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Is Digital Asset Management Difficult?
The Vendor says: "Digital Asset Management is easy."
4 min read
Radmila Stolz
:
Aug 5, 2020 9:00:00 AM
One of the most common questions we are asked about our Digital Asset Management software is: “So, how is this compared to Dropbox?” (or another popular cloud storage solution.) While it’s true that there are some similarities, the two systems also have key differences which make them more or less suited to a variety of use-cases, businesses, and industries. In this article, you’ll learn how DAMs and Dropbox are similar, how they differ, and whether your organization needs one or the other - or both!
A DAM system like FotoWare is a place to store your valuable files, and organize them in such a way that your co-workers can find and use them without your help. Your files become assets as you add metadata to them, which is descriptive data about the file itself, making it searchable to anyone within your organization. With proper tagging, the assets can be found, shared, and reused when you need them, and the mundane tasks of organizing and marking them can be automated with customized workflows.
Dropbox delivers a storage and collaboration system to individuals and businesses for exchanging data. Accessing, storing, and retrieving files using the platform powered with cloud technology can be done using any device. As a system it is focused on the users, not on the assets, so it is ultimately each user’s responsibility to make sure the files are available for the right people.
An important distinction between the two is how the files are organized. While Dropbox uses folder structures, a DAM system stores your files all in one place which you can browse visually. The reason why DAM systems require users to add metadata to their files is so that you can search and filter this view to find what you need quickly. Ultimately, this means that you don’t have to remember exact file names or folder-locations in order to find your files.
In Dropbox, the user is the owner of each folder and file, whereas a DAM works as a central hub for all content. This means that content created by a user remains in the DAM even if the user leaves the organization without sending his/her files to anyone else. It also means that everyone can find the content they need, even if it was originally uploaded by someone from another team (unless the editor has decided on a different solution).
Using FotoWare DAM, you can add metadata to your file so that you and your colleagues can find the wanted file even without knowing the precise filename. For example, you can add tags such as “nature” to your picture of a forest, so that when you try to find the picture later you can just simply search for the words that spring to mind and FotoWare will display the results. Dropbox also has a search function, but you don’t have the same opportunities to add advanced systems of metadata. Making searching for the correct files a bit more tedious if you don’t know which tags to search for.
Dropbox supports standard image formats and is plug-and-play, while a DAM system supports a multitude of file types and can be tailored and customized to the way your organization works.
With a DAM system, you can create public archives for the press or share individual collections externally. This way, anyone can access selected files. Dropbox, on the other hand, is a sharing and collaboration tool, rather than a public display. It also has functions that enable you to share files externally, but you don’t have the option of customizing how they will be showcased.
The FotoWare DAM has a particular focus on visual content, while a Dropbox is equally focused on all files. While you can store both Word-documents and PowerPoint-presentations in FotoWare, you also have a large variety of functions at your disposal that is especially designed to improve the way you manage media-files, such as pictures and videos. For instance, you can tag your files with keywords, making it easy for you to find all pictures of a certain person for example. Or you can make pre-defined lists of crop-sizes, enabling you and your collogues to download images with the correct dimensions within seconds.
While both Dropbox Business and the FotoWare DAM are both great for storage and sharing, they offer very different ways of doing so. While Dropbox is a collaboration tool for files in general, there is a special focus on visuals when using FotoWare. A DAM like this offers several ways of customizing your interface to fit your particular needs, for instance if you want to showcase certain visuals for an online audience, as well as enabling you to create automated and customized workflows.
Want to learn more about FotoWare? Book a demo with one of our experts today and see it live!
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