Don't Cut the DAM Check Yet Blog

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Don’t Cut the DAM Check Yet! Content and Metadata Analysis are Fundamental Requirements Before Selecting a DAM By Julia Goodwin

There are a wide array of DAM vendors from on prem to cloud to hybrid that can provide a variety of asset management capabilities for your organization. They have a wide range of features and prices. Most are extremely slick looking and it’s easy to fall in love. Many times, companies go straight to the chase and purchase the DAM system they’re interested in. Worse, they make their decision with a list of requirements that may not adequately consider file formats, workflow, and logical and “physical” asset metadata. Before choosing a DAM system, don’t make the mistake of leaving holistic content and metadata analysis out of your requirements. Thorough analyses of content and metadata are important for defining DAM system requirements that capture a complete picture of an organization’s needs. Here are some important analyses to conduct when defining requirements for evaluating DAM systems. Without performing these, you may end up with a solution that does not fit your organization and may require costly enhancement charges. I have worked with companies in the past that bought a DAM system only to find out later that it could not accommodate their content relationships or their metadata requirements in the way their business needed. Content Analysis – This is best performed through a content audit addressing the considerations below and integrating the findings to your requirements list to make sure the DAM can handle it.

• Which of your assets are essential to store in the DAM? Can you phase their addition to the DAM system?

• Where are all the asset types currently stored? Flesh out and document file directories, personal hard drives, Cloud drives like Box or Dropbox, other repositories such as CMS, MAM’s or PAM’s. This list is something you will use again and again. It will also help you prioritize what goes into the DAM, who creates it, who approves it and where it needs to go. It will also tell you how much information (metadata) is known about that asset.

• Do the assets have relationships (Parent-‐Child, or Child-‐Cousin) that you need to maintain and track in the new DAM?

• Will you include asset versions or only final assets in the DAM? If you include versions, how will the system manage this?

• Do your assets have a Unique Identifier that you need to import? Or do you have to create one and have the DAM or staff link any asset relationships? Does this UID need to conform to an industry standard like EIDR?



Add the findings from the analysis above to your DAM System Requirements List. Metadata Analysis – One common failing when a DAM system goes live is that the information users need is not where they need it or further investigation outside the DAM is required of users to determine if they have found the right assets. This is how Search may breakdown in a beautiful new system. Here are some questions to ask yourself about your organization’s metadata needs to mitigate this outcome:

• For each asset type you have determined to bring into your DAM, what metadata currently exists? File name only? More than that? Is additional metadata needed, if so, what? Is the metadata consistent with what others in the organization use? If not, you may need to collaborate across teams to accept a common Taxonomy and Metadata Model, especially if you are planning on integrating your DAM to other systems. Don’t forget any technical metadata (format, resolution, file format, file size, etc.) or administrative data (created by, last changed by, last updated by, etc.)

• If metadata is the fields of information you will use to describe your asset, you also have to consider if those fields should have restricted choices on data entry to reduce errors. For each field, list these restricted values and get approval from your stakeholders.

• Note that some asset types may have different metadata fields and values. Can the DAM support this by only displaying needed fields by asset type? Can the system accomodate dropdown lists for specific fields?

• Do you need to have the ability to select one value from a field, that in turn determines what appears in the next field, and so on? This is called cascading metadata and when it exists, it greatly reduces input errors. If so, carefully document those scenarios that exist.

• Will metadata templates be needed? For some assets, data entry can be minimized when certain fields are default-‐entered by the system based on asset type, some other user selection, or when the assets are coming from another system. Determine if this is needed and that the DAM can accommodate it.

• Where do the assets need to go and what metadata needs to go with them? This is a final check to make sure you’re not forgetting anyone downstream that requires certain assets and their metadata for specific purposes.

Workflow Maps While not always required, I’m a huge fan of swim lane workflows so that end users can see visually the interplay of assets and data as they move through their processes. These visual workflows may also tease out additional requirements or “ah ha!” moments and also confirm that your understanding of their asset processes are accurate. These workflows will also be a huge help to your selected DAM vendor, along with the analysis described above, and can be retooled for DAM training later.



Define demo scenarios around your DAM system requirements Finally, when it comes to DAM selection time, be strict about asking your final vendor selections to demonstrate YOUR workflows with YOUR data. Give them enough notice to do this properly. If the vendor tries to sidestep this, it should tell you something: they’re interested in selling their product, not demonstrating that their product will be a success for YOU.

Julia Goodwin is a Senior Manager within the Information Management practice at Optimity Advisors.

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Don't Cut the DAM Check Yet Blog