Digital Asset Management Suppliers Revving Up

CMS Watch finds DAM technology suppliers re-invigorating product development

New York (Advertiser Talk) 10-Aug-2009 — Digital Asset Management (DAM) technology buyers can expect a wealth of updated offerings during the second half of 2009, as a majority of DAM suppliers are poised to debut major releases after nearly a year of low activity. This research stems from today’s release of The Digital & Media Asset Management Report 2009, which evaluates 20 DAM suppliers head-to-head. CMS Watch Principal DAM Analyst, Theresa Regli, and Founder, Tony Byrne will discuss and critique the DAM market’s major offerings at the Henry Stewart DAM Symposium in New York City, June 1st & 2nd.

According to CMS Watch, a vendor-independent analyst firm, approximately one-third of the twenty leading DAM suppliers are showcasing completely revamped user interfaces or improved facilities for asset ingestion and video transcoding. Another third are in heavy development mode, set to debut similar upgrades later this year.

Existing users of DAM software should plan for a possible upgrade, while potential buyers should be aware that the products they’re investigating may become quite different in six to twelve weeks from now Some of this is a result of DAM technologies colliding under the ownership of big players like Open Text or Autonomy, who recently made DAM acquisitions, while some is a result of smaller, pure-play suppliers like Media Beacon and North Plains revamping their user interfaces and aggressively expanding into new verticals and geographic markets. As we reported earlier this year in our research, the vendors were a bit stagnant. But H2 2009 looks to offer more to the end-users and buyers of DAM systems Nevertheless, customers making purchase decisions based on future capabilities should push hard to ensure suppliers keep their promises. “Existing users of DAM software should plan for a possible upgrade, while potential buyers should be aware that the products they’re investigating may become quite different in six to twelve weeks from now,” notes Regli. “Some of this is a result of DAM technologies colliding under the ownership of big players like Open Text or Autonomy, who recently made DAM acquisitions, while some is a result of smaller, pure-play suppliers like Media Beacon and North Plains revamping their user interfaces and aggressively expanding into new verticals and geographic markets.”

The latest research also found:

-   ECM Suite suppliers such as Open Text and Autonomy/Interwoven have only just set forth strategic plans as to how DAM will fit into their larger spectrum of offerings, where multiple DAM or Media Asset Management (MAM) tools still exist as separate technologies -   More suppliers of traditionally licensed DAM solutions look to offer scaled-down “On Demand” or hosted offerings, to compete in the DAM SaaS market dominated by Widen and The FeedRoom (formerly ClearStory)     -   Many smaller DAM suppliers who traditionally focused on print publishing, catalog production or brand management scenarios plan to add video management and transcoding capabilities, to compete with the larger pure-play DAM vendors

“As we reported earlier this year in our research, the vendors were a bit stagnant. But H2 2009 looks to offer more to the end-users and buyers of DAM systems,” concludes Regli. “Nevertheless, customers making purchase decisions based on future capabilities should push hard to ensure suppliers keep their promises.”

About CMS Watch CMS Watch™ evaluates content-oriented technologies, offering head-to-head comparative reviews of leading solutions. Through highly detailed technical evaluations and online education courses, CMS Watch helps sort out the complex landscape of potential solutions so that buyers can minimize the time and effort to identify technologies suited to their particular requirements. To retain its independence as a totally impartial analyst firm, CMS Watch works solely for solutions buyers and never for vendors. Research services cover: Web Content Management, Web Analytics, Digital Asset Management, Enterprise Content Management, SharePoint, Enterprise Social Software & Collaboration, Enterprise Portals, Enterprise Search, XML & Component Content Management, and E-mail Archiving & Management. For more information, please visit: http://www.cmswatch.com.

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