Situation:
Our customer found that the demand for imagery, videos and other media has risen continuously over the past years. More and more places in and outside the company had image data created or requested in a ad hoc manner. Many images were created two or more times in a differing quality. The costs of creating, managing and distributing the images were not quantified, but it was assumed that the costs are too high and rising uncontrolled. An increasing number of positions in the company databases were created to manage the imagery, in addition countless assets were on the local hard drives of staff and requests for imagery could not be answered quickly enough. In addition, pictures were increasingly required in different sizes and formats which had to be converted, in each case this generated extra effort and costs. Automatic newsletter or e-mail systems each had their own DAM systems, as well as content management systems for the various country websites.
Task:
The first task was to quantify the problem and to create an understanding of the issues this created in the countries. Subsequent to the creation of the business case, a system should be selected and procured before, in a final phase, it should be implemented and integrated with existing systems.
Action:
In several DAM start workshops with staff from different countries, functions and hierarchies, we first identified the problem, set up working hypotheses, coordinated the next steps and created a formal commitment of the various stakeholders. In a 20-day discovery phase we procured the required data, analysed available equipment (hardware and software) with existing interactions and listed and validated processes. In an extra 30 days, all collected data was processed, the global business case was created and the requirements, an enterprise DAM system has to fulfill, were formulated. After review and approval by the board, in a tender process we identified a DAM system partner and together we created an implementation plan. We also identified a system integrator to integrate the system with existing tools and together we developed a detailed specification. We created the taxonomy and metadata model and a concept for continuous data maintenance.
Result:
15 months after starting the project all marketing assets of our client were consolidated within a system and available at the push of a button for staff, partners, clients and agencies around the world in different sizes and formats. Redundant systems were turned off, assets could be searched and found in 6 different languages. Marketing tools such as Sitecore, Omniture etc. were centrally supplied from a DAM system in a uniform quality. Our client saves a considerable amount by disposing of the redundant systems and processes, and avoids an even higher amount of costs for the creation of new assets in the various countries and organisations.
