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Creative Agency Managing Long-Term Digital Asset Workflows
Company Situation
The company is a well-established creative agency with a 15-year track record, serving a diverse range of companies. Their team manages digital assets both internally and for companies, leveraging a digital asset management (DAM) system as part of their service offerings. They are preparing to onboard several new contracts in the upcoming year, aiming to productize their DAM services by managing asset storage and access on behalf of their companies.
Existing Workflow
The agency currently uses a well-known DAM platform to handle asset review, approval, and storage. Their workflow supports both internal teams and companies, allowing shared access to approved assets. Over time, they have transitioned through several DAM systems, settling on their current platform for storage and collaboration needs. Their users include internal team members with varying levels of access, as well as companies who require limited browsing capabilities.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
Despite the DAM’s capabilities, the company faces several challenges:
Increasing operational costs, especially for user licenses with tiered pricing that does not align well with actual usage, leading to paying for high-cost licenses for simple access users.
Difficulty managing and understanding cloud storage costs, with growing volumes of data that include orphaned or outdated assets no longer linked to active companies.
The current system has become unwieldy and costly over time, complicating asset inventory and cost control.
They lack a transparent way to monitor and manage data storage efficiently, resulting in ongoing expenses for unused or forgotten assets.
Their need to offer a DAM-as-a-service model requires a flexible platform that supports company access without excessive licensing costs or administrative overhead.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a cloud NAS-type solution that integrates review, approval, and metadata tagging with a cost-effective licensing model. Key workflow improvements include:
- Mounting cloud drives directly on local machines, enabling editors to stream assets into their editing software without needing to download large files.
- A simplified licensing structure that charges only for users needing full drive mounting, while offering free guest access for companies with limited permissions.
- Transparent and manageable storage that allows the agency to identify and clean up unused or orphaned data, reducing unnecessary costs.
- Flexible guest permissions at the drive level, enabling easy company collaboration without inflating user license costs.
- A platform designed to support DAM-as-a-service offerings, allowing the agency to package asset management as a product for companies efficiently.
Benefits
- Significant cost savings on user licenses and cloud storage management.
- Streamlined editing workflows through cloud drive mounting and direct asset streaming.
- Enhanced visibility and control over data storage and asset lifecycle.
- Improved company collaboration with tailored access permissions and free guest accounts.
- Scalable platform that supports the agency’s growth and new contract onboarding.
- Simplified administration and reduced complexity in asset management.
Technologies Used
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