TOP 10

MISTAKES

WHEN IMPLEMENTING A DAM SOLUTION

BY RICKY PATTEN

DIRECTOR

DATABASICS

DataBasics provides business

consultancy with software solutions

and services that improve productivity,

effectiveness and efficiency in digital

asset and media management

WHAT IS DAM?

Digital Asset Management (DAM) is all about managing digital

media better. DAM helps you find the right files, distribute them

and ensure their security. A good digital asset management

initiative pairs customised DAM software with an organisation’s

business processes to make the enterprise run smoothly.

DAM IMPLEMENTATION

MISTAKES

DAM is prone to implementation mistakes that can make your

project seem like a complete and utter waste of money.

BUT KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

This is a report of some of the most common DAM project mistakes,

sourced from phone interviews with 32 companies that had

implemented DAM in the last 5 years.

TOP 10 MISTAKES

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Started without a complete business plan

Didn't understand what DAM is

Ignored metadata

Partnering with IT department failed

No dedicated project manager

Didn't understand DAM benefits

Lack of leadership buy-in

Built DAM solution from scratch

Picked the wrong vendor

Did not accept DAM as an operational cost

MISTAKE #1

STARTED WITHOUT A COMPLETE

BUSINESS PLAN

STARTED WITHOUT A

COMPLETE BUSINESS PLAN

No plan

Not adhering to the plan

Project scope too big

Lack of success criteria

No thorough analysis of what is needed

No focus

No asset contributors involved in planning

Workflow does not match business processes

MISTAKE #2

DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT DAM IS

(AND WHAT IT IS NOT)

NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT DAM IS (AND

WHAT IT IS NOT)

Didn’t understand what DAM is and how it is going to

be used

Underestimated the complexity

Overestimated skill sets available

No-one in organisation with prior DAM experience

MISTAKE #3

IGNORING METADATA

IGNORING METADATA

Underestimated the complexity involved in collecting metadata

Not collecting the right metadata

No management of metadata entry

Ineffective metadata

No metadata structuring or standardisation

Benefits of metadata unclear

MISTAKE #4

PARTNERING WITH IT

DEPARTMENT FAILED

PARTNERING WITH IT DEPARTMENT

FAILED

IT department not involved in the project

Underestimating technical resources needed

Trying to fit business to system

No customisation, no integration with business processes

Underestimated storage requirements

Gap between IT and users

MISTAKE #5

NO DEDICATED PROJECT

MANAGER

NO DEDICATED PROJECT MANAGER

No dedicated DAM/ archival person

No one in charge of metadata entry and cataloguing

MISTAKE #6

DIDN'T UNDERSTAND DAM

BENEFITS

NOT UNDERSTANDING DAM BENEFITS

DAM benefits not explained

False expectations about benefits

Underestimating the value of assets

Believe DAM is too expensive

MISTAKE #7

LACK OF LEADERSHIP BUY-IN

LACK OF LEADERSHIP BUY-IN

No support from executive team

Poor leadership

No ownership of the project

Power struggle between users and IT

MISTAKE #8

BUILT DAM SOLUTION FROM

SCRATCH

BUILT DAM SOLUTION FROM SCRATCH

Tried to build system themselves

Too much customisation

MISTAKE #9

PICKED THE WRONG VENDOR

PICKED THE WRONG VENDOR

Selected the cheapest quote

No local support and training services provided

No prior experience

MISTAKE #10

DID NOT ACCEPT DAM AS AN

OPERATIONAL COST

DID NOT ACCEPT DAM AS AN

OPERATIONAL COST

Expected ROI before making investment

Expected customers to pay for the solution

Focused on non-core issues

Lack of internal support and resources

Chose hosted solution when internal solution was

needed

LESSONS LEARNED:

Have a business plan

Learn what DAM is all about

Don’t ignore the metadata!

Get your IT department involved

Assign a permanent DAM person

Realise the value of your assets

Get your executive team on board

Customise an off-the-shelf solution to fit your

needs

Choose a vendor with experience and expertise

Accept DAM as an operational cost

HAVE A BUSINESS

PLAN

A formal business plan outlines what the

DAM system will accomplish – its value to

the organisation – quantifies it, and then

justifies the investment. The starting point

is documenting the way things are done

now and what it costs in terms of time,

effort, and resources.

LEARN WHAT DAM IS

ALL ABOUT

DAM is not a project, a temporary assignment

to IT or Marketing to make their lives easier.

DAM is more than that. It is a product that

enables your marketing and sales team,

partners and customers to quickly, easily and

securely access and distribute the digital

assets they need to be successful.

DON’T IGNORE THE

METADATA!

Do you know what assets you have and how

to identify, organise, and describe them? This

is critical to the entire DAM operation.

Metadata is your greatest “asset”. It provides

structure and information needed to make

your assets more meaningful and valuable.

GET YOUR IT DEPARTMENT

INVOLVED

A well-managed DAM implementation typically

involves three main groups – business, IT, and user

community. This ensures that all of them are in lock

step agreement on what is being built and can also

resolve issues as they surface.

ASSIGN A PERMANENT DAM

PERSON

A Digital Asset Manager role is important in

ensuring the assets are being ingested and

tagged properly. This role is important to the

implementation and ongoing success of the

project.

REALISE THE VALUE

OF YOUR ASSETS

Your images, PDFs, design files, videos, etc. become

valuable assets if you can find them and use them.

DAM creates value for your organisation by

transforming these files into assets for inclusion in

projects, for distribution, or licensing them to third

parties.

GET YOUR EXECUTIVE

TEAM ON BOARD

Successful projects require leadership buy-in

and an executive sponsor. This is key to

getting the project up and running and to

sustain future investment in maintaining a

viable and effective DAM solution.

CUSTOMISE AN OFF-THE-

SHELF SOLUTION TO FIT

YOUR NEEDS

Building a DAM solution is a complex art and

involves many strategic and technical decisions to

ensure the solution meets the needs of the

organisation. The purchase of a solution generally

includes an ongoing support and upgrade

agreement with the vendor. An off-the-shelf solution

can be customised to meet the organisation’s

needs.

CHOOSE A VENDOR

WITH EXPERIENCE AND

EXPERTISE

Select a vendor with extensive experience

designing, implementing, and deploying their

products. For example, DataBasics professional

services team has performed a wide range of

DAM implementations for more than 20 years and

has extensive experience working with a large

variety of companies and customers.

ACCEPT DAM AS AN

OPERATIONAL COST

Digital asset management requires support

structure and training. Establishing and

maintaining your DAM system is an important

cost. It is critical to success of DAM and often the

area that companies fail to fund, killing the digital

asset management efforts.

NO ONE STATED THEY HAVE

STOPPED USING THEIR DAM

SYSTEM!

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