The advantages of organizing a PoC as part of a DAM project
You may be convinced of the benefits of implementing a Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution in your organization. However, this is a large-scale project that will require the involvement of many stakeholders. So you need guarantees of success.
How can you be sure of choosing the best partner to support you? How can you be sure that your project won't turn into a gas factory and blow your budget?
Do like Orange, La Redoute or Valeo: organize a PoC (Proof of Concept) !
What is a PoC?
A PoC is a proof of concept or feasibility demonstration. It involves implementing a solution, often incomplete and limited to a restricted scope, to ensure that the project you wish to develop is feasible with the envisaged solution.
Originally, the focus was on verifying technical feasibility to ensure that complex technical issues could be resolved . Today, the acronym PoC can be misused to refer to a prototype, a project with a limited scope, without any major technical challenge.
How does a PoC work in practice?
A PoC takes place as a very short and rather intense project involving the implementation of the solution on a small perimeter. The most important aspects to be validated are identified and included in full or in part in the PoC.
For example, a PoC as part of a DAM project can include document parameterization, a personalized portal, partial data recovery, SSO integration, or even specific developments of strategic importance to the company (e.g., setting up a CDN).
The PoC will ensure that the solution can be effectively integrated with your information system (PIM, website or e-commerce, CMS....), or that the migration of media and data from your old system to the new software is possible.
How long does a PoC last?
The PoC is often carried out within a fairly tight timeframe, in order to achieve a concrete result as quickly as possible (between one and six months maximum).
What's the difference with providing a test environment?
A test environment will enable you to test functionalities and try out the tool in real-life conditions.
PoC goes even further: you are supported by experts at every stage of the project (a documentalist for the documentary structure, a project manager forsoftware implementation, a technical consultant forintegration with your IS, etc.).
Your contacts will study your needs, raise issues you may not have thought of, and suggest the best solutions.
When should a PoC be avoided?
A PoC is not necessary when your DAM project is a simple one. If your needs are covered by the basic functionalities of a DAM, and if your project does not require specific developments, it will be quicker, simpler and cheaper to launch your project directly.
This type of strategy only pays off when the scope of the DAM project is vast, with complex issues to address.
What are the advantages?
The PoC will remove all the risks inherent in a large-scale IT project:
1. Validate the functional scope of your future solution
Choosing software after a demonstration or a few tests doesn't always mean you can be sure that the chosen solution will be the best suited to your needs. By setting up a PoC, you'll be able to test the possibilities and limits of the software you've chosen, in real-life conditions.
2. Make sure your service provider is reliable
Check whether the service provider's project management methodology is suitable for your organization. Are your contacts efficient, professional and proactive? Is the PoC schedule on schedule? Is the delivered solution in line with the expected result?
By carrying out a PoC, you can be sure that your partner is up to the task of accompanying you on a large-scale project.
3. Provide your management with proof of results
With PoC, you provide your decision-makers with proof of a result that, while partial, is concrete and measurable. This initial return on investment will help you convince them to commit to the costs of large-scale deployment.
4. Unite your users around your project
In just a few months, they'll see a concrete result and begin to see the benefits they can derive from a DAM. They will then be more inclined to support the project, take part in implementation workshops and provide you with the media they produce.
5. Readjust the scope of your project
We see it every day at Keepeek: DAM projects can change scope very quickly. It's thanks to our agile methods and the flexibility of our solution that we're able to include new issues, even in the middle of a project.
Once you've completed your PoC, present it to your organization: by seeing in concrete terms what the DAM enables, other departments may come up with similar needs. Other issues may also come to light, leading to changes that will have an impact on large-scale implementation.
6. Compare before you commit
If you have the means, you can launch a PoC on two separate solutions. This will enable you to compare all the aspects listed above: functionalities, project management methodology, user support...
Following their PoC, companies such as Orange, La Redoute and Valeo chose Keepeek to deploy their DAM solution.
Are you ready to get started? Contact us to discuss your DAM project!
