For anyone looking to get a foothold toward a successful DAM implementation, and hoping to avoid pitfalls along the way, two questions inevitably come up. First, where do I begin? And second, how do I get there from here? The good news: a prescriptive approach should help.

When embarking on a DAM transformational journey, where should we start? Well, how about if we start with the end and ask ourselves, what are we really trying to achieve? That would be two things: an Operational System of Record (OSR), and User Adoption.

When embarking on a DAM initiative, make sure you know your DAM customer! Meaning, be clear about the specific target audience that will use your DAM, and focus your DAM development on meeting their specific needs. Geoffrey Moore’s classic Crossing the Chasm shows how it’s done.

When building your DAM Foundation, it’s not a bad idea to remind ourselves of the old saying that the battle is won or lost before it’s ever fought. This statement is often true – which raises the stakes in getting the foundational pieces of your DAM just right.

Building your DAM Solution is incredibly hard work. It’s about solving problems, not going around them. What that really means is we should strive to build a DAM that’s supremely helpful to end users. To achieve that, four key dimensions will come into play.

Building DAM Conformity is about ensuring your DAM’s success for the long-term. This certainly means governance – but a kinder and gentler version that can facilitate and help to maintain, along with Automation, a DAM that’s supremely helpful for end-users.