I recently got a quote request from a potential client who was looking for a system that they could use to manage their documents and images for their business. They were kind of a small company, so my initial thought was to determine what it would take to provide a custom solution for them.
They provided a list of specs about things they wanted in the system. On first glance it seemed like their requested items were very specific to their business. After thinking more about their specs, I started to think that I was trying to make their specs unique to their business, when in fact they were actually quire common across all business.
They wanted:
- to store their client blueprint files for internal use across their multiple office. A specialist in Chicago might be able to pull up the specs done in the Indianapolis office.
- to have an automated back up in one of their office (their “IT” site).
- files tagged with meta data that could be used to search, while also being able to be browsed
- a security layer laid on top that would restrict access while making access simple for those who needed it.
Solution
Well I’d written custom “document management” systems in the past, and they all ended up being implemented a little differently. But they were implemented differently because I had chosen to implement them differently.
Again, I stepped back and looked at the solutions more holistically. These disparate systems that I had implemented were really just the same application customized to each clients specific look, feel, expectations.
Digital Asset Manager Solution
Just a little searching led me to find a plethora of available solutions ranging from basic open source solutions to full blown “Fortune 100” type solutions. You can have a fully hosted solution like the
Digital Asset Management from www.ibase.com (they also offer the software for you to host). The key is to determine how much of the management you want to assume, and all of the features that you need.
Check out any of the major players, like ibase. They have steps to help you determine which solution is best for you.
