The Growing Relationship Between DAM and Remote Working

Remote work/the new normal/hybrid office. Call it what you want, today’s workplaces are a lot less reliant on physical space and in-person projects than they used to be. 

Although there are many benefits of remote work, teams around the world are still feeling the pinch of planning, executing and delivering projects whilst working away from the office. Collaboration and communication difficulties remain one of the biggest struggles of remote working, showing the messaging and teamwork apps we’ve all come to know aren’t solving the problem.

Digital asset management (DAM) solutions are presenting a welcome antidote in the somewhat tedious world of continued remote work. Organizations are looking to DAM platforms to help bridge the gap between remote teams of all sizes, and help them communicate and collaborate as well as they did in the office.

Let’s explore the ways businesses are finding success with DAM platforms. But first, an important question…

What exactly is digital asset management?

DAM can come in all shapes and sizes, but as a singular definition, let’s call DAM a centralized “single source of truth” that organizations can use to store, organize, find, retrieve and share their entire digital content catalogue. Every organization can utilize a DAM platform; from museums to universities, galleries, enterprises, even police forces can use DAM to ensure the security of case-critical information. 

How is DAM helping remote teams?

It’s “business anywhere” with cloud-based solutions

Remote accessibility to files and assets is a huge challenge when you use in-house servers or hard drives. Manually finding, downloading and sending individual assets to remote teams is a prohibitively difficult task, which can increase tenfold if you’re working with especially large files, such as videos.

Cloud-based DAM solutions ensure everyone has the ability to securely access, upload, download and share the assets they need to continue working efficiently – no matter where they are. Using a cloud-based DAM frees organizations from the constraints of physical storage, allowing them to access assets from the office, garden, kitchen table or anywhere they have internet access. It’s ideal for the hybrid, hot-desk culture many organizations are operating.

DAM systems have extra layers of protection for precious data.

Keyboard slip ups, forgetting to press “save”—accidents happen all the time, especially when teams are working away from their usual environment. DAM platforms provide an extra layer of protection for precious assets whilst teams are working under unusual conditions. Many systems back-up assets in real time and maintain thorough change logs, protecting assets from accidental deletion or manipulation.

DAM platforms also have security features such as watermarking capabilities, control access and usage rights. These help to ensure that assets are used appropriately when teams are working remotely, and may be struggling to communicate easily. 

Share securely and draw value from assets with deployable portals

Portals and micro-sites are an incredible feature of many DAM platforms, they help remote teams securely share assets, and can even provide organizations with new revenue streams. They can grant teams and partners selective access to assets even if they’re not a user of your DAM, easing the pressure of remote stakeholder meetings or press conferences. The ability to grant access to third parties is of huge help to remote teams, as they can rest-assured that individuals will be viewing exactly the right assets, in their correct quality, resolution and format.

Portals also offer organizations a way to showcase their assets, perhaps when physical exhibitions are not possible. Virtual galleries can be created by branding DAM portals, and are a great way for organizations to get the most out of their assets whilst remaining remote.

Adaptable DAM solution are the cornerstone of effective remote collaboration

The flexibility and easy accessibility of cloud-enabled DAM solutions make them the perfect addition to remote teams’ tech stacks. They’re the answer to the common, and all too familiar, working-from-home gripes like tediously slow access to documents, disrupted project workflows and lack of communication. If you’re one of the 97% of UK companies implementing a hybrid working strategy, you should consider an adaptable DAM solution for the productivity (and sanity) of your remote employees.