Since getting a Digital Asset Management solution working involves people, process and technology, all this can take some time.

How much time though?

The amount of time will depend on quite a few factors. Here are few to think about:

• How easily do you work with others? Do you trust them?
• How well does each role with access to the DAM adapt to change?
• How proactive is the organization? (How likely will they get this solution up and running and adopt it?)
• How many people need to be trained on the use of the DAM? Is it standardized training per role?
• How available is everyone who needs to be based on schedule?
• How much scope/mission creep will be mitigated by using a phased approach rather than piling on more requirements daily?
• How large is the group/department/organization who will implement/use the DAM (initially as early adopters)?
• How old is the organization? (the more legacy, the larger the challenge could be)
• How many use cases and processes do you have pre-DAM which will change with the use of the DAM?
• How much documentation needs to be created for internal, external and ongoing support as well as training?
• How much experience and freedom does the team have to move forward with clear objectives/requirements during every phase?
• How closely does the DAM meets your business needs now?
• How much system configuration will meet your business need?
• How much system customization is needed to be done to meet those business needs?
• How easily does the DAM system work with other systems it needs to work with in your organization?
• How quickly can your system scale…as your organization scales in size?
• How far back in history are you going to go in order to find/add/migrate legacy assets to the DAM?
• What are the rights and permissions behind each asset for reuse? Were they acquired externally or created internally? Does your organization own them outright?
• How much volume is being migrated:
  • Assets
  • Metadata (often a new challenge, but depends on how great of a challenge)
  • Processes

With this in mind, it may take typically between 6 to 24 months to get the DAM running with your assets, your metadata and start getting real user adoption. This time is based on the vendor, implementation/integration group (whomever that comprises of internally and/or externally) and the organization working together to get the Digital Asset Management solution ready and working. The responsibility is not all on one of these groups since they are reliant on each other to get the DAM actually working within the organization. It is not just “I turned it on. I am done.” As you see, it is not just about the technology if this will actually be used properly within your organization.

Taking ‘baby steps’ is the best method to gain small wins regularly to show steady progress.

What will also help is having realistic:

• Expectations (with both sponsors and stakeholders)
• Specifications (documented requirements)
• Schedules (with a scope and time line)
• Budgets (for the people and the technology)
• Use cases (with expectations and actual testing by users)

What will not help is if you ask to boil the ocean (unrealistic expectation and requirement) by close of business today (unrealistic schedule) using just one match (unrealistic requirement and budget). That would simply lead to disappointment and failure. Keep it simple. Then grow on top of your successes.

How long does it take to get a DAM working within your organization?