Less than two years after I started this, I have recorded, edited and released 100 episodes of Another DAM podcast. It is still the only weekly podcast about Digital Asset Management (DAM) in the world.
One thing many people do not think about enough is whether something will scale (up, out, in and/or down) as needed. Scalability is critical for any organization to consider if they plan to grow and thrive, not just survive. Otherwise, staying with decisions made in the short term will affect the organization rapidly in the long term.
What is Scale?
Ever seen a scale model car or train? It is usually smaller, less functional, less powerful and less expensive than the real thing. The same principle applies to the number of people working, the processes followed and technology in use.
Digital Asset Management is a business tool to search, find, use, reuse and repurpose digital assets quickly. That still takes people following good process empowered by technology.
Unless we archive offline at the end of an established digital asset life cycle or purge (due to regulations), we will only accumulate digital assets. The rate of growth is likely increasing and likely even multiplying regularly. We can measure and track this growth based on asset count over given periods of time. Measure what you manage. Otherwise, we better plan on increasing storage space exponentially and very often.
Specific to technology, scalability is more important than ever. Nowadays, increasingly more of our assets are intangible, digital assets which require more of everything, including:
bandwidth
storage
hardware
software (that scales up)
concurrent users
processing power
languages (not just in the user interface, but the assets themselves if you truly have an international audience going beyond one language)
metadata
version control (of assets and metadata separately)
Digital Asset Management is not a problem to solve, but rather a process that needs to be managed regularly. Stop re-adjusting your blinders and simply remove them. Start thinking about your organization’s growth globally and how it manages digital assets as it grows (and needs to scale) even if you are not a media company.
If you shortcut your process by skipping metadata while your organization grows and accumulates more assets, the issue of not being able to search (often driven in large part by metadata) will multiply, the DAM becomes less effective and scales in (limits) your organization’s growth.
If you cannot search, you cannot find. If you cannot find, you cannot use, reuse nor repurpose.
Imagine the reality behind having 10,000 assets without usable metadata. Now imagine that number increasing to 100,000 assets with the same issue. That is scaling in the negative way due to short sighted thinking.
What is the point of a Digital Asset Management solution that you cannot search and that does not scale properly? That is not management. That is simply a digital dumping ground. Consider what metadata you need based on standards before you add any assets to the DAM.
Long Term, Short Term Thinking on Scale
Look at the technology being used and how it is used to be sure it can scale. Do not think short term unless you enjoy frequent database migrations. As mentioned by Jennifer Tyner on Another DAM podcast, database migrations are not much fun, but sometimes need to happen.
If the tools and processes do not scale, these will not grow with the organization and even risk restricting current growth.
A common misconception heard is “we will just stand up another duplicate system to do the same thing.” The primary issues with this short sighted point of view (again) of scaling out (vs. up) is syncing and latency between the two (or more) systems together to search, find, use, reuse and repurpose digital assets. How many places do you plan to search for one asset? Syncing and latency are often overlooked until patience and the real expectations of users are revisited.
Recently, some people asked me to look into software integrators because they were having issues with their present one. Sadly, this is far too common. A client saw the integrator at a conference. They had a good relationship with their preferred vendor. Integration and implementation of a solution like Digital Asset Management (DAM) was not the clients’ core competency. Why not leave it up to experts to do this work? Hear this story before?
The integrator said they were experts in the integration and implementation for this specific DAM system. They would not lie for the business, would they? Salespeople lie? Misrepresentation? Say it ain’t true. Hear this one before?
Turns out the “experts” in question had not completed a single implementation nor integration with this DAM system. Ever. Guinea pig client number one getting billed for the integrator to learn about that DAM system on the client’s dime. Sadly, the client learned this after the most basic of all DAM implementations was running late. A project running late is not a new story for most people either, but remember to ask why.
A DAM is a DAM is a DAM, right? Wrong. The DAM concepts are the same. The DAM systems are different. There are many subtle difference in how different DAM systems are architected, how they handle assets with metadata and how they integrate with other systems. Or not.
Here is what you need to look for in a DAM integrator:
How many solutions have they completed for other clients? With these systems? Be specific.
What kind of assets did they work with? Does that match the asset types you work with? DAM is not just about photography.
How did they handle use cases for their client? What about metadata? workflow? Rights and permissions? Whose eyes are glazing over now?
Is there an SDK along with a clear set of updated documentation provided by the vendor for the integrator(s) in order to work with their tool? Is there a certification process by the DAM vendor for integrators? Are the integrators certified for this solution or are they partners with vendors? Or do we need to reverse engineer a solution to figure out how it works?
Can you see real case studies of real organizations with real people’s names stating satisfaction with that integrator and vendor combination? Why is that page blank on their website? If there isn’t anything posted, you might know why. “We have not had time to post it yet” is a very poor excuse for the often more truthful “we do not have anything to post yet.” Care to guess why?
If this is too much for you to handle, hire a DAM consultant that is truly independent of all vendors and integrators. Not one that just recommends the same one or two vendors each time. Those are the ones that often do the “recommendation” for a nice, fat hidden commission from the vendor and/or integrator. Then, they collect from the client as well. Impartiality is not part of the available vocabulary when it needs to be.
Word of mouth by the user community. Anyone heard of them?
Just because the vendor recommends an integrator or they hang out with the vendor means…nothing. Someone is expecting a check someday though.
Do the Project Managers have a clue? Can they keep the project on budget, on schedule and within specifications in a phased approach?
Will you have weekly meetings with the parties to discuss clarifications, decisions, expectations, issues and progress? This is called staying informed. Are you?
If you need vendor neutral assistance or advice on integrators with Digital Asset Management, let us know.
After six meetups in three years, DAM DC meetup is officially closing the week of this blog post.
We asked repeatedly DAM DC members on whether they wanted to attend, host, participate, present or suggest DAM DC meetup gatherings. Very few responses came back.
It took about year to set up and reschedule the DAM DC meetup at Discovery. Some believed it was a matter of people unable to follow up or top this venue. This was a competition. It was not about the ratings which were a respectful 4 stars out of 5 every time.
I decided to measure the data on the next set of three meetups and have the data decide the fate of the DAM DC meetup group. To do so, I held three informal DAM DC meetups in March 2012 located in different locations. The data gathered would be quite simple: Measure attendance (or lack of)
March 1, 2012 at 6:30 PM in Washington DC: 2 people
March 15, 2012 at 6:00 PM in Virginia: 4 people
March 29, 2012 at 6:00 PM in Maryland: 5 people
Clearly, the single digit attendance data (which includes the author of this blog post in the total count of people attending) shows a lack of attendance since it is not even 10% of the 72 DAM DC members. The data is clear, so DAM DC meetup is being terminated.
The few venues were interesting as were the conversations for those who participated.
The networking was helpful to most who did come to share ideas, socialize and collaborate with others. We rescheduled too often, but we were persistent as needed.
We did our best to inform and organize the DAM community locally, but the data shows local DAM DC events are not wanted.
It is a give and take. Not just take. If members do not contribute ideas for a meetup nor volunteer a location to meet nor come to the venue nor want to share ideas as a presentation, why have a meetup?
I do wish the other DAM meetups all the best since most have at least one major DAM conference in their city every year.
We are all online and that is the direction most things are turning. That trend will continue to grow. Physical venues are overrated, too repeative, and often expensive in comparison to holding an online venue. Just add bandwidth to some ideas, get organized and the online event can quickly scale to an international audience. Most are slow to grasp this concept for some odd reason. I meet more people professionally online than at any physical venue I have attended.
I also attended a webinar late last year (2011) on my mobile device while outside and away from all buildings. I watched a presentation they were showing me from their desktop live as they spoke. Then, we collaborated and gave feedback in real time by voice (and chat) even though we were thousands of miles away from each other.
This is not new nor tomorrow’s technology. This is happening now. Webinar anyone?
The conversations around Digital Asset Management (DAM) will continue online.
Another DAM Blog 