How Digital Asset Management Helps Remote Work

Remote work has become more popular with organizations for years, and today, it’s a critical need given changes stemming from COVID-19. We here at Image Relay have always been a distributed organization and find that it has many benefits. Without the time spent commuting, there is a better work/life balance, allowing employees the freedom they need for errands, health care appointments, childcare, and personal time. Those are the reasons we originally committed to the remote work structure. The lack of commute is also better for the environment, with less cars on the road. And for the company, money can be saved on renting office space.

Another key component of digital asset management is controlled access. A DAM will allow you to set many permission levels so that you manage what a user can see when they log in. It also allows you to differentiate between who can upload, edit metadata, view permissions and reports, download, and share. With a DAM you can be sure that your files are secure, and private files are not accidentally out where everyone can see them.

A Digital Asset Management system is an important tool in the remote work arsenal for a number of reasons. First, and perhaps foremost, a cloud-based DAM, such as Image Relay, will centralize all your digital content files in one place in the cloud. This means that they can be accessed from any computer in any location that has an internet connection. Many clients that we work with are moving off of a local network server to a DAM for just this reason.

When everything is stored on a central network server, it can only be accessed from the office. Even worse, many times files are stored on various CDs, thumb drives, or personal storage cloud storage like Google Drive, so it’s not even centralized in one place. Having everything stored on a DAM gives everyone easy to access files from anywhere.

Another benefit for remote workers is that a DAM system provides self-service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you work remotely, you can’t shout across the office to your coworker to ask where the files are. You also don’t want to bombard them with emails or chat messages trying to find what you are looking for. You also might be working different hours than the traditional office worker, so flexibility is essential.

With a digital asset management system in place, you will always be able to find what you are looking for without relying on other people or office hours. Because of the metadata associated with each file, it is easy to search and refine your results. And access to the DAM is there any time you need it. Once you have your username and password, you are ready to go.

As a remote worker, you will likely have to share many files with your colleagues — proofs, video, working files. This is certainly not exclusively a remote work problem, but you can’t just call someone over to look at your screen, or print them a copy of a brochure for them to review. Additionally, it can be challenging to email large files, or upload to a service like WeTransfer each time you want to share. A DAM will streamline the sharing process, and save you time in the process.

A digital asset management system should give you many ways to share files out to colleagues, clients, the press, or whoever else needs to see or use your files. Every DAM is a little different, but here at Image Relay we have three major ways to share. The first is with quick links, which allow you to share files or folders at the click of a button. You can also set whether you want those files to be downloaded or view only, have downloaders fill out their information, and set an expiration date.

The second way to share is with Collections. A collection allows you to curate content from around your library, add or subtract content over time, and add collaborators to help build the collection. Collections are a great way to share product launches, press releases and other important content in a neat and professional manner. Like quick links, you can customize your share options.

Once you have made the decision to move to a DAM, you will want to work closely with your DAM provider on the transition. They should be able to walk you through all of the steps to make the change as smooth as possible. They should also provide ample training for you and your users.

How long or how challenging the implementation of your new system can take depends on a lot of factors. These include how many files you intend to upload, the kind of metadata you want to add, how many users you will be adding, and how quickly you want to launch. Another major factor is how much time you have to commit to setting up the DAM, whether it’s all day, an hour a day, or a few hours a week.

The clients that we work with take anywhere from a week to 6 months to launch, depending on their needs. But the DAM provider can generally follow the pace that the client sets. It is also often easier to move from a network server however than to transfer from one DAM to another DAM. Starting fresh, and being able to add new metadata to your system will make a world of difference for your users looking for files.

Having a DAM not only makes things easier for remote workers, it can also make things better for those traveling for work, those who need to grab a file after hours, and even people in the office! The factors that make DAM useful to remote workers can also make it easier for everyone else. Having everything centralized, easily accessible at any time of day, and simple to search is a benefit to anyone who deals with digital files on a regular basis.

Related posts:

At its biggest for the next 15 years, it’s still much smaller than the Moon.. “Watch Mars Make Its Closest Approach To Earth Until 2035” is published by Ethan Siegel in Starts With A Bang!.

I grew up a privileged Indian kid whose only responsibility was to get straight A’s. I aced that responsibility. The cherry on the top was apparent smartness and a love for reading. My working…

One of my favorite quotes from an older Forbes article about budgeting is, “Get on Track or Get Run over”. Comes off a bit harsh and outside of context it can sound pretty doom and gloom. Being…