Difference Between Cloud Storage and a Hosted DAM?

We made a video outlining some of the differences between Cloud Storage and a true hosted Digital Asset Management System (DAM). This post dives a little deeper into the differences providing more comparison between the two.
 
Typical Cloud Storage is Web-based, providing a common location for sharing of computer files. These are usually documents (Office/Google Docs, Open Office), PDFs, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Digital Images, and maybe Video and Audio files. These assets are frequently branded. They may or may not contain sensitive/confidential information requiring multiple levels of access control. The user experience can be as simple as emulating a local computer drive presentation to more complex presentations.
 
Cloud storage systems may offer user access control established by an administrator. Internal and external asset downloading and sharing activity may or may not be controlled and tracked. Asset versioning (highly desirable in production environments) may not be offered. Keyword and metadata search capabilities may or may not be available.
 
More sophisticated Cloud Storage plans such as Dropbox and Google Drive offer more capability but still may not approach the rich feature sets of dedicated DAM systems. Highly capable DAMs provide extensive keyword management (facilitating asset search), automated image resizing for different resolution needs, extraction of valuable EXIF data from image files, compliance with GDPR privacy standards, and so on. Rather than depending on a one size fits all basic file sharing solution, a highly customizable DAM system offers greater flexibility, expandability, and security for your valuable branded Digital Assets. A capable DAM system can also enhance project workflow.
 
Before deciding on a cloud file storage/sharing system take time to evaluate your organization’s current and potential future needs/wants with respect to your branded Digital Assets.
 

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