To create a differentiation, pure-play DAM vendors are building advanced services, including long-form video and audio management with voice-to-text features, particularly applicable to broadcasters; multichannel distribution functionality, with a new focus on e-books; and 3-D image management designed for product retailers.
These services will allow DAM vendors to distinguish themselves from broader business software products. "For customers, there are really two markets: the longstanding DAM products, as well as enterprise content management and Web content management tools," says Alan Pelz-Sharpe, Real Story Group principal analyst.
According to Real Story Group, greater adoption of DAM services is being delivered as part of generic content management systems because many buyers have simpler needs and don't need a full-blown DAM platform.
Notably, open source is now an option for DAM. “This is relatively new, as in the past highly specialized business applications such as DAM were not well covered by the open source world,” notes Pelz-Sharpe.
Pelz-Sharpe says that it’s important for IT managers to recognize that though demand for DAM is growing as the volume of rich media is growing, this does not necessarily mean that you need to acquire specialized software. “Most ECM and document management systems have at least some DAM functionality as standard, and if you have existing relationships with these suppliers you might want to leverage or at least check them out first,” he advises.
Valerie Valentine is senior editor for Information Management. You can follow her on Twitter at @va1va1entine or via email at valerie.valentine@sourcemedia.com.
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