How to Select a Digital Content Management System

As a cataloger, you want to present the right information at the right time to the right customers in their preferred media.

Indeed, your company’s success may be based on the ability to market products accurately and retain a consistent message across all of your marketing vehicles, including print, Web and direct mail.

Today, many catalogers find that about 30 percent of their customers use print catalogs as their shopping lists and the Web as their actual ordering method. To guarantee customer satisfaction, then, it’s crucial that your product information be consistent in both channels. That’s where technologies such as digital content management (DCM) and digital asset management (DAM) systems can help.

DCM and DAM Defined

The terms digital content management (DCM) and digital asset management (DAM) often are used interchangeably. Unfortunately, this fuels confusion among technology specifiers. The general difference between DCM and DAM systems can be seen in the depth to which your products will penetrate your publishing processes.

DAM systems offer functionality based on managing a large number of granular files (e.g., image, audio, video, documents). Such systems provide a mechanism for assigning metadata, searching, browsing, retrieving, versioning and protecting files. They also may be configured to manage the workflow that supports the creation and modification of these assets.

Meanwhile, DCM technology solutions provide the general asset management functions listed above, in addition to a mechanism for assembling and tracking the content at both a granular and document level (e.g., assets, metadata, pickups, stored compound documents) for publishing requirements. Asset management is the first step in developing a comprehensive system to manage an entire publishing process from end-to-end for print, Internet and variable-publishing channels.

DCM systems create a bridge between product marketing and creative services. This is both a literal bridge between product information systems and desktop publishing applications, and a figurative one that provides a collaborative environment for users to develop and produce online and print catalogs.