This particular medical center is well known as a leader in academic medical research and stellar health care, with special emphasis on working toward cures for the world’s most pressing diseases. With a million moving parts in a nonprofit of this magnitude, efficiency and organization are crucial to progress.
Enterprise organizations like this medical center choose scalable and long-term solutions for their biggest needs. In the case of ensuring absolute brand integrity and building for growth, a well-developed digital asset management (DAM) system was an obvious need.
But here’s the thing about DAM systems: they are complicated by the very nature of what they serve to do. Many organizations choose a partner to help upgrade their DAM (and their people) up for success. That’s how this medical center came to work with AVP—to turn their DAM system into a genuine ally in their brand management strategy.
The Problem: Lack of DAM Support
This center saw immense growth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in telemedicine, which continued its growth trends over the last several years. The result is millions of regular online visitors and patients looking for answers to their medical questions.
In fact, this client has nearly two million assets to manage in order to deliver quality health information to the public.
Their teams also consist of thousands of employees, most of whom require some level of access to that massive gallery of assets. The center needed a way to properly assign permissions to the right individuals, something that’s made even more difficult with HIPAA regulations. How do you collaboratively share information when you’re restricted from sharing pertinent information?
While they had an existing, functioning DAM system, their growth meant their needs outgrew what their DAM system could offer. They needed a way to upgrade and expand their current system to meet those needs. But trying to do this on your own—no matter the size of your business—is a daunting and complicated process. The client didn’t have the necessary support to develop their DAM system into what they required.
Fortunately, AVP came into play to offer that much-needed support.
Our client learned about AVP through one of their vendors who worked with us in the past. This vendor praised us for our ability to deliver multiple large-scale and complex systems. After a few calls to determine the scope of the project, they recognized us as experts with unmatched experience in DAM systems and saw that we would be true partners invested in their success
The Strategy: Data-Driven Integration, Support, and Education
The goal of this project was to optimize, configure, document, and launch an instance of a new-and-improved DAM system within three months. This also involved migrating their current assets from their previous DAM system.
The client chose Orange Logic’s Cortex as the base for their new DAM —a system with which AVP is intimately familiar. With our support, the client enjoyed efficient implementations and socialization of the DAM. We achieved success by employing the following strategies:
Step 1: Internal Audit
We first had to look at the client’s current DAM system to determine what worked and what didn’t. This provided us with the necessary context for implementation and migrating their assets to the new Cortex system.
This discovery stage also helped us determine and gather documentation requirements for their current assets, ensuring the medical center wouldn’t run into unauthorized asset usage down the road.
Step 2: Workflow Development
Every kind of asset needs a workflow that dictates how they are created, what type of metadata is implemented on them, how they’re stored and classified, and a variety of other variables. AVP developed these workflows to be consistent and easy to implement for every asset the client manages, including:
- Editorial photography
- Employee portraits
- Medical illustrations and animations
We also implemented workflows for various scenarios, such as:
- Executive use
- Development use
- Print shop use
We then trained the client’s workforce on these new workflows and developed easy-to-access documents that any employee who needs to access the DAM system can reference at any given time.
Step 3: Process Testing
After establishing workflows and processes, we set out to test how the center’s users would receive those processes. This allowed us to test and receive feedback for basic permissions and configurations and determine how they could be improved to best fit the needs of their user base.
Step 4: Implementation Support
Once we settled on a process that benefits the organization, all that was left was implementing the process into the DAM system and integrating it within the company culture.
The only way to successfully implement a system of this size is with constant support from someone who knows what they’re doing. That’s why AVP acts as a partner, coach, guide, and advisor throughout implementation, providing tools and training to ensure the client’s team could manage the DAM system on their own in the future.
This last point was vital for our client—they didn’t want to be overly reliant on an external vendor (AVP) when things went wrong with the DAM system in the future. We ensure our clients leave the proverbial nest fully prepared to manage their DAM system on their own (with the occasional call for help to troubleshoot a bizarre issue).
The Results: Proper Support and Product Familiarity
With their new DAM system, our client managed to successfully transfer over 1.7 million total assets into their system and support them.
They also have a variety of workflows at their disposal that have streamlined a wide variety of their business needs, helping video production teams and brand management teams alike utilize its DAM system to the fullest potential.
AVP also integrated several third-party software programs, including Kaltura, Shutter Stock, EyeEM, Getty, and InDesign, to make asset uploads a cakewalk.
Enjoy an Expert Partnership Approach with AVP
Many DAM system operators in the industry today are obsessed with making the most technologically advanced systems. While we’re not shirking technological advancements, AVP is more focused on a holistic approach to asset management, offering a human-focused approach to our workflows and policies.
Don’t settle for a vendor that only communicates through email. Work with AVP to keep your digital asset management accessible and useful for all who need it.
