Nearly 50% Still Using Shared File Servers For Digital Asset Management

A poll by CMSWire: “Are You Currently Using a Digital Asset Management (DAM) System?” reveals that 49.6% of those who responded are still using shared file servers for managing their digital assets.  Departmental and Enterprise DAMs accounted for just 24.81% (5.01% and 19.8% respectively).

The numbers are all the more surprising because the readership of CMSWire.com is no doubt composed of a significant number of Content Management pros who spend their working lives actively using and involved with Content Management solutions such as Digital Asset Management.  Therefore, 50% of digital content professionals said their organization had no DAM system for managing their digital media.  For DAM vendors this means there is either a significant failure to persuade the market of the specific benefits of DAM systems or an opportunity to extend customer acquisition in 2011 and beyond (depending on whether you take the pessimistic or optimistic view).

One unexpected stat (for us anyway) was that 19.3% of respondents used their existing Web CMS (Content Management System) almost the same number of Enterprise DAM users.  Again, the context of the poll is significant because a lot of WCM users and vendors might assume a dedicated DAM is unnecessary if they predominantly deal with just on-line media.   It remains to be seen if a more representative sample of corporate buyers would begin to take a similar view or whether this is just lack of awareness of the benefits of DAMs – which in our view remains an ongoing issue for the Digital Asset Management sector.

Share this Article: