DAM News Round-Up – 6th May 2019
A collection of recent DAM-related articles from around the web, sourced from DAM Federation member, Planet DAM.
Interview With David Diamond – Part 3
In this third instalment of his DAM News interview, David Diamond discusses innovation (or the lack of it in DAM); the threat posed by Dropbox to DAM vendors along with the short-sighted approach they have taken to dealing with it; why DAM Lite failed to gain enterprise traction and the reason he decided against taking up a position with one of the analyst firms who cover DAM.
DAM technologist and visual content expert Eric Fulmer has recently posted an article on the amplifi.io blog defining what he sees as a fundamental schism between the definition of digital asset management as a content lifecycle and its processes, and DAM as it is defined by the vendors. By way of an imaginary dialogue, he highlights the shortcomings of the old ‘silo’ approach, and compares it with a new joined up approach that takes into consideration the whole Digital Asset Lifecycle (DAL). By abandoning the existing feature-laden monolithic software model and replacing it with bespoke, re-engineered vertical solutions based on real-world usage, Eric shows us a glimmer of hope for DAM’s future resurrection.
DAM and CMS solutions expert Frédéric Sanuy has posted an ‘aftermovie’ showcasing his recent visit to the Henry Stewart DAMNY 2019 event. Although the video contains no dialogue, transcription or explanatory notes, it should give viewers an insight into the world’s largest DAM conference and the many different keynotes, vendors, workshops and tracks that were available. Frédéric has also posted a video of the DAM Bake Off which was won by 4ALLPORTAL who employed the services of Spencer Harris representing DAM implementation consultants, CyanGate.
Another DAM Podcast interview with Madeline Velez
This podcast sees Henrik De Gyor interviewing Madeline Velez, DAM specialist at Shriners Hospitals and previously merchandise asset manager for The Yankee Candle Company. Madeline explains why and how DAM is used in a hospital environment, and talks us through the challenges and successes that she’s encountered. Covering compliance, user adoption and feedback, and the benefits of automated workflows, her insights and experience highlight the importance of skill-sharing and learning from other DAM professionals.
Marketing and DAM consultant Ken Christie has recently published another LinkedIn article, this time drawing parallels between Digital Asset Management and the success of lifestyle guru Marie Kondo and her ‘KonMarie’ brand that provides tidying up and uncluttering consultation. Ken further pushes the comparison by highlighting the need for a system that organises the ever-increasing creation, distribution and consumption of digital assets – from a well-defined taxonomy to maintaining our archives, DAM is an essential tool to keep on top of digital housekeeping.
Does Artificial Intelligence mean the end of manual image tagging?
Echoing many of our own recent articles on the benefits and shortcomings of Artificial Intelligence within the digital asset management workflow, Danny Smith, Head of Customer Success at DAM solutions provider Third Light, picks up the baton to see what recent advances have been made. Third Light’s DAM platform ‘Chorus’ has been integrating with Google’s Cloud Vision system since 2018, and in his article, Danny explains the findings. Like many AI-based tagging solutions, the same shortcomings are presented, including mis-tagged objects (eggs being recognised as potatoes being a classic example) and the continuing need for a human to sanity check the results. In summary, while AI is constantly improving, it still cannot be trusted to produce reliable and consistent results.
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