The History of DAM
The Digital Asset Management industry was quick to evolve over the past couple decades. The need for Asset Management began with the switch to desktop publishing in the prepress and print industries. Prior to using computers, pages for catalogs, advertisements and magazines were created by laying out text onto artboards, and turning these artboards, slides and photographs into four pieces of film used to create plates for a printing press. The end result was a lot of film that was stored in file cabinets and sorted through when it was needed.

With the introduction of digital scanners and desktop publishing programs, designers were able to layout their pages in a computer application program, such as QuarkXpress and PageMaker, and scan images for placement into these files. The end result now is a great deal of files, both layout and images, that needed to be managed. These digital files are called either “assets” or “content”. When the files refer to a specific company’s advertising or product files, they may be called “brand assets”. The size of a layout file or scanned image can be quite large when compared to the average word document; thus it wasn't economical to store files on an individual’s desktop computer. Also, files stored on personal computers are not accessible to others in a company who may need to use them. Placing files on discs or CDs weren't an efficient solution when hundreds or thousands of files need to be sorted through and retrieved. Put very simply, digital asset management is the collection, labelling and storage of media content for later retrieval and re-use.

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Consolidate

• Collect all files in a central repository (one file = no redundancies)
• Safeguard all brand assets (only current files are available)
• Simplify the process of locating specific files for reuse
• Distribute
  Distribute and print model (not print and distribute)
  Replace printed or CD distribution of catalogs, sales collateral, etc.
• Collaborate

• Share files for online collaboration
• Eliminate travel for creative review (PDF, video, etc.)

Archive

• Gather materials from a variety of sources and formats in a digital environment
• Enforce consistency and discipline in file organization
• Simplify the process of annotating assets

An effective DAM implementation reaps a variety of rewards:

• Reduced costs

Never re-create art; find it fast and reuse it

New Revenue

• “Unearth” valuable materials and market them

Integrated processes

• Consolidate processes for ordering, billing, fulfillment, etc.

Improved Distribution
Target distribution of materials to only the people who need them

Organize files, images, logos, documents in a central location that can be accessed anytime, via a secure internet site

• Distribute presentations to salespeople
• Organize logos for marketing groups worldwide
• Provide product information, and images
• Rights Management
• Distribute photos and promotional information to media outlets
• Pick up advertisements for re-use Cost Benefits

Reduce or eliminate:

• Courier charges for sending files or kits
• Duplicate transparencies
• Time searching for files
• Time fulfilling requests
• Money spent on media kits
• Money spent on marketing kit
• Users of our asset management systems have the option to:

• Browse for assets placed in the system within a specific hierarchy

• Search for assets based on keywords within file annotation
• View thumbnail images of files and all corresponding annotation information
• View video files, listen to audio files
• Download files to the desktop or an FTP site
• Place orders online for files in an electronic or other format
• Specify delivery options for files
• Gather assets with a collection tool, make comments, invite co-workers to the collections to comment on specific files
• Receive online help and answers to frequently asked questions

System Administrators have the options to:

• Create User profiles and groups
• Limit specific users to specific files
• Add and delete Users to groups
• Create permissions for groups
• Add and delete files
• View site reports
• Edit annotation information