DAM Versus MAM: Shifting Your Asset Management Paradigm

Whether you’ve just begun looking for a system for managing your content, or you’re searching for a way to do it better, you’re likely wondering which option is best for your unique content and business challenges. For a long time, the only solutions were Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems. Traditionally, these systems act as a way to store content after it is completed. This includes ingestion, search, and storage functionality. Essentially, DAM serves as a repository, with modern offerings becoming faster and more Google-like with each passing day.

While improved methods to search for and store content are helpful, they can’t help manage the exponential content production needs of modern organizations. This is particularly true for companies that produce large quantities of video content.

Part of the problem stems from some DAM solution providers failing to move beyond the data repository model. But part of the problem comes from companies not understanding the current asset management landscape and the potential technology has to transform the way they produce content. The new breed of solutions, Media Access Management (MAM), is designed to handle large quantities of new, rich media such as video, in addition to other data types like text and image files.

The ways in which MAM can improve content creation are as diverse as the organizations that benefit from them. One example is automated ingestion workflows, such as the one the team at Evolphin built for broadcast teams. When producing a TV show, there may be upwards of 20 episodes per season, each with at least one teaser. Each episode can go through a dozen revisions. What Evolphin did was create a system where, after filling out a single template, a hierarchy of files and folders is automatically generated. Then, based on the initial information provided, metadata is ingested into all incoming footage. Previously, the broadcaster had to perform this task as many as 50 times per day; now it is done automatically.

This is just one way in in which MAM can transform content production. When considering how MAM—and technology in general—could change your content processes, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Which time consuming, repetitive tasks do I want to automate?
  • How do I eliminate repeatable workflows?
  • Does my solution integrate with exterior tools, such as social media and analytics?
  • Can I provide visibility into ongoing projects for all stakeholders?

For more information on the kinds of solutions the team at Evolphin creates, check out Evolphin Zoom. To learn more about how your organization can benefit from a MAM solution, check out our blog: The 3 Benefits of Adopting a Media Asset Management (MAM) Solution for Your Content Team.