Digital Asset Management (DAM) provides an effective solution for companies to store, find, organize, share and retrieve digital content. A streamlined digital library offers employees, clients, key stakeholders, and contractors controlled access to digital assets such as images, photos, video, audio, presentations, documents, and more.

The term digital asset management covers an array of software solutions, including an individual’s digital file library, a photographer’s photo database, and more. The best DAM software has capabilities like cloud storage, how assets are retrieved and shared as well as features for brand management. Digital Asset Management ensures creative workflow automation, usage tracking, backup, e-commerce, and more.

Changes on Digital Asset Management (DAM) in 2021

The pandemic has put cloud technology on the priority lists of many organizations and businesses.

With DAM, one can easily access, share and edit data via a streamlined interface. With more businesses working online and remotely, Digital Asset Management is becoming even more integral to organizations.

DAM Software integrates with other systems such as content management systems that ensure a single source of cohesion. It is available in many forms and can be hosted either on-premises or in the cloud. It is imperative to compare different DAM software to find the right solution for your individual needs.

However, any high-quality DAM software should be able to simplify sharing of assets among internal members as well as external users, promote clear asset organization, eliminate duplicate assets, integrate with others to streamline workflows, and provide version control assistance.

1. Cross-platform Integration

Integration is essential to increase productivity. At a time when budgets are limited, stakeholders will seldom consider which add-ons or changes will stay for the Data Asset Management implementation to work.

If new DAM impacts the existing systems, they may be reluctant to commit. The best DAM software is useful in many different industries. For example, CMS platforms such as WordPress and other social media platforms are the most important integrations the DAM will offer.

Businesses generally look for a tried and tested single platform that can manage both digital assets and brand management effectively. An outdated software limits the efficiency of workflows that can be disastrous for organizations. DAM enables businesses to adapt to new requirements of the future. ResourceSpace is the go-to solution for organizations from marketing agencies to museums and educational institutions.

2. Automated Marketing

Pandemic has forced companies to expand their online marketing in 2021. Online marketing expansion means a lot of work. Social media presence has to increase, further analysis is required, adding more blog posts, and so on. Hence, marketing departments will be faced with more tasks to complete within the same resources and time.

A DAM system can save time and money by automating tasks and adopting user-friendly interfaces. Streamlining marketing through DAM software will become even more popular as companies will realize how helpful and powerful it can be.

3. Technology for Automatic Tagging

Digital Asset Management software uses metadata that enables users to find files easily. The core of metadata is automatic tagging. It’s simple to understand its working, modern systems acknowledge what is being depicted in images and automatically tags the content appropriately.

Similarly, the text files content can be automatically captured and tagged with the help of OCR technology. Shortly, audio and video files will also be automatically recognized with the help of natural language processing. These technologies are quickly evolving. Hence, manual tagging would soon become obsolete.

4. Blockchain Technology

DAM has a far-reaching capability than just tracking bitcoin development and its transactions. When blockchain gets implemented in DAM systems, users will get more control over their assets. In the future, that would lead to great things like one will be able to discover whether an image has been tampered with or not or whether its embedded data has been altered or not.

If you are looking for the right Digital Asset Management platform that helps you meet the changing business, technical and market needs, don’t miss to read A Brief About Digital Asset Management & Tips To Choose The Right One.

Top 5 Digital Asset Management (DAM) Trends in Happening in 2021

1. Mobility and Digital Asset Management

We learned the importance of dynamic work habits in 2020. Working remotely through a variety of devices has become an absolute necessity for many businesses and organizations.

DAM system has been helping people and organizations to work remotely for a long time. Now, it is expected that software providers will scale up the dynamic work to a larger degree. This means improvement in DAM functionalities including the use of mobile devices through apps, facilitating cloud storage via Software as a Service (SaaS) agreement.

FotoWare has already started preparing for greater mobility. In addition to increasing their focus on SaaS, they had also launched a mobile app in August 2020 that enabled teams to access and use their DAM software through their mobile devices.

2. Digital Asset Management Integration

The main function of DAM is to save time and effort. Therefore, integrations are crucial to DAM’s success since they help employees to retrieve assets directly from the platform while they are working in other programs.

However, only the right integrations will help companies to get the most out of their independent software. That is why APIs and plugins are crucial investments for any software provider wanting to stay relevant in 2021.

For example, in FotoWare, the plugins for Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Office are popular amongst marketers. This is because marketers had to use different assets in different programs and software. Now by having the right integrations in place, we eliminate the need to constantly download and upload files.

3. Rights Management and Consent Forms

With EU GDPR regulations coming into force in 2018, there has been an increasing need for organizations to keep track of their content and approvals. Still, several organizations are struggling to comply with these regulations efficiently.

More organizations are prioritizing rights management and GDPR. Therefore, we believe consent forms will be the focus of many stakeholders.

The implementation of digital consent forms will help achieve that, not only in terms of managing GDPR but also for several kinds of image rights.

4. Artificial Intelligence and DAM

The most time-consuming task when working with Digital Asset Management has to do with adding metadata. Therefore by implementing AIs will cut time-related costs even further. As of now, only a few DAM users are taking advantage of this technology.

The FotoWare industry research from 2020 suggests only 6% of DAM users have invested in AI, however, 100% are planning to implement it in the future. 75% still don’t know when this implementation will take place suggesting that they are waiting for the technology to improve further or it could be that they are not aware of its possibilities in the market.

Imagga is available in FotoWare, integrations like this will increase in popularity in the future. Since AIs are continuously improving, they will be able to recognize more subjects in detail in the future.

5. Blockchain Technology and DAM

Due to the rise of bitcoins, it is necessary to track their development and transactions. We believe that this technology will become prominent in other areas, DAM being one of them.

By implementing blockchain technology to DAM platforms, users will get greater control of their assets. In the future, it will help people to find out whether an image has been tampered with or not or whether its embedded information has been changed or not.

How to Get the Most from a Digital Asset Management (DAM) Platform?

Without a unified approach, it’s difficult to know what assets are, why they exist, and how they should be used. The main issue with many businesses today is that they don’t have any DAM strategy. Digital assets have been created without any coordinated approach.

Hence, they don’t know what these assets are, where they are located and how they can use them effectively. There are many cases where there is no knowledge of what even digital assets are and what role they play for an organization.

This is extremely inefficient. This will eventually tear away the organization’s competitiveness where speed is of high value.

A DAM strategy provides a framework for organizing, protecting, and distributing digital assets. A DAM strategy must include editorial, production, and management activities including editing, enhancing assets, reviewing as well as approving final versions, channeling the distribution to marketers across the company, and the like.

There is also a matter of commercial rights and payments such as tracking how specific assets are being used, reviewing that usage terms are met, and detecting problems.

1. DAM frees up time for departments

DAM allows focusing on revenue-generating activities. When an IT department manages a cloud-based DAM, the marketing and other teams can convert files quickly.

They can get the content into consumers’ hands so that they can move on to their next task without manual requests and workflows to slow them down.

2. DAM democratizes access to content

A DAM can control access to content and can also democratize access to content. A DAM is a single repository where every work is stored, work that’s ready for distribution can be shared with others, while work that isn’t ready yet can be kept accessible to only the team.

3. DAM strategy gives companies a competitive edge

New DAM frameworks increasingly drive the high volume and diversity of decisions as well as actions that are informed by analytics. Companies are in a race to gather unique data assets and develop data exploitation methods to outpace and outperform their rivals. Those companies which are unable to develop a DAM Strategy are in danger of business failure.

To learn more about the benefits of the Digital Asset Management platform to your business, visit Why Do You Need a Digital Asset Management Platform?

Top 8 Digital Asset Management (DAM) Platform

1. Pimcore

Pimcore is an open-source platform that enables businesses with a robust Digital Asset Management framework. It allows companies to manage their all media assets including images, documents, graphics, videos, documents, and other media files centrally in a structured and organized manner. To get detailed insights about Picmore’s DAM, don’t miss to read Why You Should Consider Pimcore’s Digital Asset Management for Your Business?

Key Features

• File Management
• Metadata Management
• Image and Video Conversion
• Works with Any File Type
• Workflow Management
• Digital Asset Delivery

2. Infinity

It is a customizable DAM solution. You can organize your files with detail using some unique filtering, and searching capabilities.

Key Features

• Multiple Views – Access to views such as List, Calendar, Table, and Form, to help you organize better.
• Filters, Group & Sort- Will help you reach the exact information you’re looking for.
• Activity Tracking- helps you to keep track of issues that pop during task execution.

3. Monday.com

Managing your digital assets is easy because of its intuitive interface, but its automation capabilities like setting up automatic reminders and due date notifications will make your team’s life easier.

Key Features

• API
• Third-Party Integrations
• Access/Permissions Control
• Data Import/Export
• Categorization/Structuring
• Team Collaboration
• Timeline & Gantt Chart
• To-do Lists

4. Canto

One of the DAM software pioneers, Canto is among the very best DAM solutions. Canto has managed to perfect the user interface as well as improved security. It runs on AWS, a flexible and fast cloud system.

Key Features

• Simple Default Search
• Advanced Search Tools
• Filters
• Facial Recognition
• Custom Shared Libraries
• Sharing Links
• Expiring Share Links

5. Widen collective

You can incorporate other apps offered by the Widen Collective, like Marketing Resource Management, Brand Management, and PIM. Using these solutions in collaboration, you can create a uniform business environment for smooth operation.

Key Features

• Quick Search
• Predictive Search
• Faceted Search
• Automatic File Conversions
• Share links and embed codes
• Collections and Portals

6. Swivel DAM

This software was made with simplicity in mind. An intuitive interface, better security, one-click sharing ability of your files makes Swivel a great option for smaller businesses.

Key Features

• Extensive Search Options
• Drag-to-Upload
• Granular Permission Management
• One-click File Sharing
• Brand Portals

7. MediaBeacon

This one is better suited for larger operations. You’ll find it easy to find assets and can also boast about its great user interface design.

Key Features

• 3D Asset View
• DRM Licensing Support
• Import/Export
• Organizational Interface
• Great Search Capabilities
• File Transformation

8. Libris

The user interface although familiar to many first-time users but getting the handle on various features might not be a breeze. Although it offers detailed search capabilities, a lot of the users have complained about menu navigation.

Key Features

• Import/Export
• Organizational Interface
• Search
• Asset Categorization
• File Preview
• Customizable Branding
• File Conversion

9. MediaValet

This software boasts about its auto-tagging features which make the search for digital assets a lot easier. It has a good file sorting system. The cause of its wider use is its clean and straightforward user interface.

Key Features

• Import/Export
• Organizational Interface
• Search
• File Preview
• Asset Categorization
• Asset Library
• File Conversion

To learn about more Digital Asset Management platforms, you can visit the 11 Best Digital Asset Management that You Shouldn’t Miss to Use.

Concluding with

DAM is a streamlined digital library that offers controlled access to digital assets such as images, photos, video, audio, documents, and more to employees, key stakeholders. DAM technology is the future as it is constantly evolving. Those companies which are unable to develop a DAM Strategy are in danger of decline and risk business failure.

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