This is a report of some of the most common digital asset management (DAM) implementation mistakes, sourced from phone interviews with 32 companies that had implemented DAM in the last 5 years.

1. TOP 10
MISTAKES
WHEN IMPLEMENTING A DAM SOLUTION
BY RICKY PATTEN
DIRECTOR
DATABASICS

2. DataBasics provides business
consultancy with software solutions
and services that improve productivity,
effectiveness and efficiency in digital
asset and media management

3. WHAT IS DAM?
Digital Asset Management (DAM) is all about managing digital
media better. DAM helps you find the right files, distribute them
and ensure their security. A good digital asset management
initiative pairs customised DAM software with an organisation’s
business processes to make the enterprise run smoothly.

4. DAM IMPLEMENTATION
MISTAKES
DAM is prone to implementation mistakes that can make your
project seem like a complete and utter waste of money.
BUT KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
This is a report of some of the most common DAM project mistakes,
sourced from phone interviews with 32 companies that had
implemented DAM in the last 5 years.

5. TOP 10 MISTAKES
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Started without a complete business plan
Didn't understand what DAM is
Ignored metadata
Partnering with IT department failed
No dedicated project manager
Didn't understand DAM benefits
Lack of leadership buy-in
Built DAM solution from scratch
Picked the wrong vendor
Did not accept DAM as an operational cost

6. MISTAKE #1
STARTED WITHOUT A COMPLETE
BUSINESS PLAN

7. STARTED WITHOUT A
COMPLETE BUSINESS PLAN
 No plan
 Not adhering to the plan
 Project scope too big
 Lack of success criteria
 No thorough analysis of what is needed
 No focus
 No asset contributors involved in planning
 Workflow does not match business processes

8. MISTAKE #2
DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT DAM IS
(AND WHAT IT IS NOT)

9. NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT DAM IS (AND
WHAT IT IS NOT)
 Didn’t understand what DAM is and how it is going to
be used
 Underestimated the complexity
 Overestimated skill sets available
 No-one in organisation with prior DAM experience

10. MISTAKE #3
IGNORING METADATA

11. IGNORING METADATA
 Underestimated the complexity involved in collecting metadata
 Not collecting the right metadata
 No management of metadata entry
 Ineffective metadata
 No metadata structuring or standardisation
 Benefits of metadata unclear

12. MISTAKE #4
PARTNERING WITH IT
DEPARTMENT FAILED

13. PARTNERING WITH IT DEPARTMENT
FAILED
 IT department not involved in the project
 Underestimating technical resources needed
 Trying to fit business to system
 No customisation, no integration with business processes
 Underestimated storage requirements
 Gap between IT and users

14. MISTAKE #5
NO DEDICATED PROJECT
MANAGER

15. NO DEDICATED PROJECT MANAGER
 No dedicated DAM/ archival person
 No one in charge of metadata entry and cataloguing

16. MISTAKE #6
DIDN'T UNDERSTAND DAM
BENEFITS

17. NOT UNDERSTANDING DAM BENEFITS
 DAM benefits not explained
 False expectations about benefits
 Underestimating the value of assets
 Believe DAM is too expensive

18. MISTAKE #7
LACK OF LEADERSHIP BUY-IN

19. LACK OF LEADERSHIP BUY-IN
 No support from executive team
 Poor leadership
 No ownership of the project
 Power struggle between users and IT

20. MISTAKE #8
BUILT DAM SOLUTION FROM
SCRATCH

21. BUILT DAM SOLUTION FROM SCRATCH
 Tried to build system themselves
 Too much customisation

22. MISTAKE #9
PICKED THE WRONG VENDOR

23. PICKED THE WRONG VENDOR
 Selected the cheapest quote
 No local support and training services provided
 No prior experience

24. MISTAKE #10
DID NOT ACCEPT DAM AS AN
OPERATIONAL COST

25. DID NOT ACCEPT DAM AS AN
OPERATIONAL COST
 Expected ROI before making investment
 Expected customers to pay for the solution
 Focused on non-core issues
 Lack of internal support and resources
 Chose hosted solution when internal solution was
needed

26. LESSONS LEARNED:
 Have a business plan
 Learn what DAM is all about
 Don’t ignore the metadata!
 Get your IT department involved
 Assign a permanent DAM person
 Realise the value of your assets
 Get your executive team on board
 Customise an off-the-shelf solution to fit your
needs
 Choose a vendor with experience and expertise
 Accept DAM as an operational cost

27. HAVE A BUSINESS
PLAN
A formal business plan outlines what the
DAM system will accomplish – its value to
the organisation – quantifies it, and then
justifies the investment. The starting point
is documenting the way things are done
now and what it costs in terms of time,
effort, and resources.

28. LEARN WHAT DAM IS
ALL ABOUT
DAM is not a project, a temporary assignment
to IT or Marketing to make their lives easier.
DAM is more than that. It is a product that
enables your marketing and sales team,
partners and customers to quickly, easily and
securely access and distribute the digital
assets they need to be successful.

29. DON’T IGNORE THE
METADATA!
Do you know what assets you have and how
to identify, organise, and describe them? This
is critical to the entire DAM operation.
Metadata is your greatest “asset”. It provides
structure and information needed to make
your assets more meaningful and valuable.

30. GET YOUR IT DEPARTMENT
INVOLVED
A well-managed DAM implementation typically
involves three main groups – business, IT, and user
community. This ensures that all of them are in lock
step agreement on what is being built and can also
resolve issues as they surface.

31. ASSIGN A PERMANENT DAM
PERSON
A Digital Asset Manager role is important in
ensuring the assets are being ingested and
tagged properly. This role is important to the
implementation and ongoing success of the
project.

32. REALISE THE VALUE
OF YOUR ASSETS
Your images, PDFs, design files, videos, etc. become
valuable assets if you can find them and use them.
DAM creates value for your organisation by
transforming these files into assets for inclusion in
projects, for distribution, or licensing them to third
parties.

33. GET YOUR EXECUTIVE
TEAM ON BOARD
Successful projects require leadership buy-in
and an executive sponsor. This is key to
getting the project up and running and to
sustain future investment in maintaining a
viable and effective DAM solution.

34. CUSTOMISE AN OFF-THE-
SHELF SOLUTION TO FIT
YOUR NEEDS
Building a DAM solution is a complex art and
involves many strategic and technical decisions to
ensure the solution meets the needs of the
organisation. The purchase of a solution generally
includes an ongoing support and upgrade
agreement with the vendor. An off-the-shelf solution
can be customised to meet the organisation’s
needs.

35. CHOOSE A VENDOR
WITH EXPERIENCE AND
EXPERTISE
Select a vendor with extensive experience
designing, implementing, and deploying their
products. For example, DataBasics professional
services team has performed a wide range of
DAM implementations for more than 20 years and
has extensive experience working with a large
variety of companies and customers.

36. ACCEPT DAM AS AN
OPERATIONAL COST
Digital asset management requires support
structure and training. Establishing and
maintaining your DAM system is an important
cost. It is critical to success of DAM and often the
area that companies fail to fund, killing the digital
asset management efforts.

37. NO ONE STATED THEY HAVE
STOPPED USING THEIR DAM
SYSTEM!
www.databasics.com.au