In Media and Entertainment, DAM systems are used most commonly for the collaboration and management of multimedia files with marketing intent - style sheets, image libraries, sales kits, press kits, corporate presentations, Video on Demand, etc. Organization for quick access to desired media to build a feature story is obviously important. A simplified explanation of their value proposition is: "If you can find it, you can use it to make money. If you can find it faster, you can make money from it faster".
REALITY CHECK: DAM does NOT optimize the use of infrastructure or the methodology used to physically transport the desired media to the point of demand.
SIGNIANT VALUE PROPOSITION: Signiant's flexible, standards-based interfaces enable our solutions to interoperate with DAM solutions from most suppliers, enhancing the customer's current system investments. Leading DAM providers are among Signiant's current partners.
CDN VENDORS
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) consists of a series of dedicated computer nodes that are networked together on a common backbone or redundant backbones for the sole purpose of delivering content to end users. CDNs vary depending on the architecture, variability of Quality of Service (QoS), fault-tolerance, and speed.
The actual delivery of the asset may come from multiple nodes that have local cached copies of the file. The model employed commonly assumes the "final mile" distribution of files for consumption. Its use in the production workflows are often expensive and do not integrate with production-oriented systems or workflows.
CDNs may employ separate encryption of the data, or merely be "secure" based on "dedicated" or "private" access rights.
There are an increasing number of peer-to-peer technologies that now promise to deliver content to end users for a fraction of the cost of private CDNs.
REALITY CHECK: For most content owners, private CDNs are expensive - and with a high recurring expense. CDNs are by architecture designed to reduce latency and not conserve networked resources. By itself, a CDN for the delivery of production data (such as digital dailies) only addresses part of the workflow pain. By design, there are limits to when/how you may access the network, and the mobility of end users would potentially be sacrificed in the name of security. CDNs do not allow businesses to accommodate their production workflow nor do they enhance creative collaboration beyond "getting the file there". Additionally, CDNs do not typically have robust controls around establishing customized rules for accessing or prioritizing delivery of the data.
SIGNIANT VALUE PROPOSITION: Signiant's solutions are network agnostic, and fill the hole in the production workflow. Signiant can be used very successfully in conjunction with CDNs to move data from production to the edge for subsequent final mile distribution to end consumers.
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