Choosing the Right DAM: Why Digital Asset Management Systems Differ (and Why It Matters)

Photo by DS stories

Meet any business person, tell them about your business and before long they’ll ask you what differentiates your company from the competition. It’s the white-collar equivalent of tire kicking.

It’s a fair question too. In essence you’re being asked “what makes you special?” And, if you’re a talking to a potential client, “why should I choose you over your competitors?”.

The beauty of a free and competitive market, is that multiple enterprises can develop and sell unique solutions to the same problem. Washing machines all basically do the same thing. Cars all do the same thing. But every brand is different; unique in some way that sets them apart from other players.

Remember, though, different doesn’t necessarily mean better. It just means different.

For sure, there are some products which are poor quality. But in many cases the differentiating factors between products are defined by the elements that determine just how appropriate a product is for your particular needs – do you want a car that is fast, has a big boot, or is economic?

It’s the same in the world of Digital Asset Management (DAM).

There is a plethora of solutions crowding the market. And yes, they are all essentially solving the same problem. Yet they are all very different. Many of them are fantastic.

Choosing the right DAM solution, therefore, relies on knowing how to effectively analyse the differences between solutions so you can find the one that best matches your needs.

There are three key areas you should assess when comparing DAM software:

1. Features and Functionality
2. Interface and Workflow
3. Service and Consultancy

1. DAM Features and Functionality: Matching Tools to Your Needs

It sounds obvious, but if you’re looking for a digital asset management system, it should never be a case of going for the solution with the snazziest marketing, or the longest list of features.

You need to think very specifically about your use-case and consult with the potential vendor (always a great test of their service ethic – of which you’ll see more below), so you can get a sense how your needs match a system’s functionality.

We like to point out that there are basically two types of DAM system: those focused on brand management and those designed for managing archives.

The former will be strong on template management, allowing companies running multiple marketing campaigns to manage templates and visual assets while always staying on brand.

The latter, like LightRocket Enterprise, are designed to meet the challenge of managing large archives. The emphasis is on indexing and classification. File retrieval is the name of the game, combined with privacy and access controls.

At LightRocket, for example, our feature set distinguishes itself from the competition by its emphasis on effective tagging. We have our own thesaurus, complete with 40,000 terms (and growing) combined with AI visual search, AI tags and facial recognition.

AI is powerful, but we always remind our clients that you can’t completely rely on automation. Understanding context and providing detailed file information are essential if you want to release the value of an archive. Our system is designed to enhance workflows, but there’s still some work involved.

Taken as a whole, our functionality clearly reflects our deep editorial experience and first-hand experience working with contributors, ingesting content, and controlling access. Reflecting growing concerns around privacy, our consent management functionality is another key differentiator and is an area where we are expanding our feature set.

All of which is to say that while the LightRocket Enterprise platform is bristling with great functionality, we know that our focus is not going to be the right match for every client.

2. Why DAM User Interface and Workflows Matter

The alchemy of user interface design is a game changer.

You can have a fantastic DAM platform with every feature under the sun, but if you can’t work out how to use it, the value of that functionality is all but erased.

No matter how great a platform might seem in a PowerPoint or on a slickly-designed website, one of the most important value assessments you can perform is a user interface (UI) review.

If you’re serious about understanding what differentiates platforms with comparable functionality, make sure you get access to a trial site and, ideally, some initial training.

It’s hard to overestimate the value of a great interface. If you’re looking at a platform that doesn’t have all the bells-and-whistles but offers you 80% of the functionality you need combined with an intuitive interface, then UI should be the deciding factor.

Which is why we have worked so hard to make our interface sing. It’s all about turbo-charging workflows and reducing the need for training. At the end of the day, we know our emphasis on delivering an intuitive UI is saving our clients time and money – plus it makes using a system like ours more of a pleasure than a chore.

3. The Role of Service and Consultancy in DAM

Last but by no means least, service and consultancy are major differentiators. We sometimes forget but digital asset management systems fall into a category known as Software as a Service (or SaaS).

At LightRocket Enterprise we call it Software AND Service, because the service part of our commitment goes to the heart of our ethos. When a new client chooses LightRocket Enterprise as their DAM, we don’t see them simply as a number on our sales chart but as a new collaborative partner.

We don’t just sell software; we partner and collaborate with companies who choose to use our system. It’s a two-way process of learning, support and improvement. We teach our clients how to benefit from our DAM, we support them through training and technical advice: together we are striving for more efficient workflows, and innovations, that deliver value.

Find a DAM That Feels Right

Beyond these measurable differences between systems and products, there is a more elusive differentiator which relates to what one might call a company’s personality or ‘DNA’. Every company is the sum of the people who work there. Collectively, and by some strange alchemy linked to management, culture and individual personalities, companies develop their own identity. Choosing a software provider can be a bit like dating too: you need to find a company that feels right.

So, while the differentiator question often prompts a glib pre-prepared reply, one should be aware that while it’s easy for any company to identify how they differ from the competition, the real focus should be on how and why those differences matter for you as a potential client.

Exploring different DAM platforms? We’d love to show you how LightRocket Enterprise compares! Get in touch for a free demo

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Written by Yvan Cohen | Yvan is a Co-Founder of LightRocket and has spent the past two decades immersed in the challenges and realities of digital asset management. As a professional photojournalist, Yvan uses his decades of media experience to help shape LightRocket's world-class DAM platform; focusing on collaboration, intuitive workflows and continuous innovation.

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