System Integration
Having a functional digital asset management system as a stand alone product serves the purpose of providing a central location of digital assets for management, organization and distribution. A key element to digital asset management is the ability to integrate with other applications.
Information Exchange
Exchanging information with existing internal applications or outsourced partners is an essential part and a logical next step at the time of or after implementation. Managing metadata, or digital asset descriptive information, is one aspect of system integration. Communicating in real-time using web services with contact management, customer relationship management, and various other applications ensures the consistency of content across all systems.
Populate Web Sites
Populating external web sites dynamically with images, content, and PDF documents is an essential component to establishing a true central repository of digital assets that drives and updates the various other locations where digital assets may reside.
Open Architecture
Utilizing a vendor with a proprietary system will eventually (some more quickly than others) lead to dead-end functionality with the inability to grow and adopt the changing technological environment. This caution flag should be raised immediately and evaluated carefully to ensure the digital asset management vendor can adapt and grow with the demands of your organization.
Recommendations
Recommended components of a digital asset management vendor include the following structures:
Programming Language: Java in a J2EE environment
Architecture: Open source frameworks
Web Services: SOAP
