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Media Production Team Scaling Rapidly
Company Situation
The company operates within the media production industry, managing dynamic and rapidly growing production teams. Their team size is around 20-25 users, including editors and other production personnel, who collaborate frequently on video and creative content projects. The company has been working with digital asset management (DAM) and cloud storage solutions for several years and is experienced in large-scale production workflows.
Existing Workflow
The company’s current workflow involves using multiple platforms to manage video assets and production files. They primarily rely on a legacy DAM solution, Frame.io, alongside Dropbox for archival storage of older footage and assets. In addition, the company maintains a local network-attached storage (NAS) system with approximately 50 terabytes of capacity for cold storage and longer-term archival. Their active storage needs fluctuate monthly, with about 1-3 terabytes of new content generated depending on shoot intensity. The company also uses Shade for review sessions and collaborative feedback, highlighting it as a key part of their daily operations.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
High Costs: The company is incurring significant monthly costs (around $500) on Frame.io, despite underutilizing the platform actively. Upgrading storage capacity with Frame.io is prohibitively expensive, running into thousands of dollars.
Storage Limitations: Their active storage needs have outpaced the current 10-11 terabyte cap, causing frequent overages and extra fees. Managing multiple storage solutions (Frame.io, Dropbox, NAS) creates complexity and inefficiency.
User Management Inefficiencies: The company is paying for more user seats than necessary because many users who only occasionally access files are upgraded to paid seats instead of guest accounts, inflating costs.
Performance Bottlenecks: The local NAS system, while cost-effective for cold storage, lacks the speed and flexibility needed for active production workflows.
Fragmented Asset Management: The need to transfer and archive legacy assets from Frame.io and Dropbox adds operational overhead and confusion.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a tailored enterprise-grade solution designed specifically for media production teams with growing storage and user management needs. By migrating fully to Shade, the company can consolidate active project files and review workflows into a single platform optimized for speed, collaboration, and storage efficiency. Shade’s flexible user roles allow the company to reclassify infrequent users as guests, reducing paid seat costs without sacrificing access control. Shade also provides scalable storage options that accommodate the company’s fluctuating monthly data needs, with transparent pricing that avoids costly overages. This streamlines the company’s entire asset lifecycle—from upload and review to archiving—eliminating the need for multiple disparate systems.
Benefits
- Significant cost savings by optimizing seat licenses and eliminating redundant platform fees
- Scalable storage that fits growing active data needs without exorbitant upgrade fees
- Improved collaboration through Shade’s intuitive review and feedback tools
- Simplified asset management by consolidating storage and archiving workflows
- Faster access and transfer speeds compared to local NAS for active projects
- Enhanced visibility and control over user permissions and storage utilization
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