What Is the Life Cycle of Digital Asset Management?

Digital asset management is something that is relevant to both individuals and businesses. Anyone who has photographs, videos, graphics, logos and other creative files on their computer can benefit from digital asset management. In technical terms, a digital asset refers to any of the items mentioned above. Digital asset management helps you to store these files so they can be easily retrieved whenever they are needed. While businesses in the creative media industry benefit most from digital asset management, individual designers, photographers and others in a similar field can also make use of digital asset management. To understand more about the process, it is useful to look at the life cycle of digital asset management.

The First Step Is Creation

When a new logo or file is created, it immediately becomes a digital asset. You can protect this asset by uploading it into your digital asset management system. This will ensure that the file is kept secure even when you are working on variations of the original file. You may also have an existing photograph that you want to allocate for a specific project. You can then create a new folder in the digital asset management program where you can place the photograph.

File Sharing and Collaboration

One of the benefits of a digital asset management system is that files can be shared and downloaded much more easily. Graphics file are generally quite large which means that they are not easy to send using email. Typically, if you are not using a digital asset management system, you would have to make a copy of the file on a CD or memory stick and then hand-deliver the file to the person who needs it. With digital asset management, various people collaborating on a particular project have access to the same file from wherever they are. By simply logging into the system, they can view the file directly on the system.

Reviewing of Changes

When you have different people working on a file, they may each want to make different changes. If each person has to wait their turn in order to be able to review the changes, this can become a time-consuming process. It can also be difficult to track who is doing what on the project if you are working on files outside of a digital asset management system. DAM is also a very useful way to get clients’ approval on projects. They may want just one minor change. They can ask for this by inserting a comment which will generate back to the designer. Once the change has been done, it can be immediately resent to the client for their final approval.

Project Management

The DAM system is ideal for project managers who need to coordinate tasks on a particular project. At any stage, they can log in and review both the original file and any subsequent changes that have been made. They can also see who has made the changes. Features of most digital asset management systems include the ability to tag and release certain files on specific dates.

See Previous Versions of the File

Each time a change is made to the file, both the original file and the new file are saved as two separate entities. This means that if changes need to be undone, the project manager can simply search for an older version of the file rather than asking the designer to undo the changes.

Instant Access for All Parties

With a digital management system, there is no waiting for the courier to arrive. Users are allocated a password-protected login through which they can use to access the system and the project they are working on. The instant access results in greater efficiency in the work process.

Change File Formats

A feature of many digital asset management systems is that you can transform the formatting of a particular file. The master file remains intact in the system while the designers convert the file to the format they need to in order to edit it. Once they have completed their changes, the new version can be uploaded once again in the master file format.

Easy Distribution of Files

As long as you have your login and access to the Internet, you can access files and documents from wherever you are. This means that you could be at a client’s office and need to make some quick changes. You can log in and makes the changes on your system without having to first head back to the office. This is sure to impress your clients.

Recycling of Assets in the System

If you have a database of images or different files, you may want to use the same picture for different projects. The DAM system allows you to re-purpose assets for different projects without affecting the original master file.

Secure File Backup

The DAM system allows you to store the files in a secure environment for an infinite amount of time. Even 10 years down the line, you could access an old file from the archives. This ensures that your digital assets are always kept secure.

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