DAM solution recommendations?

[sandy]

We are in the final stages of selecting a digital asset management service (Web-based) for our company but there's 1 piece of missing info: actual customer experience and recommendations. Does anybody subscribe to DAM svcs and have any info to share?

[PrintDriver]

you're looking for on-line storage rather than local on-site storage?

Quite honestly, wouldn't even consider using an on-line. Images are proprietary and on-line can be risky, though I'm sure all precautions are taken for security but maybe not for bankruptcy. Call me paranoid but I invested in a networked terabyte Raid5 drive and keep the stuff local with an off-site backup.

[mojoprime]

i'm with PD. drive space is so cheap now days there's really no excuse for at least not trying to do it on your own, with cumulus or whatnot. but yeah, with the ways companies come and go these days, you'd be better off keeping your assets local.

[urstwile]

There can be advantages to a browser based service, however. One of our biggest clients uses this type of thing. Since we're not the only agency they work with, it's very convenient when we need an image to be able to use search functions, say for example, product names.

Ultimately the files end up on server to be worked on, but this also ensures that the images we're using are the latest versions in their product line.

[mojoprime]

we just seem to have more outages, i guess, connection-wise that make me leary of relying on something off-site.

however, i failed to mention that because of the health-care related industry i work in, almost all of our security mandates on-site storage of everything. i guess that's probably where my hesitancy orginates.

[urstwile]

Valid point, mojo. My example was not the same thing though really. As our client is rather large, they have a couple of different agencies doing their work, which makes the need for a database of product photography that others can access a necessary thing.

The images are all stored by a local vendor. We download them to our onsite server as need arises, we don't use the website as an offsite storage tool as much as a digital asset management tool with this particular client.

I think the original poster's motivation was less about offsite storage and much more about managing digital assets, which is different.

[PrintDriver]

Urst, your clients only upload what they want you to have access to though, right? A lot of design firms I work with have online or onsite passworded FTP for that. There are a few print vendors I work with that are totally automated to the point where you can access any file or image you've sent to them within the last few years without having to call a tech. Some of my clients don't allow such storage. And some of my image sources require destruction of any disk, photo, negative or image as well as any subsequent plates or production files after the job is printed (and I thought I was paranoid).

I guess we need more info on what the OP really wants with an on-line storage source. How do they plan on using it.

[mojoprime]

we're not quite to the level PD describes, but we're close enough. still, that's a great idea, urst. like having your own getty images.

[urstwile]

Urst, your clients only upload what they want you to have access to though, right? A lot of design firms I work with have online or onsite passworded FTP for that. There are a few print vendors I work with that are totally automated to the point where you can access any file or image you've sent to them within the last few years without having to call a tech. Some of my clients don't allow such storage. And some of my image sources require destruction of any disk, photo, negative or image as well as any subsequent plates or production files after the job is printed (and I thought I was paranoid).

I guess we need more info on what the OP really wants with an on-line storage source. How do they plan on using it.

PD, yes, that's correct, and it only encompasses their product photography. Any other photography they may have is not within the scope of the DAM.

Basically what they do is use a vendor who shoots all their product photography, and also handles the DAM site. Once they've approved the shots, they have the vendor upload to the site, and all of their agencies can then use that site to download the images from, for use in advertising (web and print) and collateral projects.

I think the original poster is talking not so much about storage but rather more of management of their digital assets. As in being able to use keywords, for example, to search out a particular image. I've often wondered about ways of implementing something like this at my job as well.

We store all of our stuff on our server, and after a certain point in time, we archive things to tape, which we can restore things from as the need arises.

[sandy]

My company needs a third-party hosted DAM service because we have >100 external read-only users and our IT system (firewall) does not support FTP and the IT dept does not want to support an internal DAM system. So-- I have been researching and talking to several DAM service providers, and was hoping to find some "real customer experience" before making a final decision. Guess this is not easy to find. But we have decided to go with a service offered through Aquent. (looks much better than what we're currently using, which is a user-interface-nightmare)

We use the DAM to archive and distribute images, logos, and marketing collateral to our retailer network, and also to print vendors.

[PrintDriver]

That's cool. I hear ya that FTP would be handy...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking a service provider to provide client references for their product. Obviously they won't give you bad ones but you can at least talk to people who use the product and are happy with it and you can tell by what they do if it will suit your needs.