HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Digital and Marketing Asset Management: The Real Story About DAM Technology and Practice is based on extensive research involving both vendors who provide DAM technology, as well as the people and organizations that use the technology.

It is an extremely thorough book. And it needs to be. You’re going to be making some important decisions on behalf of your department, marketing team, or perhaps your entire enterprise, and my goal is to provide you with as much relevant detail as possible. However, you may not have time to read the book cover-to-cover. Here’s a quick guide to maximize the time you spend.

Who Should Read This Book?

Depending on your role in the enterprise, you may want to start at different places in the book and then backfill your knowledge as necessary. Consider the following shortcuts.

• DAM newbie: If you’re new to DAM and are just looking to get the basics, you should start at the beginning and read the chapters sequentially.

• Executive sponsor or project champion: Start with Chapter 2, “The Business Case for Digital and Marketing Asset Management,” to help distill the business case for a DAM system. You’ll also want to explore our discussion of universal scenarios and if you are C-level (or looking to get there soon), be sure to read Chapter 11, “Mixology: DAM in the Digital Marketing Cocktail,” as you’re likely to play a key role in driving adoption and change management.

• Project manager: You might want to begin by getting familiar with the technology through Chapter 4, “DAM Technology Services: Asset Creation and Management.”

• Project engineer: Refer to Chapters 4 through 7, “DAM Technology Services,” to catch up on any key concepts that may be new to you. Then be sure to review Chapter 2, “The Business Case for Digital and Marketing Asset Management,” to keep in mind the reasons you’re implementing DAM.

• Consultant/integrator: How you use this book depends on what you need to provide for your clients. Each chapter can provide useful analysis.

What’s in This Book?

The book is broken down as follows:

• Chapter 1, “What Is Digital and Marketing Asset Management Technology?” looks at key concepts in digital, marketing, and media asset management.

• Chapter 2, “The Business Case for Digital and Marketing Asset Management,” covers the costs as well as the business justification for investing in DAM and MAM.

• Chapter 3, “The DAM Maturity Model,” can help you identify how mature your organization’s DAM capabilities are across four categories: people, information, systems, and processes. It’s also a key piece for justifying further investment in a DAM system.

• Chapters 4 through 7, “DAM Technology Services,” explore DAM technology in detail, defining and explaining key features you’re likely to find in the technology. Each chapter corresponds to how we break the system features into four main capability areas: “Asset Creation and Management; Search, Retrieval and Navigation; Asset Assembly and Delivery; and Architecture and Administration.”

• Chapter 8, “Cloud, On-Premise, or Hybrid? DAM Delivery Models” defines the different potential hosting and deployment models for your DAM.

• Chapter 9, “You’re Not Just Buying a Tool: Strategic Considerations,” examines all the nontechnical considerations you should think about when investing in not just DAM technology, but also the vendor.

• Chapter 10, “Universal Scenarios: The Key to Comparing Technologies,” identifies 14 universal DAM scenarios to help you “place” your own needs in the market. They are grouped in four broad categories: image and brand management, publishing, corporate time-based media management, and broadcast media management.

• Chapter 11, “Mixology: DAM in the Digital Marketing Cocktail,” looks at where DAM fits in as part of the larger enterprise ecosystem and how to craft the right mix of ingredients for digital marketing success.

What Comes with This Book?

This book’s companion website ( www.digitalrealitychecks.com/books/digital-and-marketing-asset-management) contains a blog and additional content. The book’s diagrams and other illustrations are available under a Creative Commons license (when possible) for you to download and include in your own presentations. You can find these on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/sets/.