Digital Asset Management (DAM) is the more widely used term for what is often called Media Asset Management (MAM) in the PIM context: the centralized management of digital files such as images, videos, graphics, PDFs and 3D models, along with their metadata.

Why companies use a DAM system

A DAM system is primarily a tool for marketing and communications. It ensures that everyone involved, including internal teams, agencies, sales partners and retailers, works with up-to-date, approved files. Typical features include:

• Search using keywords, metadata and, increasingly, automated image recognition
• Management of usage rights and license terms
• Approval workflows for new visuals
• Automatic conversion to the formats required by each channel
• Portals or sharing links for external partners

DAM and PIM working together

PIM and DAM share the workload: the PIM system handles products and their attributes, while the DAM system handles files and their usage rights. The two are usually linked via the item number. Many PIM systems come with integrated DAM capabilities, and some vendors specialize in this combination. Whether a separate DAM system is needed depends on how many assets unrelated to products need to be managed and how important rights management is.

See also: MAM · Media / Media Assets · DMS · Combining PIM and DAM · 4ALLPORTAL