Implementing a DAM enables unlimited school departments and stakeholders to streamline their digital asset storage and distribution methods without compromising on security. Uncover the benefits of a DAM for higher education.

From Ivy League schools to community colleges, the education sector is becoming more competitive than ever, constantly battling for funding and new students. As competition increases, having a significant digital presence can be key in driving recruitment, engaging students, and attracting donors. But, the larger your digital presence, the more content you need to be creating, which often leads to an overflow of digital assets and no scalable way to manage them.

This is where a DAM comes in.

We’ll cover how DAM benefits higher education institutions by:

• Removing bottlenecks,
• Providing secure access,
• Enabling access to branded content,
• Tracking asset rights, and
• Preserving history

We’ll also explain how MediaValet has helped countless higher education customers.

DAM for Higher Education: What are the Benefits?

A digital asset management system (DAM) helps universities and colleges to better manage their content and establish a solid foundation for their long-term digital strategy, acting as a central library for all of their visual assets such as photos, videos, graphics, logos, and more.

Here are 5 benefits of a DAM system that are allowing leading universities and colleges to maximize the ROI of their content and increase the overall productivity of their departments.

Removing Bottlenecks

With asset requests constantly coming in from the marketing department, the alumni association, and other departments, there are frequent bottlenecks for IT departments and digital teams, as they try to track down the correct assets in the formats requested. Many universities today, including the University of Windsor, are using a DAM to remove these bottlenecks by empowering departments and individual users to access a single media library, where they can easily search for and share approved photos, videos, and more, without having to contact the IT department. Some DAM systems have AI capabilities that allow you to optimize discoverability by automatically tagging assets with relevant keywords.

Providing Secure Access

Universities and colleges can have thousands of faculty members, staff, students, and partners, all based in different locations. Therefore, in most schools, there are countless different priorities and needs for the files and brand assets to keep up with. A DAM system allows administrators to set custom permission settings, ensuring that specific departments, seniorities, and other stakeholders will only have access to the assets that are relevant to them. You can manually set permissions or enable single-sign-on with Azure Active Directory or Okta.

Giving Immediate Access to Branded Content

Distribution can be a major challenge for universities, especially when they’re working across multiple locations and in different languages. Whenever a brochure or piece of content is updated, the marketing team needs to ensure the change is communicated to the necessary departments. A DAM allows universities, like the University of Wollongong, to make their content widely available while complying with security requirements, ensuring users can access the most up-to-date brochures, newsletters, reports, and recruitment material 24/7.

Tracking Individual Asset Rights

Each year, leading universities collect a flurry of photos and videos from fundraisers, speaker conferences, and commencement ceremonies. With so many digital assets being collected, it can be hard to keep track of what rights are attached to which photos or videos. With a DAM in place, schools are able to attach the photographer, expiration date, and usage rights directly to each asset, while also linking it to the appropriate model release form, ensuring that there’s no illegal use of assets.

Preserving History

Throughout a post-secondary’s lifespan, there are countless assets that have derived from different marketing channels, events, and faculties that all contribute to an extensive media library. While a DAM system can be primarily used to organize a current or growing library, it’s also a great tool to help preserve and archive assets. With DAM, universities can easily archive and store photos and videos from each year and event, all the while ensuring they are secure and in turn preserving the school’s legacy for years to come.

Why Choose a MediaValet DAM for Higher Education

According to the 2024 DAM Trends Report, MediaValet’s higher education customers are incredibly happy with their DAM.

• 92% of our higher education customers have achieved ROI in just 28 months!
• 80% of higher education customers at MediaValet save money on their asset creation!
• MediaValet’s higher education customers experience weekly time savings of 67%!

But sometimes numbers aren’t the most important thing to know about a platform. Do customers enjoy working with MediaValet? In short, yes!

Emory University discussed how much they’ve enjoyed using MediaValet.

“MediaValet is working really well for us and I’m excited to just continue to grow with it and take advantage of new features as they are introduced.”

UCSF told us that their DAM has massively impacted their organization.

“The DAM has become more than a central repository, it’s become like a brain for the neurosurgery department serving us in so many ways!”

We’ve helped dozens of universities streamline and improve their digital asset management, and bolster their online presence. Some of our partners include Saint Leo University, The University of Windsor, and Emory University.

These are only a few examples of the benefits of DAM for higher education institutions. If you’re ready to take a deeper look at digital asset management best practices and evaluate if you’re ready for a DAM, here’s how MediaValet enables schools to better manage their content: Digital Asset Management for Higher Education.

When it comes down to it, choosing a DAM for higher education institutes can be a daunting task. Finding and implementing a solution that truly fits your needs is imperative to your success. We break down 5 key steps for schools to follow when searching for a DAM solution.

Higher education institutes have the difficult task of marketing to an audience about arguably the most important and emotional decision of their lives. Whether they’re attending school for the first time, or heading back to improve their skill set, selecting a school is often knitted tightly with an individual’s educational values and personal goals.

In this competitive market, colleges and universities across the world compete for all levels of funding and to gain the attention of prospective new students. But, to stay ahead in this industry, organizations need to optimize their marketing strategies and messaging to create long-lasting connections with potential students.

In this blog post, we’ll cover:

• Why higher education institutions need DAM
• How to choose a DAM
• Why MediaValet is the right DAM for higher ed

Why Higher Education Institutes Need a DAM

Building emotional connections through marketing today requires the use of powerful visuals to grab the attention of prospective students, and this leads to an accumulation of digital files. Without managing these digital files, your organization can experience several challenges that will ultimately hinder your marketing efforts, and reduce the effectiveness of campaigns.

Many schools store their marketing and promotional content across departments, which can cause bottlenecks due to IT departments or digital teams being solely responsible for filling requests for the entire institution. Other, often smaller-sized schools, hold each department individually responsible for storing, managing, finding, and sharing assets. With this storage strategy, staff often spend excessive amounts of time searching for content that is stored on individual hard drives, and, in some cases, is never found.

Even when your assets are systematically managed on hard drives, local files, or even an outdated digital asset management (DAM) system, there’s often uncertainty about which versions are the most up-to-date and who has permission to use which assets for what purpose. This becomes a bigger problem when schools have tens of thousands of faculty members, staff, students, and partners with various needs, rights, and access levels. Without a permissions & controls structure, all groups potentially have access to assets that they shouldn’t be using. For many institutions with multiple users, providing access to the most current assets becomes a very sticky problem.

Choosing a DAM for Higher Education – 5 Tips for Success

As colleges start creating overwhelming amounts of content, they often start looking for a digital asset management solution but quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the process of choosing a DAM vendor.

After working with other organizations that have suffered similar pains, we wanted to share these 5 tips that will make choosing a DAM for your higher education institute much easier:

1. Learn the needs of your future users

When you’re dealing with an organization that’s made up of dozens of departments, offices, and groups and hundreds of individual users, it makes sense to systematically map out all potential uses and understand which permission levels are needed. Typically, marketing teams handle the “management” of the DAM and require admin access and training to make the most of the DAM system. Other individual academic departments and university offices will require more controlled permissions that ensure they use the most up-to-date assets.

Some schools also benefit from allowing public access to the DAM system, encouraging individuals to upload images from campus events and fundraisers, or downloading the school’s logo and other brand material. When choosing a DAM you need to ensure all of these functions are accounted for from the start.

The University of Windsor achieved major success with a MediaValet DAM that’s used daily by almost 40 people. Read more about it here.

2. Hold meetings dedicated to planning a DAM initiative

Holding a series of planning meetings that define and strategize on the DAM initiative is the best way to ensure that all users are accounted for. Although it can be near impossible to meet with every possible DAM user, in the past our customers have nominated representatives from each department and/or location to represent them on a DAM committee to ensure their needs are heard and tended to. This process provides an informed understanding of the needs of everyone across the entire school and allows you to set up your DAM in a way that will accommodate everyone.

The University of Wollongong laid out a list of requirements that led them to choose a MediaValet DAM, since implementation, their initiatives have gone from strength to strength. Read more about it here.

3. Build a list of requirements

When planning a DAM initiative, it’s best to write out and prioritize a list of technology, security, and user interface requirements.

Universities and colleges vary widely in structure, so not every school will be using the DAM solution in the same way. For large institutions, it may be necessary to choose a DAM that’s cloud-based and can provide access to public users in addition to department representatives, with relevant permissions for each group. Some other schools won’t need public access but will require all departments and offices to have the same high-level access. Each scenario is completely dependent on each school’s strategy and workflow.

When you start with a clear list of requirements, you’ll more likely select a DAM that will work over the long haul. It also doesn’t hurt to structure your list in a hierarchy, so you know which items should hold more weight in the decision-making process.

4. Consider the cloud

The cloud is taking over, but some organizations are nervous to pick up this growing trend. There are often many fears that come with adopting a cloud-based solution – number one being security and number two being ownership. Won’t assets stored in the cloud be more susceptible to piracy? And does a school set itself up for asset loss by turning control over to an outside vendor?

There are a number of concerns regarding the cloud, but lots of organizations in higher education are making the switch and suggesting others do the same.

Emory University uses a MediaValet DAM to keep up with the demands of its 40 schools, academic units, and healthcare partners, without compromising on security. Read more about it here.

5. Schedule a DAM demo

Finally, every one of our customers in higher education (and other industries) has felt that they benefited from demoing several DAM solutions. This is not just because a demo will allow you to “try before you buy,” which is certainly one component, but because DAM vendors function incredibly differently.

Sitting through a demo will not only give you a sense of the product but will also give you a sense of the company that will be on the other end of your new tech solution. This is the group that will be there when you need additional services when a new group of users needs training, and when you need help with your metadata structure. Not only will a demo allow you to get a sense of the product itself, but it will also help determine whether the company and its style of customer service is a fit for your organization.

For a full breakdown on how to best choose and buy the right digital asset management system for your organization, read this complimentary guide: The 2024 DAM Buying Guide.

Why MediaValet is the Right DAM for Higher Education Institutions

According to the 2024 DAM Trends Report, MediaValet’s higher ed users:

• Achieve ROI in less than 18 months (92%)
• Save money on asset creation (80%), and
• Cut time searching for assets in half (54%)

If you’re currently in the market for a new DAM or hoping to elevate your digital asset management system to a cloud-based DAM we would love to help you on your journey.

In higher education, where securing future students depends on making deep and lasting connections, each and every marketing, advertising, and outreach campaign has to get it right. By taking the time to implement a well-thought-out DAM solution, your organization can keep your brand consistent across campus campaigns and ensure your audience only comes into contact with approved and up-to-date visual products.

Want to know more about whether MediaValet is the right DAM for you? Get a demo here to find out!

What is MAM? And what is the difference between a MAM and a DAM? Making the right choice, requires an in-depth understanding of the definitions and differences between each system. This knowledge is crucial to selecting the appropriate solution for your business.

Both digital asset management software and media asset management software allow organizations to manage digital assets, but their functionalities and integrations set them apart.

While we’ve already covered the major differences between DAM and traditional online document storage, DAM and CMS or a file-sharing platform, it’s time to tackle another asset management solution. Here. we’ll cover what is MAM? and we’ll compare digital asset management vs. media asset management.

In this blog post, we dive into the key differences between DAM and MAM and help you discover which is the best asset management software for your organization.

Since its inception, digital asset management software (DAM) and media asset management software (MAM) have often been referenced interchangeably. After all, with only a one-word difference between their names, it can be easy to confuse the two. But, while their names, and even definitions, are similar, their functionality is tailored to very different markets.

To understand the difference between the asset management tools, a good starting point is to look at the definition of each:

Media Asset Management Definition

Media asset management software is an online platform used to organize, store, and manage rich media, and digital rights and permissions.

A MAM is used to manage and distribute large-sized media files, typically focusing on time-based assets like videos and audio. It’s most frequently used by the broadcast industry to manage large video clips.

Digital Asset Management Definition

A DAM is used to organize and distribute media, visuals and content, typically focused on brand and marketing-related assets. It’s usually owned by the marketing team but can be accessed by multiple teams, including sales, product management, communications, and partners.

Let’s take a look at each solution more in-depth!

Digital Asset Management vs. Media Asset Management: The Key Differences

According to Firework, 82% of internet traffic in 2025 will be video, making it increasingly important for organizations to effectively organize and manage their growing libraries of rich digital media assets.

This has caused a variety of solutions to emerge, ranging from simple file repositories to enterprise-level digital libraries. But, with each vendor offering similar-sounding features, it can be difficult to nail-down which solution is right for you.

Let’s break down the differences between MAM software and DAM software.

What is MAM?

Media asset management originally emerged as a solution for managing video files and audio content for the television and movie industry. With production and distribution workflows focused specifically on building long-form (20 minutes or more), time-based content, it’s often the solution of choice for organizations dealing primarily with large-sized videos. As MAMs focus primarily on video, they also often have the most comprehensive integrations into the tools that video production teams are already using.

ImagenVP defines media asset management software (MAM) as:

“A single repository for storing and managing video and multi-media files.”

While a MAM provides in-depth management of video, it’s lacking the ability to effectively manage, preview and distribute smaller files, like documents, images and work-in-progress files. This means that, while it’s a great solution for production teams, it’s less viable for marketing and creative teams, who require the wider breadth of management capabilities that a DAM can provide.

Key Features of Media Asset Management Software

A media asset management solution has a ton of features, but its key features are:

• Storing and managing large-format video, audio files, and multimedia files
• Workflow management for video creation
• Providing permission-based access to content

The Bottom Line

Media asset management software (MAM) is best for teams with a heavy focus on long-form video and audio content and a large media asset library, with minimal use of other visuals, like images and design files.

What is DAM?

A digital asset management system is an integral part of the media content creation process, helping marketing teams organize, collaborate on and distribute their rich media files and visual media from within one central library. By providing a single-source-of-truth for all the important visual content within an organization, a DAM reduces internal bottlenecks and improves brand consistency across all channels.

TechTarget defines digital asset management software (DAM) as:

“A system for organizing, storing and retrieving rich media and managing digital rights and permissions.”

With a DAM, users can manage nearly any type of digital file. From within the system, users can perform a variety of functions, including re-sizing & re-formatting their media, tracking usage history and sharing large files easily with external parties. A DAM also provides organizations with increased media security, such as user permissions, compliance regulations and backups.

Key Features of Digital Asset Management Software

At first glance, a DAM can seem similar to a MAM, but it has some differentiating features:

• Storing and managing brand and marketing material (photos, videos, video and multimedia files, etc.)
• Enriching assets with custom AI-generated metadata, such as keywords
• Version control and history tracking for all media assets
• Manipulating assets into other forms, such as file type or size
• Access permissions for internal and external users
• Video Intelligence (AVI) to automatically tag, recognize, and transcribe media rich files.

Check out out free MediaValet tour here!

Why choose a MediaValet DAM?

MediaValet customers find that DAM has been able to satisfy their light-MAM requirements through our video specific feature sets and support, including:

• CI HUB enabling creatives and video editors to easily connect to their DAM library from within a variety of tools including Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects
• A high performing, infinitely scalable Azure PaaS back-end, ensuring persistent lightning-fast ingestion and querying of video assets, regardless of library size
• World-class support for viewing, streaming, and transforming video, leveraging Azure Media Services
• Audio & Video Intelligence tool (Built on Azure Video Analyzer)

According the 2025 DAM Trends Report, MediaValet users who use AI-powered features like AVI are seeing big benefits in their rich asset management.

In fact 100% of those using Video Intelligence are expanding their digital presence.

While a DAM provides great functionality for managing a wide breadth of digital assets, including video, its video capabilities are evolving and enhancing through AI-powered technology.

Fred Rogers Productions have used their MediaValet DAM’s audio-visual intelligence (AVI) to achieve incredible results with their huge repository of video! Read more about it here.

The Bottom Line

Whether you’re leaning towards DAM or MAM, the most crucial aspect is understanding your organization’s unique needs. Efficiently managing your digital assets can transform your operations, ensuring content is always at your fingertips.

A DAM is best for companies that need a better way to produce, store, collaborate on, share and distribute large amounts of marketing and creative content (photos, videos, audio, etc.)

Does a DAM sound like a better fit than MAM? Contact us today to find out how a MediaValet DAM can help your organization – book a demo here!

MediaValet is a leader in cloud-based digital asset management that helps organizations manage, organize and share their digital assets, improving productivity and increasing ROI.

When it comes to understanding cloud-based systems like Google Drive vs DAM or Digital Asset Management, most people are left feeling a little confused. A frequent question we get from organizations looking to understand what value a DAM solution can offer their team is often: “What’s the difference?”.

While both Google Drive and DAM systems can technically store your digital assets, their capabilities vary greatly. With the amount of content being created by marketing teams today, it’s vital to not only secure your assets in the cloud but do so in a way that can improve efficiency for your entire team; that’s where a full-service DAM comes in.

In this post, we dive deep into the differences between the two systems so that you can better understand why a DAM may be the upgrade from Google Drive that you’re looking for. To compare and contrast the two systems, we’ll need to better understand each system individually.

Digital Asset Management

A DAM is a file management system focused on digital media used to store, organize, collaborate on and distribute visual content (photos, videos, graphics, etc.) all from within one central library. Typically focused on brand and marketing-related assets, a DAM is conventionally owned by the marketing team, but can also be used and accessed by many other teams within your organization to maximize productivity.

A DAM offers excellent features that allow users to manage any type of digital file and perform a variety of beneficial functions, including re-sizing and re-formatting their media, tracking usage history, and sharing large files easily. Additionally, a DAM provides organizations with increased media security, such as user permissions, compliance regulations, and watermarking.

Take a self-guided walk through the MediaValet DAM here!

Key Features of a DAM

1. Sophisticated Organization & Search: A DAM makes storing, managing, and finding brand and marketing material (photos, videos, etc.) easy with artificial intelligence, keywords, and advanced search capabilities.
2. Advanced Asset Security: Access permissions for internal and external users give organizations tighter rein on digital media. A DAM offers version control, history tracking, and watermarks, as well as enhanced security and compliance.
3. Better Media Sharing: A DAM includes features that enable easy sharing of large media files, such as high-resolution images, large-format videos, etc., over email, web galleries, or Branded Portals.

The Bottom Line

While a DAM allows for text-based file management, it’s best for companies that need a better way to produce, store, and distribute large amounts of rich media content (photos, videos, audio, etc.).

Google Drive

Google Drive is a free, cloud-based digital file storage and sharing platform available both on a desktop and as a smartphone app. Upgraded, paid plans are available for those who require storage capacity above and beyond the free version. Google Drive is used for individuals and organizations who need somewhere to store and organize their visual assets, documents, and other digital files that can be accessed and shared from anywhere.

Key Features of Google Drive

1. Easy File Sharing: You can create convenient shareable links for easy file sharing. When creating the link, users can choose the permission of the recipient as either an editor or a viewer of the file, determining who can comment, edit and review documents.
2. Convenient File Syncing: Google Drive provides file syncing performance using a sync folder on the user’s computer that connects with the cloud. It also offers a selective sync functionality that gives users the choice of which folders to sync to their hard drives and which to sync to the cloud.
3. Storage Scalability: Google Drive offers free versions and business plans that scale with price and storage, which means you don’t have to worry about running out of space (as long as you have the budget).

The Bottom Line

If you’re an organization that needs basic storage, sharing, and search capabilities as well as the option to scale up in storage space, Google Drive may be a fit. It’s also preferable for those already using the other features of Google Workplace (such as Gmail or Google Meet), as they’re sold within the same packages. However, if you’re working with massive amounts of assets and files, you’ll probably want to look at a system with unlimited storage at an affordable price, with more sophisticated security features and file discoverability, like a DAM.

Why Organizations Choose to Upgrade from Google Drive to a DAM

While many organizations begin with storing their files in a free cloud-based system like Google Drive, they often find that as they grow, they need a more robust solution to manage their content – especially their rich media. While organizations gain vast benefits from upgrading to a DAM, here are a few noteworthy features:

• Category Access Management: With a DAM you can set up custom access permissions for your team, which means only the right people have access to the right assets.
• Previewing: With a DAM, users can preview design files, PDFs, videos, 3D files, large format images, etc.
• Asset Rendering and Resizing: A DAM enables users to customize the format and size of each asset when they download or share them. Users no longer need help from the design team, they simply need permission to use the rendering feature.
• Advanced Search: A DAM offers additional advanced search features, including AI auto-tagging, that allow you to find what you’re looking for without the hassle of sifting through a large number of assets.
• Support and Training: A DAM (specifically, MediaValet) offers unlimited onboarding and training, meaning that if you’re ever having challenges or need a refresher, MediaValet will immediately help you, free of charge.
• Data Security: MediaValet is committed to delivering enterprise-level compliance and security, so you always feel confident your assets are protected.

Is it Time for an Upgrade?

After reviewing the main features that both Google Drive and a DAM offer, it’s clear why many organizations are choosing to upgrade to a digital asset management system. Teams with large amounts of rich media who are looking to improve efficiency, need advanced asset discoverability and increased security, and are looking to steadily scale up in terms of storage and users should look at choosing a DAM solution.

MediaValet is a digital asset management solution trusted by hundreds of leading brands worldwide to help them maximize their high-value digital assets. This G2 report compares MediaValet to other DAM vendors.

MediaValet is a leader in cloud-based digital asset management that helps organizations manage, organize and share their digital assets, improving productivity and increasing ROI.

In today’s digital-first world, where content creation grows exponentially, organizations find themselves drowning in an ever-expanding sea of digital files. With so many software options out there to help, how can you differentiate between Dropbox and a digital asset management (DAM) system?

When looking for new options and considering how to upgrade their file management systems, many organizations get caught wondering why bother?

According to GrandViewResearch, the global digital content creation market size was valued at USD 32.28 billion in 2024 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.9% from 2025 to 2030.

This significant growth rate underscores the increasing demand for engaging and visually appealing content and digital assets across various industries, but in order to understand which system your organization should choose, it’s important to compare and contrast. This blog post will cover the differences between Dropbox and DAM.

What is Digital Asset Management (DAM)?

A DAM is a file management system focused on digital media used to store, organize, collaborate on and distribute visual content (photos, videos, graphics, etc.) all from within one central library. Typically focused on brand and marketing-related assets, a DAM is conventionally owned by the marketing team, but can also be used and accessed by many other teams within your organization to maximize productivity.

A DAM offers features that allow users to manage any type of digital file and perform a variety of beneficial functions, including re-sizing and re-formatting their media, tracking usage history, and sharing large files easily.

Additionally, a DAM provides organizations with increased media security, such as user permissions, compliance regulations, and watermarking. Security features are becoming more and more important – your digital assets are an imperative part of your brand and should be protected.

Key Features of a DAM

1. Sophisticated Search Capabilities: A DAM makes storing, managing, and finding brand and marketing material (photos, videos, etc.) easy with artificial intelligence, keywords, and advanced search capabilities.
2. Permission Settings: Customized access permissions for internal and external users give organizations a tighter rein on digital media. A DAM offers version control, history tracking, and watermarks, as well as enhanced security and compliance.
3. Easy Distribution: A DAM includes features that enable easy sharing of large media files, such as high-resolution images, large-format videos, etc., over email, web galleries, or Branded Portals.
4. Robust Security Measures: Digital asset management systems such as MediaValet offer top-tier security measures to keep your previous brand assets safe and secure. In fact, MediaValet is the highest-rated DAM vendor, with an A rating from Security Scorecard (99/100).

Why a MediaValet DAM?

MediaValet is not a basic storage solution; it’s a powerhouse for managing, accessing, and sharing a wide range of digital media. MediaValet stands out in the DAM space, especially in security – it’s the top-rated DAM vendor on Security Scorecard. This is particularly relevant in light of Dropbox’s January 2024 data breach, which exposed the vulnerabilities in its security measures.

A MediaValet DAM is best for companies that need a better way to produce, store and distribute large amounts of rich media content (photos, videos, audio, etc.). Even if you are a smaller organization, as you scale, MediaValet can continue to serve you and keep your brand assets safe yet accessible.

Interested in how a MediaValet DAM looks in action? Take our free, self-guided tour here!

What is Dropbox?

Dropbox is one of the most popular online file-sharing services on the market. It provides a web-based library to store, organize and share digital files like PDFs, word documents, images, and videos. Dropbox has a free version with minimal storage, and upgraded, paid packages that scale with storage needs.

Dropbox can be an ideal file storage solution for organizations in their early stages, and has some easy-to-use features that can make it a great foundation for housing and managing smaller file libraries.

It’s worth noting, however, that in January 2024 the mother of all data breaches, as Forbes called it, was reported. These types of security issues are becoming increasingly prevalent; 26 billion leaked records, including Dropbox data, were found in a database highlighting the vulnerabilities and potential risks for growing organizations considering an option that cannot provide true security.

Key Features of Dropbox

1. Enhanced Search: Dropbox offers refined search capabilities with file type filtering and advanced sorting.
2. Easy Sharing: Dropbox creates shareable links for convenient and easy file sharing. When creating the link, users can choose the permission of the recipient as an editor or viewer of the file, and offers password protection on shareable links.
3. Effortless Syncing: Dropbox has a sync folder on the user’s computer that syncs with the cloud. It offers a selective sync functionality that gives users the choice of which folders to sync to their hard drive and which to only sync to the cloud.

Bottom Line

Dropbox is an easy-to-use online file-sharing system that would be a great choice for a small-to-medium organization that has a smaller budget for file storage.

It would not be a fit for organizations actively growing and scaling up their content creation and storage needs, as it would make the price tag increase considerably. It is best for those who don’t need advanced security and user permission settings, but instead, a general hub for storing and sharing files with some basic password protection options.

Why Organizations Choose to Upgrade from Dropbox to DAM

Many organizations begin by using Dropbox or a similar file-sharing system, only to find that as they grow, they need a more robust solution to manage their content—especially their rich media.

However, many organizations find that while an option like Dropbox works for a time, it simply can’t support their growth. With significant issues in security, many companies find that its more beneficial to move from Dropbox to a dedicated DAM system.

The recent Dropbox breach serves as a wake-up call. Organizations that once relied on Dropbox are now turning to DAM systems for enhanced security, scalability, and functionality. A DAM system like MediaValet not only addresses the growing digital asset needs but also provides:

• Previewing: With a DAM, users can preview design files, PDFs, videos, 3D files, large format images, etc. whereas Dropbox has more limited file review capabilities, depending on the file type.
• Asset Rendering and Resizing: A DAM enables users to customize the format and size of each asset when they download or share them. Users no longer need help from the design team, they simply need permission to use the rendering feature.
• Searching: A DAM offers additional advanced search features, including AI auto-tagging, that allow you to find what you’re looking for without the hassle of sifting through a large number of assets.
• Support and Training: A DAM (specifically, MediaValet) offers unlimited onboarding and training, meaning that if you’re ever having challenges or need a refresher, MediaValet will immediately help you, free of charge.

You can learn more about digital asset management pricing options here!

Outgrown Your Digital Storage Needs?

After a closer look at both Dropbox and DAM, it’s clear why many organizations are choosing to upgrade to a digital asset management system. Basic file-sharing systems like Dropbox often serve as a starting point, and as organizations grow, their content creation grows with them—meaning their file storage and sharing needs to scale as well.

Only a DAM can truly scale with a company and meet ongoing needs, not only for storage but for advanced security, search functionality, support, and training. Your digital files need to be safe, easily discoverable when needed, and easily shared. See how MediaValet compares to other DAM vendors in this G2 report.

The tremendous growth of web-based collaborative tools and file-sharing platforms has led to people wondering what exactly the difference is between these kinds of solutions. More specifically, what’s the difference between a cloud digital asset management solution (DAM) and a tool like Microsoft SharePoint? Secondary to that: if you have one, do you need the other? With some overlapping features and capabilities, it’s understandable that there’s some confusion.

In this post, we’ll cover the differences between the two systems and answer various questions you may have when considering these platforms. Specifically, we’ll touch on the definition of a DAM and SharePoint, the key features of each solution, and how to choose which is best for you.

Microsoft SharePoint Explained

TechTerms describes SharePoint as “a web-based platform used for sharing files and information. It is designed for teams and provides collaboration features, such as project management, messaging, and shared document storage.” As a Microsoft-designed file sharing platform, what makes SharePoint stand out is its collaboration features for teams. SharePoint generates pages and subpages to be used collaboratively by multiple teams at an organization. The main page or SharePoint Site (SPS) is where users collaborate, share, and access digital assets and information—using it as a dashboard. A typical use-case for SharePoint would be geo-dispersed teams who need to work together on a project, access information, communicate and track projects and tasks. It is not, however, recommended for primarily managing large amounts of media files, like photos or videos.

Three Key Benefits of Using SharePoint

1. Collaboration: It offers one place to easily share documents and information while working simultaneously with colleagues.
2. Communication: It acts as a company intranet, encouraging effective communication throughout the entire team, boosting engagement, and helping project coordination.
3. Productivity: Subsites help smaller teams within the organization working on projects to keep track of tasks and deadlines—getting more work done on time.

The Bottom Line

SharePoint is a great solution for project-based teams who need to be updated on tasks in real-time, communicate and collaborate simultaneously, but don’t need to navigate vast amounts of company media. If you’re a larger team that requires more features to support the amount of media you have, using a DAM might be a better solution.

Digital Asset Management (DAM) Explained

TechTarget defines digital asset management solutions as “system[s] for organizing, storing and retrieving rich media and managing digital rights and permissions.” A DAM system is used to help marketing teams organize, collaborate on, and distribute their visual media (photos, videos, graphics, etc.) from within one central library. Typically focused on brand and marketing-related assets, it’s conventionally owned by the marketing team, but can be accessed by many other teams.

A DAM allows users to manage any type of digital file from within the system and perform a variety of beneficial functions, including re-sizing and re-formatting their media, tracking usage history, and sharing large files easily. Additionally, a DAM provides organizations with increased media security, such as user permissions, compliance regulations, and watermarking.

Want to see a MediaValet DAM in action? Check out our free, self-guided DAM tour here!

Three Key Benefits of Using DAM

1. Asset Organization & Discovery: It makes storing, managing, and finding brand and marketing material (photos, videos, etc.) easy with artificial intelligence, keywords, and advanced searches.
2. Asset Control: Access permissions for internal and external users give organizations tighter rein on their digital media, plus it offers version control and history tracking.
3. Easy Sharing: A DAM includes features that enable easy sharing of large media files, such as high- res images, large-format videos, etc., over email or branded portals.

The Bottom Line

While a DAM allows for text-based file management, it’s best for companies that need a better way to produce, store, collaborate, share and distribute large amounts of marketing content (photos, videos, audio, etc.) If you’re a smaller team looking for a narrower solution in storing, organizing, and distributing documents alone, you may not need all of the features a DAM provides.

So, What’s the Difference?

The main differences between SharePoint and a digital asset management system are seen when there’s a demand for storing and sharing vast amounts of visual assets. Where SharePoint is a great platform to provide a shared workspace for team members, a DAM extends this workspace to another level by incorporating the ability to share media assets, files and information with everyone in one place. Only using SharePoint limits the efficiency and productivity levels that a DAM is able to provide.

Key Differences Between SharePoint and a DAM

• SharePoint is more of a document-focused system designed for collaboration and communication amongst team members, where a DAM focuses primarily on the organization and control of media files (photos, videos, etc.)
• Team members are able to share media files amongst each other within SharePoint, but not nearly to the same degree as a DAM. A DAM is a much broader tool that allows users to perform a variety of functions within the system while also making it easy to share digital files both internally and externally.
• A DAM allows users to distribute their assets across multiple different applications, through integration, while SharePoint offers one primary location where only those included in the system have access.

To simply answer the question: If I already have SharePoint, do I still need a DAM? The answer is YES!

Complementary, Not Competing

After a deeper look at the functionalities of both a DAM and SharePoint, it becomes clear that the systems are complementary to each other, rather than competing solutions. Integrating these two tools can help organizations streamline their workflows and increase productivity. Having a DAM as a single-source-of-truth for all assets while tapping into the effective project management and communication capabilities of SharePoint, offers a more complete solution.

With a DAM and SharePoint integration, users have access to video, 3D and creative files from within SharePoint, simplifying workflows and securing assets. Learn more about how MediaValet integrates with SharePoint here.

MediaValet is a leader in cloud-based digital asset management that helps organizations manage, organize and share their digital assets, improving productivity and increasing ROI.

What are digital assets? The term “digital asset” has become more common in marketing and creative communication – and with good reason. According to Venngage, 74% of marketers now use visuals in over 70% of their content. But, there is still a disconnect between what is considered a digital asset. Is it just any digital file? If not, what are the other criteria?

We explore the key elements of digital assets, share examples of digital assets, and explain how to evaluate their value and why digital assets are important to your business.

What are Digital Assets?

Gartner’s Glossary, define digital assets as digital material owned by an enterprise or individual including text, graphics, audio, video, and animations. Traditionally, people have considered digital assets to only include photos and videos. Over the years however, we’ve started including other digital files in our definition, such as documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.

The definition of a digital asset is constantly changing as new digital formats are emerging in business. It’s important to remember that the file format is only part of the definition. The other portion of the digital asset definition is derived from the value the asset brings to the company.

There are 3 key elements that make any single file a digital asset. A digital asset must:

• Be a digital file owned by an individual/company,
• Provide value to the individual/company, and
• Be searchable and discoverable (usually with metadata).

Digital Assets Examples

In order to fully understand what digital assets are, here are some common digital asset types:

• Photos,
• Videos,
• Audio files,
• Presentations,
• Graphics,
• PDFs,
• Spreadsheets,
• Documents,
• Design files,
• 3D files,
• and more.

Digital Assets Example: eBook

eBooks are generally created for knowledge sharing, lead generation, and establishing authority.
An entire eBook is more challenging to replace. They often contain valuable, well-researched information. Keeping them secure ensures that your intellectual property is protected and your audience trusts the source.

Digital Assets Example: Ad

Ads are typically created for campaign consistency, reusability, and performance analysis.

Given their role as the face of your brand, secure storage prevents the loss of creative work and ensures quick access for future campaigns or audits.

Digital Assets Example: Video

Videos are primarily used for brand storytelling, product demos, and customer engagement.

As high-value assets, protecting them safeguards your investment in production and maintains the quality and accessibility of your content.

Digital Assets Example: Logo

Logos are typically created for brand identity, recognition, and marketing purposes. They are central to a brand’s visual representation and are used across various platforms and materials.

Storing logos securely ensures that the correct, high-resolution versions are always accessible for consistent use. Protecting these files also prevents unauthorized alterations or misuse, which could compromise the brand’s image and integrity.

Digital Assets Example: AutoCAD File

AutoCAD files are typically created for detailed architectural plans, engineering designs, and complex technical drawings. These files are often intricate and time-consuming to produce, containing precise specifications crucial for construction and manufacturing.

Storing them securely is essential to prevent unauthorized access or accidental loss, which could lead to significant setbacks in projects and potential financial loss. Secure storage ensures that these critical assets are easily accessible for future reference and modification.

Want to learn more about digital assets, DAM software, and more? Get the free report here.

What is the Difference Between Digital Assets and Other Files?

To help identify the difference, Theresa Regli, a DAM industry expert, describes digital assets as “something represented in a digital form that has intrinsic or acquired value”. To simplify, the key difference lies in whether or not the file adds value to the company.

For example, an image from a photoshoot used in a social media campaign to raise awareness of an upcoming event and drive registration, is considered a digital asset. However, if a rough screenshot is sent in a one-off email to a potential client, the image itself has minimal long-term value and would likely not be considered a digital asset.

When evaluating the value of your digital assets, there’s more to consider than just the hard cost of them. It’s also important to consider 2 factors: the time spent producing it, and the ability to recreate it.

1. Time and Effort to Produce

When evaluating production value, consider the time, resources, people, and planning that it took to create the asset. Often, an organization’s most high-value assets are those that take a considerable amount of time and effort to create. Losing a single photo, while inconvenient, can be resolved quickly, by re-editing the raw file or selecting another. A fully-edited and ready-to-distribute eBook, however, will take significantly more time and effort to recreate and get re-approved. Even if you still have each individual asset. This is an incredibly common challenge. In fact, in our recent DAM Trends Report, 41% of organizations without a digital asset management (DAM) solution in place reported having to recreate or repurchase an asset.

2. Ability to Reproduce

Assets also become increasingly more valuable when they’re impossible to recreate. These types of assets usually come from one-time, never-going-to-happen again events, where even all the time and money in the world couldn’t recreate that moment. For example, as the marketing department of a sports team would know this all too well, a single photo of a game-winning goal can be extremely valuable and can’t be recreated if it’s misplaced. When just looking at the costs to create that asset, it’s just one of the hundreds of images taken by the photographers in a single night, but to the marketing team, this single photo is more valuable than gold.

Why Are Digital Assets Important?

The way that we do business is changing and emotions have always influenced buying behaviors, but now it’s about more than just producing cool ads to drive customer demand. It’s about who is connecting the best with customers, and how they’re doing it. In an increasingly digital world, most connections are happening across online channels: exactly where your digital assets come in.

At their core, digital assets are the visual representation of your products, services, culture, and, ultimately, your brand. As the key drivers of online engagement, digital assets represent the connection between your company and your customers. They give you the ability to interact with customers how, when, and where they like.

How to Make Digital Assets Discoverable

Assets are valuable only if they can be found. When you’re working with a lot of digital assets, it’s important to take steps to make sure they’re discoverable and can be managed efficiently. This is done with the consistent use of metadata (keywords, titles, photographer name, etc.), and a smart taxonomy (category structure):

Metadata

Metadata is essentially data about data providing a variety of information about the asset, beyond its basic filename. There are two types of metadata that include the following:

1. Technical metadata: usually displayed automatically, such as resolution, photographer name, dimensions, and size.
2. Descriptive metadata: describing a resource for the purpose of discovery, such as title, description, and keywords.

Most commonly, people tend to associate metadata with keywords. Your keywords are key to powering asset search and give you the power to label your assets in a way that’s relevant to your unique business needs. Here’s a helpful guide to keywording.

Taxonomy

A taxonomy is a hierarchical structure that allows you to categorize and classify your assets to ease navigation, and identify relationships between assets. Using a taxonomy will help users intuitively browse for assets in a digital asset management system, especially when they’re not exactly sure what they are looking for. Here’s a helpful post about building a taxonomy.

While a basic form of both metadata and taxonomy can be done in-house, many companies take advantage of a digital asset management system. It enables true control of their digital assets and gives instant access to the people that need them.

Digital Assets FAQs

What’s the difference between traditional digital assets and financial digital assets?

Traditional digital assets refer to items like photos, videos, and documents that were once physical but are now created, stored, and shared digitally. These digital media assets are primarily used for media and content purposes. These assets are usually stored in DAM systems (see more below).

Financial digital assets, emerging with blockchain technology, include cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and asset-backed tokens. These are investable assets that hold financial value and can be traded or used in various financial applications.

Where are digital assets stored?

Digital assets are stored in Digital Asset Management software (DAM), which can be cloud-based or on-premises. Cloud options include public clouds like AWS and private clouds, offering flexibility and security. On-premises solutions involve local servers and Network Attached Storage (NAS) for greater control.

Hybrid solutions combine both methods, while external drives provide backup options. DAM systems enhance management with features like metadata tagging, version control, and access permissions for efficient asset retrieval and use.

Check out the free, self-guided tour of a MediaValet DAM here!

Why are visual assets important for branding?

Visual assets include images, graphics, logos, and design templates used to create a consistent visual identity for a brand. They are crucial for maintaining brand recognition and ensuring cohesive and professional-looking marketing materials.

Learn more about DAM systems, visual assets, and brand management here.

How are social media assets different from other digital assets?

Social media assets are digital files specifically designed for use on social media platforms, such as profile images, cover photos, and post graphics. They are tailored to meet platform-specific requirements and optimize engagement with the audience.

Better Manage Your Digital Assets With a DAM

Digital assets have become the essential tools of brand loyalty, with every digital interaction returning to visuals and copy. But your assets are only valuable if they can be found and used efficiently.

By implementing dedicated digital asset management software in your organization, you can elevate your digital asset game.

A DAM system comes with a ton of benefits including:

• Easy access to assets
• Enhanced organization and discoverability
• Improved collaboration, workflows, and processes
• Better brand consistency
• More secure assets

Interested in learning more about DAM and how it compares to other solutions? Check out these resources:

DAM vs Google Drive

DAM vs Traditional Online Document Storage

DAM vs MAM

DAM vs On-Premise

DAM vs Brandfolder

For a step-by-step process to finding a DAM vendor, download the free DAM Buying Guide.

MediaValet is a leader in cloud-based digital asset management that helps organizations manage, organize and share their digital assets, improving productivity and increasing ROI.

As content creation continues to grow exponentially, many companies are struggling to keep up with the number of digital files that they’re creating and managing on a day-to-day basis. Even those who have digital file management solutions in place are now finding that they’ve outgrown them way faster than anticipated and are now revisiting their digital asset needs. When looking for new options and considering how to upgrade their file management systems, organizations get caught wondering what the difference is between popular cloud-based systems, like Box, and digital asset management solutions (DAM), like MediaValet.

To understand the difference between Box and DAM, let’s take a look at each in more depth.

Digital Asset Management (DAM)

TechTarget explains digital asset management solutions by defining them as “system[s] for organizing, storing, and retrieving rich media and managing digital rights and permissions”. As a file management system focused on digital media, a cloud digital asset management system is a great solutions for teams looking to organize, collaborate on and distribute their visual content (photos, videos, graphics, etc.) all from within one central library. Typically focused on brand and marketing-related assets, a DAM is conventionally owned by the marketing team, but can also be used and accessed by many other teams within your organization in order to maximize productivity.

A DAM offers excellent features that allow users to manage any type of digital file and perform a variety of beneficial functions, including re-sizing and re-formatting their media, tracking usage history, and sharing large files easily. Additionally, a DAM provides organizations with increased media security, such as user permissions, compliance regulations and watermarking.

Key Features of a DAM

1. File Discoverability: A DAM makes storing, managing, and finding brand and marketing material (photos, videos, etc.) easy with artificial intelligence, keywords and advanced search capabilities.
2. Access Security: Access permissions for internal and external users give organizations tighter rein on digital media. A DAM offers version control, history tracking and watermarks, as well as enhanced security and compliance.
3. Easy Sharing: A DAM includes features that enable easy sharing of large media files, such as high-resolution images, large format videos, etc., over email, web galleries or Branded Portals.

The Bottom Line

While a DAM allows for text-based file management, it’s best for companies that need a better way to produce, store and distribute large amounts of rich media content (photos, videos, audio, etc.). If you’re a smaller team, looking for a lighter solution that stores documents alone, you may not need all the features a DAM provides.

Box

According to ITONICS, “Box is a cloud-hosted file storage service that supports file sharing and collaboration through a robust set of synced editing, commenting, and task assignment functions, along with delegated file and folder security.” Box focuses on building out the collaborative features of their platform, and many departments could benefit from using this solution, as they’re able to work on documents simultaneously from anywhere.

As a cloud-based file storage system, Box offers several great features, such as collaboration capabilities (for multiple stakeholders) and flexible security controls. It was designed for teams to use from anywhere and has over 1500 app integrations. Box also offers automated workflows, metadata tags and portals.

Key Features of Box

1. Simultaneous Collaboration: Users, including external partners, can work on files simultaneously and from anywhere, using messaging and task assignment features.
2. Improved Workflow: Integrations, automations, and approval features aid teams in accelerate their workflow and productivity.
3. Access Security: Box offers cloud-native security and compliance capabilities. The system has granular access controls, watermarking and classification of files.

The Bottom Line

Although Box is a handy cloud-based file storage solution with collaboration and security features, it is not the best solution for dealing with vast amounts of media assets. Companies with more document-focused work may find that Box is enough as a storage and collaborative work solution. Companies with larger amounts of media assets, however, likely require complete solutions and long-term strategies for their ever-growing digital asset management needs.

Why Organizations Choose to Upgrade from Box to DAM

While many organizations begin with using Box (or something similar), they often find that as they grow, they need a more robust solution to manage their content – especially their rich media. While organizations gain vast benefits from upgrading to a DAM, here are a few noteworthy features:

• Previewing: With a DAM, users can preview design files, PDFs, video, 3D files, large format images, etc. where Box has more limited file preview capabilities, and can only preview files that are 500MB or smaller.
• Asset Rendering and Resizing: A DAM enables users to customize the format and size of each asset when they download or share them. Users no longer need help from the design team, they simply need permission to use the rendering feature.
• Searching: A DAM offers additional advanced search features, including AI auto tagging, that allow you to find what you’re looking for without the hassle of sifting through a large number of assets.
• Sharing: Not only can users share all popular formats and sizes of files, but a DAM allows them to instantly send files of up to 200 GBs to anyone, anywhere in the world, no matter what browser or operating system they’re using. Firewalls aren’t an issue as only links are used, eliminating the need for attachments.
• Support and Training: A DAM (specifically, MediaValet) offers unlimited onboarding and training, meaning that if you’re ever having challenges or need a refresher, MediaValet will immediately help you, free of charge.

Is it Time for an Upgrade?

After reviewing the main features that both Box and a DAM have to offer, it’s clear why many organizations are choosing to upgrade to a digital asset management system. MediaValet is a digital asset management solution that’s trusted by hundreds of leading brands around the globe to help them make the most of their high-value digital assets.

MediaValet is a leader in cloud-based digital asset management that helps organizations manage, organize and share their digital assets, improving productivity and increasing ROI.