How do you go about taking over existing assets?
When setting up a DAM or integrating a new type of content into an existing DAM, the question of how to recover existing data is unavoidable. The media to be recovered may come from another DAM-type solution, from file directories, external hard disks or even drives. These media may be accompanied by information (date, description, etc.) which must absolutely be recovered, otherwise the context and value of the media will be lost.
This migration phase is a technical challenge, sometimes with very tight deadlines. To tackle it in the right conditions, you need to have your DAM objectives clearly in mind. Who is it intended for? Depending on the answers, your pre-existing media will be used differently. Defining your DAM's objectives will enable you to choose the best recovery strategy.
What are the objectives of a DAM project?
There are a number of issues driving organizations to equip themselves with a DAM, or to add a type of content hitherto absent from the DAM. These issues revolve around the three main uses of DAM:
1. Centralize and share media validated by the organization
2. Preserve and enhance the organization's heritage
3. Automate multi-channel media distribution
Depending on each of these objectives, the takeover will need to be adapted:
1. Centralize and share media validated by the organization
For many companies, the aim is to centralize all the media produced by their communications and marketing teams. It is necessary to provide a single access point for content, to guarantee the use of media validated by the organization. The aim is to facilitate the circulation of images, videos, print and web content. These files are made available todefined communities ofusers. Content produced on a daily basis needs to be organized. They must be easy to find and reuse , with a view to capitalizing on the media produced.
If the aim of your DAM is to centralize and share validated media, the data recovery process will need to identify, collect and integrate all news content. You'll need to make sure that you retrieve all media rights information: start and end dates of rights, copyrights, territories and media covered by rights, etc. This legal information is essential to guarantee proper use. This type of recovery must be carried out efficiently: media often have a relatively short lifespan. They must be made available via the DAM as quickly as possible.
2. Preserve and enhance the organization's heritage
The conservation of outdated media is also an issue for many companies. The aim is to build up usable multimedia heritage archives. The storytelling trend is driving brands to reappropriate old content. Companies are beginning to take greater account of the value of their iconographic, audiovisual and advertising heritage. Archiving on external hard drives at the back of a cupboard is no longer an option.
If the aim of your DAM is to preserve your multimedia heritage, then data recovery will require a great deal of preparation. The volume of data can reach several terabytes, especially if the video collection is substantial. The reflex is often to want to integrate everything, at the risk of obtaining :
- low-quality media, unusable, even in web format
- ghost media: elements for which there is no information. Without provenance, without context, media lose all value.
- duplicate media: the same image may be integrated several times in different formats, versions or sizes. These duplicates pollute searches and confuse users.
To be successful, the takeover must include an inventory of content and associated data, as well as a sorting phase. Fortunately, recovery times can be longer than for a news collection.
3. Automate multi-channel media distribution
For other companies, the challenge of implementing a DAM lies in its ability to integrate with the information system. From creation to distribution, the media circuit must be automated as far as possible. The DAM must communicate with other tools: PIM, MDM, eCommerce platform, website CMS. All applications must be able to feed each other data and media.
If the aim of your DAM is to automate the distribution of your media, the recovery process must first and foremost ensure that the media are consistent. They must conform in terms of :
- technical quality: for optimum display,
- artistic quality: framing, cropping, camera angle, etc.
- validity: offer a product's current packaging, not last year's,
- data: suggest the media that best matches the data displayed (like a product sheet, for example).
Obsolete media will generally be excluded from the scope of the takeover, or integrated at a later stage to preserve their history.
Multiple uses
Your project may well combine two or even three of the uses listed above. In this case, it is common practice to carry out a multi-stage takeover. Priority will be given to those media whose availability represents the greatest challenge.
As part of a DAM project with Keepeek, the takeover phase is anticipated right from the pre-sales stage. Dedicated workshops are held to define the scope of the project and remove any obstacles.
Our teams have fine-tuned a high-performance recovery process, from the audit phase through to verification tests. Features such as our deduplication module also enable you to "clean up" your content after recovery.
Do you have a DAM project that includes data recovery? Let's talk about it!
