Wondering, ‘what is digital asset management?' Digital asset management (DAM) is a key component of business success. It involves storing, organizing, and managing digital assets, such as cryptocurrency, images, videos, and documents.
The Business Research Company reveals a noteworthy expansion in the worldwide digital asset management industry, with the market soaring from $5.05 billion in 2022 to an impressive $5.86 billion in 2023. This remarkable growth shows that businesses of all sizes are increasingly adopting DAM solutions.
Common Solutions When Managing Digital Assets
Managing digital assets can be difficult, especially for larger organizations or those with complex systems. With the digital world evolving at an exponential rate, it's important to stay on top of DAM strategy to ensure success. Here are five common challenges when managing digital assets:
Securing Assets
Digital assets can easily be copied, shared, and distributed across the internet if not secured properly. It's important to establish policies for controlling access and permissions to sensitive data so it is only used as intended by its creators.
Asset Management
Keeping track of digital assets can be challenging, especially when dealing with large volumes of files or multiple users uploading content in different formats or locations. Having processes in place to name, tag, store, organize, and back up all digital assets is essential for effective asset management.
Version Control
Without clear version control protocols in place, it can be difficult to know which file is the most recent version or how many versions have been made. It's important to keep track of versions for easy accessibility, collaboration, and audibility.
Audit and Compliance
Digital assets must meet specific standards to ensure compliance with industry regulations or company policies. Establishing processes to validate digital assets during creation, through approval workflows, and during archiving is essential for audit and compliance requirements.
Benefits of Using Digital Asset Management Systems
Here are the top five benefits of leveraging a digital asset management system:
Improved Collaboration
With a digital asset management system in place, multiple users can access files from anywhere, while collaboration between teams is also made easier with faster file-sharing capabilities.
Security & Data Protection
DAM solutions are designed with top-of-the-range security protocols to ensure the safety of business data. With these systems, businesses can rest assured their digital assets are secured from unauthorized access and/or manipulation.
Automation
Digital asset management solutions come with automated processes that allow for a seamless flow of data across an organization. This helps free up time for employees who would otherwise be spending hours handling routine tasks manually.
Searchability
It's difficult to find the right digital asset quickly when using traditional methods of storing and organizing files. DAM solutions offer powerful search capabilities that make it easy to locate the right asset in a matter of seconds.
How Can an Organization Implement a DAM System
After understanding ‘what is digital asset management? ‘ companies need to devise a system to leverage it. Implementing a DAM system in an organization is not just about the technology itself. It is also critical to have the right processes and policies in place to ensure that all assets are properly managed, stored, and tracked throughout their lifecycle. Here are three key steps to help ensure a successful DAM system implementation:
Establish Clear Policies and Processes
Organizations must clearly define their policies, processes, and guidelines for cataloging, organizing, and maintaining digital assets. This includes the types of assets that can be stored in the system, when they should be updated or removed, who has access to them, and how often they should be reviewed.
Prepare Staff on Digital Asset Management Basics
All staff should have a basic understanding of digital asset management concepts, such as metadata tagging, storage requirements, usage rights, archiving techniques, and more, so they can use the system effectively. Education materials or hands-on training may need to be developed for this purpose.
Test and Evaluate the System
Once asset management processes and policies are in place, it's important to test and evaluate the DAM system performance before rolling it out across the organization. This includes testing how quickly assets can be retrieved, monitored for changes, shared, or exported as needed. User feedback should also be gathered during this process, and any areas of improvement that may need to be addressed should be identified.
Wrapping Up
Digital asset management keeps useful and relevant data accessible, organized, and secure— making it easy to find what's needed. It ultimately makes a business more efficient by streamlining processes and enabling teams to collaborate on projects easily.
Furthermore, this management system offers numerous advantages, such as improved search capabilities and analytics, reduced duplicated content or lost files, and automatic updates of any changes made over time, among others, allowing businesses to work smarter rather than harder.
With the help of digital asset management, businesses can utilize its tools and features to grow their brand while staying on top of their data security.
