DAM Lowdown: Updates from Canto, Stock Keeper 1.0 Arrives, DAM Stew

By Jason Campbell (@jemorycampbell) Sep 14, 2011

The Labor Day holiday may have stretched into Labor Week for the DAM Lowdown, but have no fear. Everyone's favorite weekly digital asset management column returns with: Updates from Canto, Box.net Adds Video Support, SaaS is More Than a DAM Acronym, Web Content Management Sees a DAM Future, Stock Keeper 1.0 Arrives, and DAM Stew.

Updates from Canto

DAM Lowdown regular Canto shows up in the DAM headlines twice in this edition.

Firstly, Canto — already a sponsor of the Createasphere conference in New York City next week — is hosting a session titled: "Heroes of Digital Asset Management". This session will focus on best practices and pitfalls with speakers from the Green Bay Packers, World Wrestling Entertainment and the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas.

Second, Canto releases a new whitepaper called "Building a Better Dam". The document covers the following topics:

Metadata design tips that help you ensure you’re tracking everything you need both now and in the future
User account configurations that simplify permissions assignments for more secure systems
Ideas for keeping metadata fresh and accurate
Keeping users interested in the DAM

Box.net Adds Video Support, DAM Becoming Commoditized?

Box.net now supports video uploads with automated transcoding that makes the uploaded content immediately viewable in a browser. That announcement, in and of itself, isn't much to get excited about. However, the idea that a cloud-based storage service is quietly becoming a digital asset management system is interesting.

One of my favorite writers in the DAM space, Naresh Sarwan, writes at DAMNEWS about how as web cms products reached maturity they began to become commoditized. Mr. Sarwan warns us that the same kind of commoditization could be just over the horizon for the digital asset management product landscape.

SaaS, SaaS and More SaaS

Cloud Pricing Isn't Easy

Every DAM vendor either has a cloud-based offering or has one on the roadmap. As the offerings proliferate, customers are struggling to sort through the different pricing models offered both by DAM vendors and SaaS vendors. Derek Singleton, writing on the Enterprise Software Advice blog, covers 5 key points for those trying to learn about the Cloud.

Open SaaS as an Alternative to Customer Lock-in

Jim Shaw, General Manager of Acquia, writes at Channel Web about one of the dirty secrets of the rise of Software-as-a-Service. Mr. Shaw calls out the fact that portability between cloud services is difficult if not impossible. If customers can't leave a provider, then they are locked in.

Mr. Shaw goes onto recommend that customers look to Open SaaS as a viable alternative to avoid potential problems with vendor lock-in.

North Plains Chooses Layered Tech to Enable TeleScope

As North Plains prepares to roll out the next generation of its TeleScope platform, it has chosen Layered Tech to provide the cloud infrastructure for TeleScope OnDemand. If TeleScope Demand is on your shortlist, you will want to research Layered Tech as well — if you buy one, you are buying both.