through a lot of bleeding edge technology." Dave said.

Proprietary Systems
Looking back 10 years, Dave said that initially it was a very proprietary color world. Prepress color management systems only interacted with themselves, not other systems. The formation of the ICC in 1993 gave the industry an open platform so companies like Aldus, Adobe, Quark along with different RIPs could share the same profiles.

"Remember Pagemaker?" Dave asked while he talked about some of his early experience with color management when he was with Aldus. He would attend summit meetings with top software manufacturers (Agfa, Apple, Adobe...) to work through color problems. Dave said he learned a lot in those early days by writing down notes and listening to the conversations.

Dave discussed the state of the art in profiling in 1992. "At Kodak's labs in Bedford, MA, the hand held spectrophotometer took two of us to carry across the room, and costed around $15,000. "There were three of us that would take turns reading a 1,000 patch output target, one patch at a time. It would take approximately six hours to do. And to process this profile, would take about eight to ten hours." Dave said. He added that the state-of-the-art Mac IIci that was used would crash about half of the time. "An output profile would literally take 16 hours to make." Dave said.

The Holy Grail
Dave continued his stroll down memory lane by reminding the audience when color management was sold as the Holy Grail. Color management was oversold as something that will take bad images and make them good or "Child's Play" as Lino Color used to say. Or "Perfect color with your eyes closed." as ColorBlind claimed. "It never met expectations, and it was getting a pretty bad reputation because it was this never-ending promise that was never fulfilled." Dave said.


    Anyone Remember this claim? "Perfect color with your eyes closed." Really?

Apple Trouble
Dave spoke about the turmoil at Apple in 1996 - 1997. In 1997 Apple considered dropping ColorSync until they figured out that it was unique and catered to it's core users: graphic arts and printing. Since then they have put a lot of resources into ColorSync and it helped save Apple as a company.

Some of the companies from 1998 that were making software or hardware for color management: Color Savvy, Logo, RIT80, Praxisoft, ColorBlind, Fuji, LightSource, Monaco, Optical, Heidelberg, GretagMacbeth, Techkon, Sequel Imaging. "Many of these companies are not around anymore." Dave said. He also referred to what he called the 2008 X-Rite Empire. LightSource, Monaco, GretagMacbeth, Sequel, Logo and Pantone are now all part of X-Rite. And although X-Rite bought out GretagMacbeth, Dave pointed out that more of the recent product releases have been GretagMacbeth products.

Enabling Technologies
Dave expanded on some of the enabling technologies to color management throughout the last ten years:

• LightSource Colortron 1997 - 2001
  
  • First hand held sub $5000 spectrophotometer ($1500)
  • Used software on a computer for intelligence
• ColorBlind software 1997 - 2000
  
  • First to use 3D modeling so you could see what was happening with gamuts
• Standards Committees
  
  • Dave McDowell, Larry Warter, Mike Rodriguez, Larry Steele worked tirelessly to provide the framework that enabled all of this color management technology. "These guys don't get enough credit. Because without them, this industry would really be in disarray." Dave said.

Education is Key
Dave wrapped up by emphasizing that education has always been an issue and it is still lacking. "I liken the analogy of color to an onion. Just when you think you know it all, there is another layer. And I'm still peeling back these layers of the onion because there's so much to it. And still crying along the way" he joikingly added.

Mark

Multichannel Merchant had an article by Melissa Dowling titled Software Selection Smarts yesterday, which included several good tips about selecting a software vendor.

What to look for when selecting a software vendor?

• Proven success in your niche
• Cultural fit between organizations
• Complete package vs. custom technology
• Future functionality requirements
• Training and user adoption

After reading the article and dissecting the main points I had an “Aha! Moment” recognizing that these are all reasons contributing to the popularity of Software as a Service (SaaS), particularly in this economic climate where it is difficult to justify large capital expenditures on software, hardware and a reallocation of IT resources.

Successful SaaS providers grasp these points and are the reason why they continue to be the answer to software questions in this economic climate...

1. Proven success in your industry and with people in similar roles
2. Cultural fit as an extension of your business and/or functional areas
3. Configurable package options without heavy need for customization
4. Shared transparency of future product roadmap to align with the goals of the customer
5. Widespread user adoption achieved through proper training, marketing support and ongoing tech support

These factors are what drives the ongoing success of a software implementation at any company dealing with restricted budgets, too much on the” to-do list,” increased demand of specialization and fewer resources to focus on the core business.  Whether you’re looking for an enterprise digital asset management system or hosted DAM software for your SMB or agency, consider these factors for any marketing or creative software.

DEAR DR. DAM:  My name is Jackie and I’m a “Jack of all Trades-Master of None” one person marketing team for a large energy corporation.  I handle it all – marketing, communications and PR – but, with the help of several key outsourced providers and partners.  Since I handle all of our business branding and promotional materials, I deal with a large amount of digital media.  We have hundreds of files … mostly images, videos and brochures … used for ad campaigns, websites, mail inserts, presentations and investor materials. 

We pay a lot of money for photography and videography but this digital content seems to always have a way of disappearing after only one or two uses.  It’s like “poof” and it’s gone.  Different departments throughout the company have no idea what other departments have.   We are constantly recreating old stuff instead of repurposing existing work or creating new stuff.  It’s definitely becoming very frustrating and seems like we’re missing out on a lot of opportunity.  It’s hard to realize any marketing ROI if we can’t realize the full value of our assets.  I attempted to implement a DAM system about 6 years ago, but didn’t have the time to dedicate to a project like this and the project got pushed to the back-burner.  Now it’s time… point me in the right direction Dr. DAM.

DEAR JACKIE OF ALL TRADES:  I like that you’re able to rely on an outsourced team of experts that are just a phone call away.  It makes you look like a star and you have the best help available.  As a hosted digital asset management provider, Widen has proven that for over a decade and sounds like it’s time for you to “phone a friend.”  With centralized digital asset storage for all your photos, videos, Flash animations, illustrations, brochures, logos, and press clippings you won’t have assets slipping through the cracks or vanishing on you.  With administrative access controls, you can open up the digital asset library up to nearly all 5,000 internal employees as well as external partners while maintaining control with sophisticated digital asset tracking tools.

Don’t be overwhelmed… This project is something you can handle on your own and with the help of the right DAM SaaS vendor.  SaaS vendors like Widen have entire teams of project managers and implementation consultants that walk you through everything from best practices to training and help desk support.  Plus, automatic upgrades future proof your marketing resources from going extinct.  Best of all, I.T. will continue to support the business operations and  you can stay on top of everything marketing operations while you get to be a little more savvy with marketing software.  Need to quantify the time and money on DAM activities, check out the ROI Calculator from http://digitalassetmanagement.com.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) demand continues to rise thanks to the pairing of great technology providers and decision makers trusting in the SaaS model to help solve their business challenges.  We speak with prospective customers every minute of the day and the shift in demand over the last 3 years has been enlightening.  Isolating the request for proposals (RFP) alone can give you insight into how buyers have changed.

Three years ago we had RFP’s for digital asset management (DAM) because the organizations had challenges managing their collections of digital media (and still do today, just an exponentially greater volume of digital media).  But only a fraction of these DAM RFP’s (appropriate use of acronyms but the irony of the DAM RFP is oh so great)  were requesting how they could better manage their images, audio, and video files because the rest of it was specifying hardware and other I.T. requirements.  As a SaaS provider, it was a simple copy and paste of the words, “Not Applicable, Software-as-a-Service Provider.”

So the SaaS providers would rarely get invited any further in the process, but on occasion would be taken to the final decision to stand against the installed software provider just so the organization could compare apples and oranges.  If you could hear what was being said in the decision room, it might have sounded something like this (with heavy sarcasm for fun):

“We have entertained two different methods of deploying our digital asset management technology.  One method is purchasing software from a digital asset management provider and then using all our available I.T. resources to acquire the necessary hardware that we will never upgrade. 

A few other highlights if we go with the installed DAM software option:
 

• We then deploy the $200,000 software on these devices so that we can determine what customizations we would need to accommodate the original specifications in our RFP. 
   
• Then we could customize it for 5x the cost we paid for the setup solidifying our legacy application status which makes future upgrades from this DAM software provider more difficult (but I am leaving the organization in 12-months for a better job so what do I care). 
   
• Then we get to roll it out to the user base after partnering with one of the integrators that the DAM provider recommends. 
   
• This also gives I.T. the opportunity to purchase more bandwidth because we are going to be transferring massive sized files and with the upcoming demands of marketing including lots of video, we can plan on about 50% of our total bandwidth being consumed by feeding video to our web and channel partners. 
   
• This should all take anywhere between 3 and 36 months.

The other option is DAM SaaS which is having someone else manage the technology and we manage our digital media, which was kinda the original purpose of the RFP process but we’re not sure anymore.

Our recommendation is to purchase the software because we get to own it…not really though because we don’t own the source code… Well, I guess we don’t own it… we just license it… But, we have the perceived sense of owning it so we’ll call it that because it sounds better. 

We recommend the installed option for the following reasons as well: 

• We also get total control over the deployment and our I.T. team will work closely with marketing and creative to meet their schedules and requirements.  I know they haven’t gotten along in the past because their projects keep getting pushed for other I.T. priorities but this time is different. 
   
• I.T. says they should deploy everything anyway because they want to continually purchase new hardware because it is fun looking at new stuff and the hardware suppliers give me tickets to cool events and other gadgets to play with for personal use. 
   
• More importantly, when the DAM provider releases new software they get a chance to debug it on the fly which is a great high pressure situation to help advance their skill set; almost like defusing a bomb. 
   
• That is only after we determine if we can take the upgrade because we might have done so much customization that is will cause too much disruption which means we just won’t upgrade, ever.  But I.T. also thinks that is ok because they would increase their networking opportunities because they could work more closely with the integrators and third party providers that would write the customizations to the original DAM software.

It is obvious that the installed software choice for this digital asset management system is more exciting which is why I am asking for an open purchase order because I am not clear with the total cost related to owning this thing.  Someone asked about scalability earlier as well, but we have opted not to address that because I am leaving the company before that becomes an issue anyway.”

Fond memories... 

Thank goodness nearly every RFP for managing digital media now requires that the service be managed by a software-as-a-service organization so the focus can be on managing and distributing digital media.
 

DEAR DR. DAM:  My name is Patrick, Director of Premedia at a mid-sized marketing agency.  I have an extreme problem providing and controlling access to our digital files.  I have a number of internal departments that require different levels of access and our current method of using an internal shared folder is driving me nuts with all the problems we encounter just trying to keep things organized.  We do a high amount of direct mail pieces and need an efficient way for my team and clients to review the prints.  How can something so basic be so difficult to handle?

DEAR PERPLEXED PATRICK:  You would think that everyone would be utilizing a web-based digital asset management system by now...  just kidding.  Your prescription calls for a central repository with role-based access controls, complete with on-the-fly file transformations and a project collaboration component.  With Widen marketing resource management features, you have the ability to upload proofs for internal and external review and approval tracking.  I caution you of the intense spike in productivity you may experience by cutting out much of the manual labor dealing with content management and structure.

From images, to audio and video, Widen DAM SaaS applications provide the tools to help clients successfully manage and distribute their digital assets.  For the majority of our clients, there are select individuals that become the champions of their digital asset management implementation.  These are the people that hold the most responsibility in administering the applications and are the key decision makers into what the system manages and how to manage the system.

One of the great capabilities with a DAM System is that Administrators have the ability to run reports on all activity.  These reports include determining who is logging in to the platform, which assets are ordered the most or even determining how many assets you have for a particular product. 

Reporting is key to gathering market insights, determining product popularity, and understanding how/where to allocate marketing resources.  Moreover, reporting is extremely important when it comes to managing rights and knowing exactly how, where and by whom your brand assets are being used.  Reporting and tracking tools are vital to leveraging digital asset management programs as a true resource to marketing operations driving brand consistency and revenues.
 

Here’s a brief overview of a few standard reporting options for Widen Administrators:

Site Overview – Dashboard showing number of users, number of assets, total size (GB/TB), top users by number of logins, top assets ordered, and top asset quick searches.

Trend Graphs – Standard list of out-of-the-box reports showing trend graphs and data tables over time for Assets Orders, Assets, Versions, Asset Groups and Users

User Reports – Custom reports on user demographic info, roles, and activity such as logins

Registration Reports – Custom reports to control / monitor system access

Asset Reports – Custom reports on all asset metadata and security / release dates

Asset Order Reports – Custom reports with sender and recipient data

Asset Upload Reports – Custom reports on all assets entering the DAM system

Other Reports – Photo Routing (for Backdrop), Projects (for Collaboration), Templates (for Media Building) and Catalog Production

This question was raised in one of the DAM discussions on LinkedIn:
“Is there a clear distinction between Digital Asset Management and Digital Archivism?” 

The question came about from the New York Times article in early February of this year Digital Archivists, Now in Demand.

Here’s part of the distinction I can offer between Digital Asset Management and Digital Archival…

Archival is just one of the four main phases of DAM and the digital asset life cycle – creation, management, distribution and archival.  We link in Creation phases with DAM to quickly realize the value of the digital asset by achieving faster time to market and tightly integrating that with the management and distribution functions.

Here’s a list of the typical functions within each phase of the Digital Asset Life Cycle:

There are obviously several roles / players in any one or a combination of phases to DAM.  Typically, a DAM admin is involved most with the Management & Distribution phases, but there’s a great deal of cross-over and roles vary by organization.  Even different vendors specialize in some areas more than others.  I say this as Widen performs the functions on the creation end of the digital asset life cycle while also providing the software technology, infrastructure and service (personnel) to blend all four levels.

A digital asset is truly an asset when it is leveraged to maximize its intrinsic value to the organization it is serving, commonly for the purpose of driving brand value and revenue.  It seems to be the job of the digital archivist to recognize who/what/when/where/how the asset is to be applied to maximize its value and then again control when it is time to relinquish that value.

I’m interested to learn more about the roles of people performing each function these days as the economy has forced marketing operations and creative departments to reallocate and reposition resources.  Please share.

DEAR DR. DAM:  My name is Greg, the IT Director at a non-profit organization that better serves the youth of our community. I first must admit that I have tried using some Digital Asset Management vendors out there already and this has aided in creating my troubles. The timing and requirements of upgrades, patches and missing some of the most basic features were extremely frustrating and time-consuming to keep after.  Currently, assets are floating all over the place and can’t be found, nor rounded up for that matter of digital asset tracking.  I need these files to be accessible to my creative, video, web and marketing creators and users.  Most of all, I need help to get this problem off the ground now.  These times call for smart resource allocation and customer service because we certainly don’t have the staff and hours to make it work alone.  I have TBs of photos and video.  I need help, but at a competitive price!  I will not fall victim to over-promised, under-delivered legacy systems again.
 
DEAR GOOD-WILLED GREG:  An enterprise level system with special non-profit pricing… is that music to your ears? That’s hard to come by these days, but you do have options.  What you need is a globally accessible, web based digital asset library.  Most of all, you need a resource that knows marketing software and information technology and can provide the service to get you going and growing.  You mentioned the web…  Widen Digital Asset Embed Links has changed online digital asset management in a way that publishing and maintaining images and videos has never been so easy with one central place to update and control your digital media.  With cloud computing resources for infinite scalability and web services integrations, your day job will become so much easier when it comes to this DAM project.

Widen is featured in the March issue of the Capital Region Business Journal, a monthly print publication of the Wisconsin State Journal.  In an article titled “Complexity of the Software Industry,” Widen along with Epic Software (medical records software and the largest software company in the state of Wisconsin) are quoted along with the inherent challenges to the software industry.

Quoted from the article, “The biggest challenge facing the software-as-a-service industry is educating the marketplace on why installing software and using internal IT (information technology) resources to manage that software is significantly more expensive than using a SaaS provider…The total cost of ownership is more manageable and the value received is greater in the SaaS model because customers are subscribing to software (typically through a web browser) and sharing in the core technology used by other organizations.”

Now, I’d like to take this opportunity to expand on how software-as-a-service keeps the complexity of software manageable.

First off, it is both timely and timeless to mention that service is king.  If a software company is to provide a useable product and expects to develop a long-term relationship with its customers, it starts and ends with the last “S” in SaaS.

Here’s the core areas in which DAM SaaS keeps the complexity manageable:

Install and Control – From the technical requirements to resource allocation for the implementation, Widen Project Management staff serve as the “head wranglers” to align appropriate resources with the goals of the project.  In marketing speak, the team of technical and project management people is what helps customers with enough other projects on their plate “get up and running” as efficiently as possible.

Next, it comes with the training of the client administrators to use the system and coordinate the ingestion of content, organization and the setup of user roles and access levels. 

The last key ingredient to a successful implementation is user adoption.  This comes in several ways, but a SaaS provider is well equipped to work with the client administrators and project managers to setup the appropriate controls, train and educate users on the functionality and purpose of the software, and is able to make it as easy as possible to promote the existence and “the big shift” of the software to all users – usually in stages – both internally and externally with channel partners and affiliates.

Live and Grow - A successful implementation is not only measured by the launch of a system but by the use. ROI is driven by USE.  What differentiates the SaaS model?  The ability to scale and adapt with and throughout the enterprise (and external partners) while being nimble enough to accommodate growth and a changing business climate with resources guided by a company whose core competency is the creation, management, and distribution of digital content.  Internal IT resources remain dedicated to maintaining the business operations, while a SaaS provider is there (sometimes when internal IT is not) to assist in adding more infrastructure or provide more service.  What happens when you have a question?  You want to be able to get an answer, right.  A SaaS provider dedicates trained people to both staff a help desk and consult with the client on ways of making it work – usually supplying more than one right answer.

Be Real & Work - A SaaS provider is not a software company that hires a bunch of software developers to live on an island and write code.  A SaaS provider is equipped with several teams who are responsible in meeting with clients, interpreting their needs, delivering solutions that really work, and being able to quickly change the solutions as needs change.  This is where Widen typically has a heads up.  We’re not just a software company.  Widen is a developer and a user of our own technologies. 

What’s more, we are part of a process – as a whole – for and with our customers.  We serve to aid in the creation, management, and distribution of digital media.  Not all of that is achieved with automation, some of it comes with skilled labor – the color production stuff that represents how your products and brand looks and represents itself in the marketplace.  As a part of the process for our customers, we understand the importance of speed to market, increased quality, and reduced costs when it comes to creative workflows and marketing execution.  As a part of that process, Widen understands how the advancement of marketing operations and brand management drives top line business growth by maximizing market penetration and brand value.  In that process, our solutions and methods must work and must co-align with the goals of our customers in order to succeed. 

What’s the key to all of this complexity?  The short answer: make it manageable.  How? Choose your strategic business partners wisely. More to come… 

CMSWire recently published an article Digital Asset Management in 2009: Trends, Features and SharePoint Integration.  The article had a few DAM players weigh in, so now I would like to continue the conversation by Keeping DAM Solutions in Check in 2009. 

What’s driving the adoption of Digital Asset Management solutions?  Moreover, how do you justify the purchase of a DAM system in this economy? 

Did you stop creating digital content?  No.

Did you shift the way in which you deliver content?  Likely.

Do you need to continue supplying the digital content that is the lifeblood of commerce and marketing to those that use and repurpose it to help your brands sustain?  Absolutely.

Do you need to do that in a way that minimizes cost and maximizes effectiveness in the areas that drive revenue?  DAM, you’re good.

Enough of the Q&A.  Let’s get into what’s big in DAM in 09. 

SaaS – While it’s hard to lose sight of the current economic conditions, let’s bring SaaS to the forefront.  Service is King… right?  In this economy, SaaS is not looked at as an alternative, but as the answer.  You’ve already answered the questions above, but how about these:

Do you have the financial resources for hefty capital expenditures on infrastructure costs?

Do you have the human resources (IT) to devote to “just another marketing project?”

Since SaaS is quick to deploy in a time when ‘time is of the essence’ and resources are limited, a cost-effective monthly subscription that can be budgeted for looks like a clear choice.

Widen understands the objection that sometimes you just need your digital content to be on-site.  The Widen Answer:  The Widen Appliance – an extension of the SaaS model with managed services on the client site.  Local access (for the creatives) and business continuity (for everyone). 

Let’s get a little more SaaSy with some highlights from an article from business technology publication ZDNet, SaaS model here to stay, say vendors. 

• SaaS solutions can be deployed without ramping up skill sets and infrastructure.
• Why deploy an installed solution that may take 12 months if it’s out of date by the time it goes live?
• Economies of scale and scalable resources.  You’re renting the infrastructure, but you own the content. 
• Stronger security, redundancy and reliability than most companies can achieve on their own.
• Not limited to simple applications, but a way to kick start a complex deployment.

Moving off the SaaS train to one of the hottest topics today...

Video - With the rise and popularity of consuming video – online and via mobile devices – organizations must look for video management solutions.  Not to the level required by traditional media companies, but lighter weight solutions for the marketer looking to publish videos on web sites and social media outlets.  Widen has added functionality to preview and transcode video assets, embed links to centrally control and globally repurpose and consume the most recent video asset, and cloud computing resources to scale with the demand.  
 
Collaboration – The new way of saying “Teamwork.”  Organizations are not siloed, or at least they want to break the habit of operating independently.  Creative, marketing, web, sales… they all need to be on the same page.  People want to be involved closer to the creation end of the digital asset life cycle and approval processes continue to be complex.  A web interface into the collaboration process is critical to teams both internal and geographically-dispersed.  With project collaboration comes workflow and reporting capabilities to streamline processes and hold people accountable. 

Recognizing the demand for creating efficiency in review and approval workflows, Widen created Backdrop, a web-based tool to automate the complex photography routing and approval cycles behind the scenes for photographers and creative approvers.  Separately, the Widen Project Collaboration application for the front-end of the digital asset library supports online reviews, annotations and versioning in one central repository to keep it all together and hold people accountable. 
 
Social Media – 70% of online adults use social media.  With the popularity and opportunity of rich media and social media together, organizations are inquisitively anxious and excited about how to use and manage rich media within social media. 

DAM supports marketers wanting to get into social media much the same way it’s used in the traditional sense, however requires stronger consideration over managing access levels, digital rights, and what happens when an assets leaves the system?  One solution Widen brings to the table, again, is embed links.  Another trend to watch is how social media will shape how DAM and other software solutions work by creating a stronger sense of community and more variety in the way digital media is published and delivered.
 

Digital Asset Management solutions enable photographers, marketers, advertisers and other content creators to centralize, find and repurpose their digital media files.  Vendors like Widen and industry analysts can point to a number of tools to help customers gauge a ROI figure for digital asset management programs with these concepts in mind.  I often point customers to a tool found at www.digitalassetmanagement.com.  Coming up with a figure can be tricky but it’s almost always based on the amount of resources it takes for a single user to find, download and do something with a file.  These concepts and this line of thinking is paramount to judging if a DAM solution is right for your needs, what type of solution to go with and what vendor you should choose.  I wouldn’t argue otherwise, but I will say that in many cases customers forget that WHO has access to your material and even WHEN they have access to it, might be more important when judging the value and ROI of your DAM system.
 
I have spoken with a number of customers over the years that began evaluating DAM systems or decided to switch vendors mid-stream because of some unfortunate incident when someone had access to, or was using a file they weren’t supposed to.  This might have been something innocent like a sales rep using the wrong presentation template or something catastrophic like finding one of your images posted on Yahoo! or seeing an unreleased product shot floating around on blog sites.  A key thing to consider when looking at a DAM system is how it manages access to your content. 

• Can you create the appropriate levels of access into the system?
• Can you manage when users should have access to content and when those rights should expire? 
• Can you track who is using what and when? 
• Can you warn users about the appropriate use for a file?

It is these kinds of questions that will help you understand that there most certainly is a cost for not implementing a DAM system.  This week I saw three different articles involving people suing companies and other people over how they were using images found on the web.  One article described an image found on Flickr that made its way into a company’s advertising materials and another involved the rights to a Barack Obama image.  In both cases, lawsuits were in the millions of dollars.  

You may have noticed that we just launched a new widen.com in the last few days.  You may miss the voice of Matthew Gonnering and his body double pointing out specific areas of interest on the old site so I want to take this opportunity to point out specific areas of the new site.

The Home Page – We’re proud to be working with a wide range of companies that are doing some tremendous things in the marketplace and applying our solutions and services in different ways, so we wanted to showcase our customer wall.  Be sure to check out the stories or watch the videos (look for the video camera icon in the top right of select images for InSinkErator, Motorola, ZDO, St. Mary’s and Sub-Zero and Wolf). 

Using Digital Asset Management – Digital Asset Management can be looked at as both a practice and a technology.  It is most effective if you deploy the right strategies as a practice and the right technologies as a solution fit for your organization.  The sub-sections to our Using DAM section highlight our seven different products under the Widen family of digital asset management solutions for marketing and creative people. 

• Find Digital Media – Core Digital Asset Management
• Access Assets On-Site – Widen Appliance client site extension
• Manage Videos – Video Asset Management
• Approve Photos – Backdrop Photography Approval System
• Route Projects – Project Collaboration
• Create Promotions – Dynamic Media Building
• Publish Catalogs – Catalog Publishing 

The Widen Media Collective is our suite of web based DAM solutions and the Widen Appliance is our on-site client extension.  Altogether, Widen brings you 100% DAM SaaS – the Software as a Service delivery model and software with service, as in Customer Service and Technical Support.  One of our most popular features that we’re highlighting and using on the new site is our Digital Asset Embed Links. 

Premedia Services - Next, we have an all new Premedia Services section that covers our premedia / prepress services offering.  If you’re confused about the meaning of “Premedia Services,” it’s likely because you’re used to the term “Pre-Press.”  However, “Premedia” (although it may be our own term vs. an industry term) truly represents the work we do here from photography to color retouching in preparing files to go to press or for the web and other electronic media channels.  Be sure to check out the portfolios of our sample work for digital photography, color retouching, digital sampling and catalog production.
 

The Widen Advantage - The third major addition to widen.com is an all new section on The Widen Advantage, which features Customer Interviews, Customer Service and Software as a Service sections.  What is the Widen Advantage?  As hard as it is to articulate on a website or blog, it comes down to a few main points related to serving the creative and marketing functions of creating, managing and distributing digital media: 

1. A foundation built upon 60 years of serving our customers in over 120 countries
2. A strong commitment to technology and innovation to achieve the goals of our customers
3. Software development resources and technology to  automate premedia processes,  providing quality work with fast turnarounds and competitive rates
4. Software as a Service with technology solutions proven over 16 years of internal testing and evolution as a result of customer feedback

Last, if you’re looking for a place with all  the right digital asset management resources in one place, our Resource Center has videos, whitepapers, analyst commentary, free trials, implementation info and key links to the WidenCollective.com product site and DigitalAssetManagement.com industry resource site.

Please be sure to check back soon to see our new sections on Industry Solutions, Solutions by Function, and Widen solutions for the Salesforce.com Appexchange – Digital Media Organizer and Marketing Template Creation.

The other day a colleague asked me about a previously unknown Digital Asset Management software vendor that they had seen advertised on a website.  I had never seen or heard of this particular vendor or their solution but it got me thinking.  I am continually hearing about random vendors that have appeared or disappeared in our industry.  In fact, it happens so often that I decided to perform a little experiment.   I searched for 60 seconds on Google to see how many digital asset management companies I could find and ended up with over 25 organizations that identified themselves as offering some kind of a DAM solution.  I only counted those companies that actually listed what they do as “digital asset management” for my experiment.  The actual number of vendors in this space must be many more and perhaps even reaches as high as a couple of hundred companies. 

As you might have guessed, most of those I found were pulled from a list of recognizable names.  Those companies with the budgets to afford search marketing resources primarily, since they naturally appeared at the top of the list.  As you continue down that list though you begin to run into many lesser known applications that pitch their version of a  niche solution, low cost platform, or even some that just get by on hipster marketing with little real meat behind them.  Actually, some of these solutions seem to be really viable applications with a history that shows a developing product and the customer successes to back it up.  Others market all kinds of neat features and tools but show little on their website because it’s mostly just smoke.   They are waiting on your dollar to actually build it out.  Today customers are left with too much information and too many choices in many cases.  When it comes to implementing a DAM system I would encourage you to look beyond the initial demo to your prospective vendor’s successes and plans for their DAM system. 

The unknown solution is not necessarily the wrong choice and some even offer new features and perspectives that the old guard should probably adopt.  However, be careful who you choose as a partner.  You might find out that their validity as a DAM provider is being tested out on you.  The truth is that well established software companies have an advantage because they have had the opportunity to identify what their customers want and need in a solution and how best to support those requirements.  They paid their dues to get where they are.  There will of course always be a new generation of vendors rising through the ranks but identifying the hits and misses from the crowd can be tough.  

A diverse mix of four different brands adopted the Widen software as a service offering for digital asset management software and services during the fourth quarter of 2008.  Spacesaver Corporation, a leading storage systems manufacturer; Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, the high-risk, live-action athletic entertainment on Spike TV; American Crew, Inc., producer of men's grooming and styling products; and Black & Veatch, a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company, have all turned to Widen to centralize, safeguard and globally distribute brand assets and marketing materials via Widen hosted digital asset management solutions.  These organizations have all recognized how DAM and SaaS can help their people and marketing operations be more efficient and effective in a difficult economic climate.  View the full press release to read on.

Hello all, I’ve been a guest blogger at Widen for awhile and want to catch you up on some of my previous blog posts.  Here’s a summary of some of my more popular ones:

The Shocking News of SaaS – Upgrades

Recapping an experience describing Widen’s four-time-per-year release cycle to a group of IT people – a feat unparalleled in the content management industry.  To an IT department where resources are very limited, they saw our release schedule as a real concern and liability.  However, that’s the beauty and a core advantage of Software as a Service – you don’t have to worry about upgrades. 


The DAM Middle Class

Commenting on Theresa Regli’s (CMS Watch) blog on Digital Asset Management about the lack of what she calls a “Middle Class” DAM software solution.  Theresa points out that an empty gap exists between smaller desktop solutions with price points under $5,000 and those enterprise solutions costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.  With the lack of options available to them, more and more companies are looking to hosted services – like the one offered by Widen – as the answer.  This is because SaaS solutions do not force customers to choose between functionality and price.


Digital Asset Management Implementation: Complex or Simple

Do you realize how complex a DAM implementation can become?  In many cases, it just doesn’t need to be that big of a deal.  Many vendors tell customers they need to invest months and months in planning and preparation for a DAM solution, define very complex processes and then spend tens of thousands on RFP development, vendor shootouts, risk analysis, consulting fees, and then the implementation and integration.  If all that worked then why are so many companies looking to migrate to a second or even a third DAM system?  That’s why the hosted or on-demand model works well…


You have the right to a quick, successful Digital Asset Management system implementation

How can any company trust a vendor as a future partner and service provider who can't even respond to a simple RFP and instead provides a list of weak excuses?  This is an interesting story illustrating how some DAM vendors don’t recognize that service starts before the sale.


My Take on DAM. Period.

DAM should be more than just a simple repository of rich media.  The DAM platform should be the base of your entire digital media environment.  DAM should feed all of your media portals and websites so partners, agencies, offices, vendors, your boss and your grandmother can go to the get the latest image, logo, commercial or brochure they need.  Right?  Read On.


What Have Vendors Got to Hide?

Have you noticed how hesitant most enterprise digital asset management vendors are to actually let potential customers see their products?  We have found that more and more customers are showing an interest in really digging in when evaluating our rich media management solutions and services.  (And you should…) Read on to understand why.


Digital Asset Management Software as a Service – selecting a partner

We talk a lot about hosted vs. installed software and it’s becoming more obvious why organizations choose DAM SaaS, but here are a couple more things to look for:  Support, Product Improvement, Cost, Experience, Ease-of-use (and do your users use it?), Features, Vision.


Accountability From Your Software Vendors

An interesting press release reminded me again of a key difference between traditionally licensed software products and those offered through the Software as a Service (SaaS) model – Upgrades.


Where have all the DAM SaaS Providers Gone?

There has never been a shortage of vendors claiming to offer some sort of tool to manage, archive or distribute rich media files.  Of the throngs of Digital Asset Management vendors that cloud the market, few competent pure play vendors and even fewer DAM as Software as a Service (SaaS) providers remain.  A landscape that has traditionally been characterized by companies who focused exclusively on providing solutions for managing digital media files has been taken over by the larger Content Management behemoths that have gobbled up the original inhabitants to offer DAM modules instead of solutions.

In a number of recent discussions with prospective DAM users I have been asked about customizing the digital asset management software to meet additional needs such as blogging, wikis, budgeting and resource workflows, or other capabilities.  The need to tie such functions into your media archiving and distribution engine has obvious advantages.  However, I question the idea of having your digital asset solutions vendor write custom code to build out solutions that they have little experience with when there are specialized vendors and platforms available on the market right now.  It seems to me that it makes more sense to integrate with an existing solution that’s already tested and offered as a proven product or service on the market.  A lot of DAM vendors seem to be surviving on professional services dollars lately and are expanding into arenas in which they just have no expertise.  I mean, why would you have a DAM vendor build out your blog site when a simple Google search brings back a host of solutions that I am sure offer much more cost effective solutions that will be far more successful.  

I believe customers should look at a solution’s abilities to integrate with outside applications and websites and a vendor’s experience in doing so before sitting through the customization pitch.  When asked if they meet a particular requirement, too many vendors use the “we can customize it” line as way to say yes.  Ask the vendor what kind of partnerships and relationships they have developed in the industry and what integration means to them.  DAM solutions should be built with integration in mind because they are only one part of a digital media file’s lifecycle.  The files reside in the DAM repository but are actually being used and referenced outside of it.  And while one vendor might mean one point of contact for support, I think you will find that customization often turns into a blank check that vendors will keep cashing in at the end of each quarter.  Look at integrating first.