The Silo Effect
How to avoid a common pitfall in digital
asset management initiatives
Large
organizations have increasing challenges as their total volume of digital media
expands on a regular basis. Many have
moved to digital asset management systems with a centralized database, usually
with centralized storage systems such as SANs, to power search and browse of
the content. The primary purpose for DAM
systems is to manage rich media and digital assets as well as automating
workflows, while preserving valuable assets. Most large organizations structure
the company by department, which causes an inherent problem when managing
assets and workflows, known as the “silo effect”. What exactly is the silo effect? It is when an
organization has SEVERAL digital asset management systems (DAMs) for different
departments. The purpose of digital
asset management is to organize media isolated and scattered on various tapes,
discs, hard drives, and computers. The
silo effect occurs when content is isolated on different media asset management
systems. Despite best efforts, content is still not available to the entire
organization.
Most
of these departmental DAM systems are based on a particular workflow, for
example post production often sets us a “PAM” (production asset management)
system. . These systems are useful for their targeted workflow; however they
typically lack the expansion capabilities and feature set required for a large
enterprise with varying skills and workflow requirements. Beyond editing and
production staff, most individuals in an organization would not be comfortable
with using a PAM system, inhibiting collaboration and limiting the usefulness
of the system if it was deployed organization-wide. This creates additional
workload for the department using a departmental system, because staff must
fulfill media requests from employees outside of the department. Another issue
with a PAM system being used as an “enterprise” system is that it is not meant
for collaboration outside of the organization and is unsuitable for secure
distribution to existing clients or potential clients. The challenge for large
organizations is to prevent the silo effect. The best practice for these
organizations would be to create a multi departmental committee with executive
management sponsorship to help drive the process of defining the needs of each
department. Once this is accomplished, it is much easier to define the
requirements of an enterprise level DAM. Enterprise level DAMs can eliminate
the silo effect, allowing for interdepartmental collaboration, varying
workflows and various content distribution requirements. Enterprise systems
will typically cost more than a silo system but are much more cost effective
and more efficient than multiple silo systems typically found in many large
organizations.
This
is where eMAMTM can help, allowing appropriate access to all users
to all the content throughout and beyond the organization.
Empress
has extensive experience in the media and broadcast industries. eMAM was
developed in talking to our customers large and small about their emerging
needs over time. Only one philosophy
could meet the divergent needs---KISS:
keep it simple, stupid.
Customers wanted a GUI and a user experience that was simple to use, simple
to learn, and simple to support, while still providing for the powerful
features their workflow demanded. eMAM provides two levels of user interfaces,
one for advanced users or departmental admins called eMAM Director, and another
simple interface used by more common internal users or external users or
clients.
eMAM Director – This is a feature rich
web based management interface for eMAM typically used by high level users and
administrators. All the eMAM settings and configurations can be done through
this interface. This software can be installed in a standalone server or it can
be installed in the same server where other eMAM components are running. There
can be multiple instances of eMAM Director Software running from multiple web
servers for scalability, redundancy and back up purposes.
Below
are the features/functionalities supported in the eMAM Director interface.
ü
Client
management
ü
Project
management
ü
Category
management
ü
User
Groups management
ü
Metadata
management
ü
Delivery
(need to purchase eMAM Delivery Service)
ü
Archive
(need to purchase either eMAM Archive or eMAM FlashNet Connector )
ü
Approval
ü
Rough
Cut
ü
Key
frame selection
ü
Annotation
ü
Versioning
ü
Asset
History Reporting
ü
Comments
ü
Order
Tab
Basic and Advanced Search
eMAM
Client was developed to be even simpler
to use. It is a light weight web interface for eMAM end users who want to
preview and share content. This is a completely customizable interface that can
be branded for different customers. The user experience is no more difficult
than a simple ecommerce transaction or ordering from Netflix. The eBIN provides
users with a simple ordering form.
Authorized users can click to add content to the eBIN and send email
with a multimedia player. Security
features restrict access frequency, downloads, forward, viewing time, and so
forth. eBin can also be used as a marketing tool
since there are built-in HTML delivery templates with branding and unsubscribe
options. The interface is simple enough so that almost anyone can use it
without training.
Below
are the features/functionalities supported in eMAM Client.
ü
Basic
and Advance Search
ü
Branding
ü
Theme
selection
ü
Built
in Approval process
ü
Asset
History
ü
Comments
ü
eBIN
– Message, Content delivery, Order, Download
Prepared
By Shaun McTernan
