Should you consider Digital Asset Management?

This week, Hassan Kotob, who is president and CEO at North Plains Systems has a column on ZDNet. Normally when I see a vendor-generated piece I yawn because they are typically self-serving and provide little insight for the reader, but this one is different. Kotob, in a well written piece, lays out the case for Digital Asset Management. Of course, it's still somewhat self-serving because he sells DAM systems for a living, but it's still a quality piece.

One argument he lays out quite well is the use of DAMs in the marketing department. It provides a way to move assets through a workflow during the creation phase and manages these assets in an efficient manner once they are finalized, approved and moved to the repository. As he points out, by organizing your media content, you can ensure that end users are using the most recent designs and you can maintain control so that older versions are pulled off the system and archived or deleted.

He also points out that like so much other content creation, the barrier to entry is much lower than it once was. Anyone with a web cam can produce a video. Using software like Camtasia and ScreenFlow you can generate sophisticated demonstrations or presentation videos very quickly and without the special skills you once needed. What's more, with inexpensive and portable video cameras like the Flip you can take video very easily and share it internally or on YouTube. You can get a 10 megapixel digital camera for under $200.

With all of this technology in easy reach, Kotob is right when he says these types of assets will begin to proliferate in every organization, and not just in the marketing department. So while Kotob may be a bit self-serving in writing this article, he definitely made valid points, and as your repository of digital assets grows, so does your need for a Digital Asset Management system.

For more information:
- read Kotob's post on ZDNet

Related Article:
DAM market to reach $1 billion by 2013