8 tips for choosing a professional image management software

Choosing an image management solution for businesses can quickly become a search for a needle in a haystack due to the wide range of options available. In this article, we have summarized the key things you should look out for and what you should clarify before selecting a suitable image management or DAM* system.

*DAM stands for digital asset management and is the technical term for managing digital images and videos.

1. Image management software: buy or rent (cloud)?

You’ve spent hours, maybe even days, scouring the web for a suitable image management solution to organize your digital assets and found the seemingly perfect one, only to get the devastating news from the IT department that “we can’t implement it that way”? – Hard luck.

Because almost all IT departments are subject to clear guidelines regarding the use of software solutions, you should ask the crucial question in advance: Does the software have to be purchased and installed on your own server (on-premises) or is a cloud-based solution also an option for your image management? Just answering this question will narrow down your search for modern image management software and ensure you have a structured approach.

On-premises (installation on own server)

Advantages

• • Speed in retrieving and uploading very large amounts of data, as not dependent on Internet connection
  • All files are stored locally on the company’s own server (for maximum data sovereignty)

Disadvantages

• • Very maintenance-intensive (maintenance of hardware and software)
  • Updates have to be installed by the user or contracted to external parties
  • Own server may not be accessible from everywhere
  • Own back-up strategy must be developed

Cloud solution for image management

Advantages

• • Neither software nor hardware maintenance
  • Automatic backups
  • The image management system is accessible from anywhere (not dependent on the company network)
  • The image management system can be reached at any time even if the own server fails

Disadvantages

• • Dependence on Internet connection

2. Is secure and GDPR-compliant use guaranteed?

Images are usually personal data. And personal data must be given special protection. For this reason, the European General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) was concluded in May 2018, which applies as a regulation in matters of data protection throughout the EU area. Especially when processing personal data, you should definitely make sure that the image management company of your choice works according to these standards.
Hint: Products from the USA almost never work according to EU standards, but rather regulate data protection on an industry-specific basis. In case of doubt, this can have costly consequences for you. In this respect, it always pays to ensure that your image management software complies with the strict European data protection requirements.

3. Where are the images and media assets stored?

If you decide to use a cloud-based solution, the closer your data is to you, the better. If your data is stored in a country of the European Union, that is good. Even better, of course, is storage within the country where you have your headquarters, such as Germany. So when choosing a suitable image management system, find out exactly where your data is stored and at what intervals backups of the database are performed. Only if complete backups are regularly generated and geo-redundancy exists at the same time, i.e. two data centers are used at different locations, are the technical requirements for the operation of cloud-based image management software met.

4. Can other systems be connected to the image management?

Clarify in advance with potential providers of image management software whether external software systems (ERP, PIM, etc.) can be linked to your future image management system if this is necessary for you. The costs for setting up such interfaces to the image management system should be discussed in advance so that there are no unpleasant surprises in the end. For the technical integration of third-party systems, cloud-based image management software ideally has a REST API. This is a standardized programming interface designed specifically for exchanging data between different web services.

5. Usability of the image management software

The range of functions of the image management should fit your requirements. To do this, you should take a close look at your company’s workflows and identify steps in managing and sharing images that may be accelerated by using a professional software solution. But there is one thing you should always keep in mind. There are also tools that complicate your workflows with too many functions instead of optimizing them. Of course, this would have an opposite effect on your productivity. In addition, complicated applications are not popular and there is a high risk that the images are simply managed according to the motto “the way we have always done it”. So, to avoid this, you should always make sure that the software is user-friendly and easy to use. Here it is helpful to take advantage of the free trial periods that many image management software providers grant.

6. The thing with the updates

Each image management software provider regulates the update process differently. In one case it is free of charge and automatic, in the other it is rather laborious and associated with additional costs. Unfortunately, this is often in the fine print and easily overlooked. In the case of very low-priced offers, you should therefore check carefully whether there may be hidden costs that are not apparent at first glance. So don’t be blinded by low prices, always look twice. Hidden costs are often concealed behind updates or other maintenance measures.

7. Price list

To ensure that hidden costs of any kind do not stand a chance, you should always make sure that the provider’s website provides a transparent price list . Those who have nothing to hide also have no inhibition to spend their prices transparently and completely. Reputable providers also usually give you the option of a non-binding and free trial period.

8. Support / service

Whether it’s an endless waiting loop or constant references to user forums: the global players in the industry in particular come up with a number of ways to avoid personal contact as much as possible. Of course, good service looks different and is often better provided by smaller and medium-sized providers than by the big players. This starts with personal accessibility. Who wants to communicate with a bot when you can do it over a personal phone call? So that you don’t end up in the proverbial service desert, you should find out in advance how the future provider of your image management software is positioned in this area.

Try the image management software for businesses from teamnext

You want to fight the image chaos with a professional image management solution made in Germany? Then try out the teamnext | Media Hub now for free by starting a non-binding 14-day test phase. In addition, you can book an appointment for an online product demo with one of our experts at any time. Simply use our contact form for this purpose. We will get back to you as soon as possible.