State of DAM in AEC: Why you can no longer afford to ignore your photo management problem
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In this presentation, you'll learn the results of a recent AEC industry survey about photo management and 5 steps to kick start your DAM project.
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State of DAM in AEC: Why you can no longer afford to ignore your photo management problem
- 1. State of DAM in AEC Why You Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Your Photo Management Problem November 2015
- 2. State of DAM in AEC Brief history of DAM DAM research overview The image problem executives don’t know they have How a DAM can help Who’s looking at DAM? Getting started with DAM: 5 steps to help kick- start your DAM project Daniel Emmerson Co-Founder & Joint CEO
- 3. Digital Asset Management A Brief History
- 4. PHOTO MANAGEMENT IN THE PAST
- 7. State of DAM in AEC Research Overview
- 8. What did we want to learn Size of image libraries and growth rate Adoption rate of DAM in AEC Benefits gained after DAM implementation We went straight to the source We surveyed executives, marketers, business development professionals, IT experts from 154 AEC companies
- 9. Research firmographics 55% 28% 8% 9% Firm Type Architecture or AE Engineering or EA Construction Other 29% 28% 18% 13% 6% 6% Firm Size (employees) 51 - 200 201 - 500 1,001 - 5,000 501 - 1,000 <50 5,001+ 48% 41% 11% SharePoint or "Other" Folder-Based Image Storage DAM How do you currently store images?
- 10. The image problem that Executives don’t know they have Executives are often out of touch with their firms’ digital asset landscape—and what it takes to manage it.
- 11. 9% 64% 27% 20% 28% 52% < 500 500 - 1,000 More than 1,000 How many images were added last year? Leadership Marketing You likely have more digital assets than you think 20% 18% 3% 28% Less than 5k Images More than 50k Images How large is your image library? Leadership Marketing
- 12. Photo libraries are growing exponentially More devices = More photos Brochure quality proposals Social media content Websites 56% say their firms will create more or a lot more images this year than last year of AEC Marketers
- 13. It takes time to manage those assets 66% Say that marketing employees spend less than 4 hours/week managing photos of Engineering Executives Say that marketing employees spend two or more days/week managing photos of Engineering Marketers 11%
- 14. What you don’t know could hurt you
- 15. How a DAM can help Improve marketing productivity and operational processes for AEC companies
- 16. Top benefits of DAM 47% 46% 4% 3% Improved operational process Improved marketing productivity Increased utilization of billable staff Speed to RFP
- 17. Improved access to images How many people have access to images? 80% 58% 65% 26% More than 25 people More than 250 people DAM Users Non-DAM Users How many images can actually be found & used? Non DAM usersDAM users More than 75% of images Less than 50% of images
- 18. Time to RFP development 4% 10% 32% 42% 11% 3% 20% 50% 15% 12% Less than 8 hours 8 - 16 hours 17 - 40 hours 41 - 80 hours 81+ hours DAM Users Non-DAM Users
- 19. Time to RFP development Subject Matter Experts’ Contribution 80 Hours (2 weeks) DAM Users Non DAM Users 9 – 16 hours 0 – 8 hours 40 Hours (1 week) 8 Hours (1 day) 16 Hours (2 days) Subject Matter Experts’ Contribution
- 20. Better brand image control across channels
- 21. Marketing focus on brand management How often do you or someone on your team take active steps to manage the company’s brand 54% 35% Monthly or Weekly DAM Users Non-DAM Users
- 22. Who’s Looking at DAM? Research Findings
- 23. 48% 41% 11% DAM Folder-Based Image Storage SharePoint or "Other" 48% of companies surveyed are already using DAM How do you currently store images?
- 24. 48% 41% 11% DAM Folder-Based Image Storage SharePoint or "Other" 32% 16% 52% Do you have plans to look into DAM? Looking at DAM solutions now Have plans to look into a DAM in the near future No current plans Who’s looking into DAM? How do you currently store images?
- 25. Larger firms are even more likely to be considering DAM Of Larger engineering companies not using DAM are looking into DAM now or plan to look into DAM in the near future. (200+employees)64% 48% Of AEC companies not using DAM are looking into DAM now, or plan to look into DAM in the near future. Of Larger architecture companies not using DAM are looking into DAM now or plan to look into DAM in the near future. (100+employees)55% OverallLargeCompanies
- 26. Getting Started with DAM 5 Steps to Kick-Start Your DAM Project
- 27. Assess your business needs Align leadership and marketing Step #1
- 28. Interview internal teams Interview questions… What kind of images do you and your team own? How many of these images do you have? What file types are they? Where are these images stored? Who has access to them? What are your top concerns? Project photography and videos Event photos Renderings Logos Reference & precedent images Staff headshots Site photos Stock images
- 29. It takes time (and money)ImageSearch • Searching through folders • Asking a colleague where to find an image • Asking a colleague to send you an image • Looking for copyright info ImageManagement andUtilization • Adding images to folders • Creating duplicate image sizes for different purposes • Downloading and resizing images for InDesign or PowerPoint • Uploading images to Dropbox to send to clients or to press • Emailing images to collaborate on documents
- 30. Assess your IT requirements Consider how to deploy your DAM, Current trend is strong interest in SaaS / Cloud Step #2
- 31. Cloud v. On-Premise Global access and mobility Less burden on IT resources Usage-based storage costs Totally worry-free data backup Control upgrade schedule LAN access Single office, poor internet connection Total control over data security Reasons to consider Cloud… Reasons to consider On-Premise…
- 32. Gather requirements & research your DAM options Talk to internal teams and peers Step #3
- 33. Talk to vendors Deployment: Is this installed on-premise or is it available in the cloud? Access: Is the system accessible via mobile devices like iPads, etc.? Costs: What are your annual and one-time costs? Will future updates cost extra? References: Who are some of your clients like us and can you provide references? Support: What kind of support do you offer and what are the costs? Timing: Can you explain what a typical implementation timeline looks like? Development: Can you describe your product roadmap and development methodology?
- 34. Populate your DAM Consult with your vendor Step #4
- 35. Pre-launch project planning Assign Roles Set Goals Roll out to core users Upload files Launch firm-wide Conduct training 100% User adoptionUpload Tag Admin Manage OpenAsset Resource Sample DAM implementation timelines on help.openasset.com
- 36. Populate your DAM OR Data Migration Service Many DAM vendors offer services to map your existing file folder structure to the new DAM. In-House Select a team member to be responsible for uploading content OpenAsset Resource Data migration details on help.openasset.com
- 37. Keyword strategy: Less is more An overcomplicated keyword structure means more time spent tagging OpenAsset Resource Project v. File keywords in OpenAsset Tips for creating an optimized DAM keyword structure %#!
- 38. Open your DAM firm-wide Conduct training and consider assigning a DAM ‘owner’ Step #5
- 39. OpenAsset Resource General User Training Cheat Sheet Launch to core users Marketing Business Development Project Managers Designers HR and Executives
- 40. OpenAsset Resource General User Training Cheat Sheet Launch firm-wide Marketing Business Development Project Managers Designers HR and Executives
- 41. Don’t maintain 2 libraries Empower users to adopt the DAM through hands-on training.
- 42. Keep your content current A process for uploading new content will keep the tumbleweeds out.
- 43. Publicize success Once implemented, make sure everyone knows how DAM amazing you are. 37,799 Images 783 Users 1,285 Projects 410 Keywords Share Usage Stats They’re wicked impressive.
- 44. State of DAM in AEC Why You Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Your Photo Management Problem OpenAsset is the leading DAM for AEC Companies Visit openasset.com for more information & to start a free trial
Editor's Notes
- Welcome, thanks for joining us today Introduce yourself “We’ve got a lot of information to present so we’ll get right to it”
- DAM… we know what it means but it can be misunderstood so.. Just to bring everybody on the same page, we’ll review a quick history of digital asset management or “DAM”
- The stone age 20 years ago, firms were managing photos via contact sheets and physical photographs and slides, complete with Slide drawers. There was an actual library, with an actual librarian who was the gatekeeper for these physical slides and photographs. Principals would need to ask the librarian for photos and slides to present to clients.
- Medieval Era Now, we’re in a digital age, and a lot of chaos came along wit that. While digital images were convenient, it opens up a lot of problems. Images become saved to disparate desktops, people download and manipulate photos, files grow to unmanageable sizes. We discovered this was a problem about 10 years ago. The people who care about their marketing had a real problem with this way of managing images. In today’s tech-charged, click-and-share world, architecture and engineering firms (like everybody else) have more digital image assets and more opportunities and outlets for sharing them than ever before. The growing need for high quality assets and the increasing ease in obtaining them adds up to one thing: a proliferation of image assets that demands attention and effective management.
- Space Age With a DAM you can: Improve access to a project’s images and videos: Associating photos and videos with project metadata makes it much easier to find and use images for marketing purposes. A good DAM will: Allow you to search - find images by project metadata like client name, services rendered, discipline, location, and other key data. Connect with your other systems like Deltek Vision or sharepoint Speed document creation for marketing team – connect with things like InDesign and PPT Control which images people have access to use – track copyright info and approval for external use Be a centralized image resource for your whole team – across offices, worldwide - don’t sell OpenAsset so hard. I’d almost take out the OpenAsset recogntioin. Basically make it a “good asset management system” should do these things – everything OpenAsset does. Time check: 6mins
- At OpenAsset—where we help companies better manage the headaches involved in managing large libraries of digital images—we had a strong hunch that, given the current digital asset landscape, more AEC firms could benefit from a proper DAM solution. So we decided to find out for ourselves. We recently set out to learn how AEC firms view the current image situation and what they are doing to manage it.
- So we set about doing some primary research to test our ideas and see what the state of DAM is in AEC Why did we start this research project? When did we do the research? Build questionnaire and surveyed over the summer. Rattleback, high quality content creation to back up our hunches about AEC DAM We surveyed executives, marketers, business development professionals, architects and engineers, and IT experts from 154 different architecture, engineering, construction, and property management firms. We asked clients and prospects, this is important
- Firm Type – Not surprising more Arch responded, large number of clients Firm Size – Similar to distribution of AE firm data that we have in terms of size Comments about at what size a DAM becomes relevant Small = not that many Mid sized = mainly architects Large = all arch need DAM but most firms in market are Eng/Con 48% respondents to survey havea DAM. We found that about half already have a DAM solution in place, and about half of those who don’t are considering one. Those firms that aren’t currently using a DAM are most commonly using folder-based or SharePoint solutions. Additionally, about four in 10 firms—predominantly architecture firms— have assigned someone to oversee the DAM and act as a digital asset manager or librarian. So let’s dive into the data and see what insights we came up with Time check: 10mins
- I like this title: The Image problem that Executives don’t know they have If you work in an architectural, engineering, or construction firm, you know your company maintains a lot of digital assets. And why wouldn’t it? Those shots paint a picture of your firm’s capabilities. In many cases, they tell the story of your business successes more effectively and succinctly than words ever could. So while no one is denying the importance of the images and the critical function they play, it can be easy to underestimate or overlook just what it takes to manage your assets. From the information we gathered, it became clear that there’s a disconnect between how executives and marketers view image management.
- For example, when asked just how many digital assets the firm has, executives are likely to say fewer assets than their marketing departments claim. Specifically, while 28% of marketers say their firms currently maintain more than 50,000 digital assets, only 18% of executive office associates estimate the number so high. On the other hand, close to 20% of executives believe the number of assets is below 5,000; just under 3% of marketers concur. Marketers also believe their digital libraries are growing much faster than executives realize. More than half of marketing employees (52%) say that more than 1,000 images were added last year, with 35% believing the number of images was 2,500 or more. 73% of company leaders believe the number of images added over the past 12 months was 1,000 or less. Looking ahead, most marketers believe the growth of the digital asset landscape will only continue to escalate—56% say their firms will create more or a lot more images this year than last year. Most executives, on the other hand, say their businesses will produce about the same number of images as last year.
- Looking ahead, most marketers believe the growth of the digital asset landscape will only continue to escalate—56% say their firms will create more or a lot more images this year than last year. Most executives, on the other hand, say their businesses will produce about the same number of images as last year. Talk though the reasons: Devices Executives want higher ‘Brochure quality’ proposals, which is driving demand for high quality photographs Social Media Websites / intranets
- Marketers and executives not only differ in their perceptions of the current and future digital asset landscapes, they also have different ideas about what it takes to manage the image situation. This is especially true in engineering firms where 11% of marketing employees say the marketing coordinator spends two days or more per week managing images. Two-thirds of engineering executives believe the time spent managing images is under four hours per week.
- From marketing’s perspective, the c-suite grossly underestimates the size and rapid expansion of their firms’ digital asset libraries. In many cases, leaders lack a clear picture of just how much time is being invested to manage the images. They may not be aware of some of the most challenging image-related issues, such as spending too much time organizing, documenting, or hunting for images and not having company-wide access to the most current and highest quality images. This misperception could cause leaders to overlook the need for a solution to more effectively manage the proliferation of digital assets and to increase and improve utilization of the assets they have—and will have soon. Without a resolution to the image issue in place, firms risk productivity and efficiency losses, and they could be letting one of their most valuable marketing assets go to waste. Time check: 15mins
- HALF WAY POINT Obviously our hunch is that having a DAM helps solve some of the issues but we wanted to see how people responded when surveyed Half of the respondents we surveyed currently leverage a DAM solution. Whilst this overestimates the overall deployment of DAM in AEC, the results were very interesting, and somewhat surprising About 4 in 10 firms—and predominantly architecture companies—take things a step further and assign someone to take charge of the assets and the DAM. But whether firms have a designated digital asset librarian or not, if they invest in a DAM solution, they surely reap the rewards.
- OK so what do people tell us the main benefits are? What’s the real ROI of DAM. When asked about these benefits AEC firms that use a DAM say DAMs deliver two main benefits 1. Greater marketing productivity 2. Improved operational processes 47% Operational Process: More people being able to access authorized image assets, for example quality images are available firm wide, most DAMs will have permission based access, we’ll explore that one a bit more 46% Marketing productivity: more time spent on critical tasks and less on production tasks, the deliverables of business development (RFPs, bids, brochures, presentations etc) can be created more efficiently. 4% Increased utilization of billable staff: more time on billable work or new business projects, likely as a result of all the operational improvements. 3% Speed to RFP is low, but we’ll come back to that one of the most interesting findings Let’s drill into these in a bit more detail
- One of the most useful features of a DAM system is the ability for marketing to control how images are used and who has access to which images. This is through group and user based permissions. Let’s look at the numbers from the survey: About 80% of companies with a DAM give controlled image access to more than 25 people in the company compared to 65% of firms that don’t have a DAM. In fact, 58% of those DAM users say they give access to over 250 people in the company, compared to 26%. A BIG DIFFERENCE in terms of access. Marketers don’t want to give unfettered, free access when they don’t have control on what people can do. Which makes sense. By having access to control features , marketers can more confidently open up access to a firm’s digital asset to new users, including the executive team, business development personnel, and architects and engineers, and even new staff. Basically a DAM clears marketing as a bottleneck - without a DAM, it’s not uncommon for only a handful of people to know what images are available and where they are. What DAM users report with that given controlled access more people can use the digital assets, they become more of a firm wide resource rather than a buried treasure trove How many images can be found and used? Majority of non-dam users say they can find less than 50% of their image assets while a majority of DAM users say they can find 75% or more of their images
- According to our survey AEC firms that use a DAM solution spend more time responding to an RFP than non-DAM users. Less than 8hrs and over 80hrs are small % and roughly equal, but where we see a big difference is in the middle. Over 50% of firms that do have a digital asset management solution spend a full week or more on an RFP response compared to just over a quarter (26.67%) of non-DAM users. But a full 41% of DAM users spend between 41-80 hours in RFP development These findings hold true whether the firm has assigned someone to manage the DAM system and its assets or not. So what does this mean. Does having a DAM slow down the process of putting RFP together, not quite…
- One of the most interesting findings from the survey is that firms with a DAM spend more time on the RFP process in total, but marketing spend less time! A majority of companies without DAM say marketing spends between 9 – 16 hours/week on proposals A majority of companies with DAM say marketers spend less than 8 hours/week on proposals So having a DAM means marketers spend less time on RFPs. Most AEC firms say they invest between half week and two full weeks of time to prepare a single RFP. Interestingly, it’s common for firms that have a DAM solution actually spend longer than their peers on RFP responses. What’s behind this trend? Over 50% of firms that do have a DAM solution spend 1 – 2 full weeks or more on an RFP response compared to just over a quarter (26.67%) of non-DAM users. About 50% of non-dam users spend between 3 days and a week on an RFP response But for most of these firms they told us that marketing team members spend less time in the process. While DAM users spend more overall time on RFP responses, marketers at these firms are less involved in the process than their counterparts at firms that do not leverage a DAM system. It is likely, then, that the additional time being spent on RFP and tender responses is being invested by executives and technical experts, people who can make invaluable contributions to the proposal content. With business leaders and technical experts more actively contributing to RFP responses in DAM companies, it’s likely that the quality of the RFP is richer in content and more precise. It goes back to the finding that having a DAM makes the images more accessible and therefore you get more value and ROI from them. Involving the firm’s experts in the response process—especially those individuals with directly relatable experience—also helps keep responses from becoming standard or pat. While the marketing team may still need to do the final finessing of the language, expert input can add new depth, critical details, and interesting insight to the proposal answers. Finally, since firms with DAMs have greater access to more images and higher quality assets, the visual quality of the RFP responses likely benefits, too. The combination of these various RFP improvements could ultimately translate into more wins for these AEC firms.
- We’ve seen how a DAM allows for better control of, easier access to, and greater use of an AEC firm’s various project images. Beyond these specific images, DAM users also gain more control over the firm’s overall brand image. Better management of project images results in higher quality presentations, proposals, and marketing materials, thus improving how a firm presents itself across marketing channels, including websites and social media. This ultimately ensures a more sophisticated, consistent overall brand image for the firm. What’s more, with marketers spending less time finding, sizing, and distributing images, they have more time to invest in controlling the quality of the brand, a function that produces far greater value for the firm. Better Brand Image Control Across Channels With a DAM, image access is opened up across the organization so it’s not surprising that marketers need to spend more time overseeing the proper internal and external use of the assets. Since the marketers are less tied up with searching for and distributing the images, they have more time available to ensure brand integrity and oversee the appropriate use of brand assets. Because marketers can, and do, fill this role the companies benefit from a more tightly controlled brand across the organization and across key marketing touch points, including RFP responses.
- Over half of the best DAM users say that someone spends time actively taking steps to monitor the brand image (‘brand cop’) on a monthly or even weekly basis. Since marketers are less tied up with searching for and distributing images, they have more time available to ensure brand integrity and oversee the appropriate use of brand assets More Time to Play Brand Cop In general, marketers say they spend more time playing brand cop than the executive office realizes. This is especially true for AEC firms that have both a DAM and an assigned digital asset manager in place. Over half of these organizations say that someone spends time patrolling the brand on a monthly if not on a weekly basis. **** Mention some of the Other open ended responses about the benefits of dam Having a way to clearly communicate information about an image without having to ask someone The speed at which the searchable database allows us to find an image Risk factor is much lower now of non-approved images being used for public viewing Lessens risk that a non-approved image will be used for public viewing Reduction of redundant image files on servers allowed us to decrease server storage footprint Time check: 25mins
- Part of the survery we asked what people currently do for DAM Aim here is to find out the current landscape for DAM and what the trends are moving forward
- 48% DAM 41% Folders 11% Sharepoint of other Speak of our experience, guess probably more like 15-20% of all AE firms have a DAM
- DAM users experience clear and tangible benefits over non-DAM users. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that DAM solutions are gaining popularity among AEC firms. While 52% of AEC firms surveyed currently do not use a DAM, about half of these non-users are actively looking into a solution, or they will be soon. Close to Half of Non-DAM Users Are Considering a DAM Among AEC firms that do not currently use a DAM system, 32% are currently looking into a solution. An additional 16% say they definitely have a DAM on the radar and will be more closely considering their options in the near future. Just over half of current non-users have no plans to consider a digital asset management solution.
- Larger Firms Are More Likely to Be Interested in a DAM Among larger architectural firms (with more than 100 employees) and larger engineering firms (with 200 or more employees), the interest in a DAM solution goes up, with well over 50% of these firms considering or planning on considering a solution. Not surprisingly, architecture firms in this group are likely to have larger marketing departments and more quickly expanding digital asset landscapes. Time check: 30mins
- It’s easy to underestimate how much time is being spent by marketers dealing with images. Finding, resizing, and utilizing images in InDesign and PowerPoint documents takes a tremendous amount of time out of your marketing, communications, and graphics teams’ time. Further, it’s often unclear just how many digital assets their firms have—and how many they plan to add in the near future. Without a handle on the library size and the time spent managing images, the problem continues to be overlooked, but such an oversight could be costly. Firms that have DAM solutions in place are likely to enjoy greater marketing productivity and process efficiencies, according to the firms we surveyed. So how can you get a clear picture of your firm’s digital asset landscape? It starts with talking to the right people and asking the right questions. Here are some steps you can take to see the big picture, and determine the best way to manage your digital asset situation. Understand the size of your image library, and how quickly it’s growing Marketers and executives rarely see eye to eye when it comes to understanding their image assets. Specifically, executives often estimate that the firm has fewer assets than marketers think.
- To get a truer picture of your firm’s digital asset library, start by talking to the marketing, graphics, and communications teams. Beyond these functions, the project teams and HR are also heavy users of images within and Architecture, Engineering, and Construction company, so it’s important to approach them about their photo management needs as well. Here are some examples of the types of images you’ll typically find scattered throughout an AEC company and the teams that use them the most. Marketing / Graphics / communications / pr - Project photography and videos, stock images, logos, event photos, examples of principals’ past experience Project and design teams – Renderings All staff, Project and Design teams - Reference and precedent images Model shop – Model catalog (images of architectural models for archive purposes) HR – Headshots Project Managers – Site progress/construction photos Once you’ve got an idea of the kinds of images you’ve got around your company, it’s helpful to interview your colleagues to determine what their top DAM concerns are. Some sample questions to ask: How many of these images do you have? What kinds of files are these? Where are these images stored? Who has access to them? What are your top concerns?
- It takes time - and money - to manage image assets Once you determine the teams that have the biggest image management concerns, your next step should be to determine just how much time people are spending on photo management. One of the most impactful ways to demonstrate the value of a digital asset management system is to evaluate the amount of time spent dealing with images - that includes marketers fielding requests from other teams, searching for images, finding and resizing images, using images in design programs, etc. Ask your team members to track their image management time for at least one week - although the more data you can gather, the better. Image management activities include: Image Search: Searching through folders for an asset Asking colleague to ask where to find an image Asking a colleague to send you an image Looking for copyright information or photo rights usage information Image Management and Utilization: Adding images to folders Creating duplicate image sizes from a single high-resolution file for different purposes Downloading and resizing images for use in InDesign or PowerPoint Packaging images, or uploading images to dropbox or other file sharing service to send to clients or to press contacts Emailing images to collaborate on proposals or other marketing documents Chapter Sidebar/conclusion: When you take the time to find out more about your firm’s current image situation and challenges, you’ll know what you need from a digital asset management solution. You can develop a comprehensive wish list and identify the best DAM options to meet your specific needs. When the time is right to invest in and implement a DAM, you’ll be well prepared to make a smart decision and gain the greatest advantages from your DAM solution.
- NEED TO ADD NOTES
- Yet another consideration is where you want to host your system—in the cloud or on-premise. The decision to host your DAM system in the Cloud or On-Premise truly does depend on your business needs and analysis of the TCO (total cost of ownership). Sidebar: Trending towards SaaS Companies are moving more and more of their applications to the cloud 58% said they’re already on premise. in the future only 24% say they’ll be on premise Cloud DAMs With Cloud-based DAM systems, your vendor hosts the software for you. This means that you avoid installation fees and the cost of purchasing and maintaining hardware. Typically, Cloud systems include a data charge that scales with the size of your system. The data charge encompasses not only the cost of storage, but also backup, bandwidth, file processing. and other costs that increase as your digital library grows. Reasons to consider a SaaS or Cloud DAM: Totally worry-free data backup Less burden on IT resources, and decreased IT infrastructure costs Flexible, usage-based storage costs Global access and mobility On-Premise DAMs The Total Cost of Ownership is more than software + hardware. In addition to the annual subscription of your DAM, On-Premise configurations usually require you to pay a one-time installation fee on top of all costs of purchasing and maintaining the hardware. Reasons to consider an On-Premise DAM: Total control over data security You only have a single office location with a poor internet connection LAN access is required Total control over installation of software upgrades
- If you determine that the advantages of a DAM can benefit your firm, then it’s time to decide which DAM is right for you. Now that you’ve taken the time to assess your current DAM situation, you should be able to answer these questions to finalize your requirements. How many people will need access to your DAM? Do you want the DAM to be a firm-wide resource, so employees can source images on their own? Are your team members located in multiple offices? What are your growth plans? Will you need a solution that’s easily scalable? How many images do you have and where are they stored currently? What kinds of assets do you need to manage? (.jpg, PDF, etc) Do you need the DAM to integrate with project systems like Deltek Vision, Newforma, or Union Square? Do you want to integrate your DAM with your CMS or Intranet? Do you want to deploy in the Cloud or On-Premise? Will you need the DAM to be accessible via mobile devices? What is your budget and who will signing off on budgetary approval? What is your desired timeframe for deployment?
- Questions to ask your vendors Of course, you’ll want to make sure the DAMs you are considering have the basic features to meet your needs, such as project-based tagging, a fast file uploader, multiple image search options, and controls for who can and can’t access images. Beyond basic functionality, here are some questions to ask your vendor to get an idea of whether they can meet your needs and what to expect from them through installation and beyond. Explain some of the various use cases and workflows for each of our teams. Do you have a trial system that we can have users test? Is this installed on-premise or is it available in the cloud? Is this application or browser based system? Is the system accessible via mobile devices like iPads, etc.? What are your annual and one-time costs? Who are some of your clients like us and can you provide references? What kind of support can I expect through the implementation process and on an ongoing basis? Can you explain what a typical implementation timeline looks like? Can you describe your product roadmap and development methodology? Will future updates cost extra?
- Create a project plan: Know your roles and responsibilities – set up a project team Work with your vendor to learn keywording best practices and library setup Decide whether to populate your DAM internally, or choose a Data Migration service from your vendor Set up integration with other systems, like Deltek Vision or Union Square, to speed the keywording process
- From the beginning, it’s important to determine the resources you can dedicate to the implementation of your DAM. You need one owner/champion who will be responsible for driving the implementation, as well as achieving your vision and goals after the initial setup. Clients with a proven track record of success assign roles to those involved in the initial phases of the DAM Implementation. Setting deadlines and goals for completion of the various implementation stages is crucial, so be realistic with your time and resources. Have you chosen to install your DAM On-Premise? If so, when will you aim to have the hardware ready to have the software installed? (Cloud deployments don’t require this step) By when do you plan to have all content added and tagged with keywords? When will you roll out to core users? When will you roll out firm-wide? Have you chosen to integrate your DAM with any of your other systems, like Deltek Vision or SharePoint? When will you aim to have that completed? Outlining these time frames and meeting the desired deadlines is a great way to keep up the momentum of the project, and will ultimately result in a faster implementation.
- Are your keyword structures finalized? You can always make changes moving forward, but having a basic structure in place is important. Is the majority of your content tagged with keywords? It’s important to have the majority of your images tagged in the system to maintain the integrity of the ability to search within the DAM. Have you set up user permissions? This means you have set up permissions within the DAM that allows groups of users to do certain things like upload or tag images with keywords or not do certain things like the ability to see images that have been assigned an access level of “Unapproved.” Customize your DAM interface to match your company’s branding, and add a logo. Test any integrations or outside applications that interface with the DAM. If you’ve integrated with Active Directory, test a username and password to verify that the integration is configured properly.
- We highly recommend that before rolling out company-wide, you introduce your DAM to your core users (most likely this will be your marketing team) for a 30-day period. This time should be used to help ease core users into a routine, and get them comfortable using it to improve their everyday workflows. Use this 30 day period to conduct training sessions and introduce DAM features and the internal processes you’ve decided on. Keep in touch with your users to gather feedback on the system, especially with regards to additional image sizes or keywords. Towards the end of this timeframe, you should begin to phase out the use of your old image repository.
- Once your core users have had an opportunity to use the system and you’ve actioned any requests they’ve provided regarding the library’s structure, it’s time to launch to all users. Determine a training strategy that works for your organization. For example, consider the different groups and permissions you’ve set up, and target each group with a customized training session. As a final step in your rollout strategy, we recommend that you set a deadline to archive and remove old image folders. This is a great way to encourage users to familiarize themselves with OpenAsset as the single source of your organization’s graphic assets.
- Archive your old folder structure. This will push people to adopt a new workflow of adding content to the DAM, which will end up saving loads of space. One method is to start by making the old folder structure “read only” for a period of time before you archive it completely.
- The initial migration is important, but so is creating a process for new uploads moving forward. Having an owner of the DAM is important to ensure new content is uploaded and tagged appropriately.
- Questions *** NDE - I MAY HAVE A SHORT URL FOR THE EBOOK AND THE PRESENTATION SLIDES TO ADD HERE LATER*** Remind people to stop by our booth, don’t use the booth number but explain what it’s near. Thanks for attending, etc.