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1Single Source of DAM Truth … Really!

XPEDIANT DIGITAL INSIGHTSXpediant Digital Asset Series: 1 of 3

© Copyright 2018, Xpediant Solutions Group, LTD.

SINGLE SOURCE OF DAM TRUTH

… REALLY!




Single Source of DAM Truth … Really! This paper is the first in a series that will assess the state of Digital Asset Management and what needs to be done to optimize this crucial digital asset supply chain in the digital economy. These assets define your brand and have crucial impacts on your business: time to market, brand quality, customer perception, compliance and regulatory risk, among many other elements. It truly is a Digital Asset Supply Chain (DASC) and like any other supply chain, until you have the data and metrics, it is impossible to optimize both quality and cost. The cost for these digital assets is highly fragmented today, very high. Very few companies have a total cost of ownership (TCO), end-to-end view of their assets and the costs continue to increase. The second paper in this series will explore the end-to-end ecosystem and the third will dive deeper into the technology considerations.

OverviewIf you know the number and characteristics of your digital assets today, the one given is that there will be more tomorrow. The cost of these assets continue to go up significantly, and the more digital asset fragmentation, the higher the cost. These also affect compliance, rights management, and duplicity. The pace at which digital assets are being created is increasing as we move further into a “digital-only” world. So, what is a digital asset? Product images, icons, stock images, custom images, audio files, video files, logos, presentations, documents… in general, anything that has some digital value and is a digital file is considered a digital asset. These assets end up on your website(s), promotional materials, print, mobile and every single media channel you use as an enterprise. The digital asset picture is not as calm as Exhibit 1 may suggest.

This calls to mind when the IT community was overwhelmed with data and it didn’t have the visibility or analysis tools to drive the insights out of data that was growing at an exponen-tial rate. IT was simply overwhelmed with data, much of it being irrelevant. Over time, companies realized that collecting and storing all of this data was not the answer, but to focus on collecting the relevant data, while extracting insightful information. It was just too overwhelming. A combination of process, discipline, improved tools, better skills, IT centraliza-tion and strategic outsourcing solved the cross-organizational issues and dramatically improved the data value. It was all about cleaning up the back-end and developing more analytical and visual solutions on the front-end. The technology also improved with new languages, database engines, visualization and analytic tools.

E X H I B I T 1 :




The global business community is facing a similar dilemma in the Digital Asset Management (DAM) world today, but in some respects it’s even more complex due to the organization silos, multitude of technologies, lower cost of the technologies and cloud storage solutions that exist today. The end-to-end digital asset ecosystem is managed in silos.

The DAM is not what it appears on Exhibit 1. It is overflowing with data (some good and some bad with little to no visibility into the depth of the water). There’s also tremendous levels of duplication, increasing velocity of change, limited to no ability to search and sort through thousands of digital assets, assets sitting in many storage locations (multiple DAMs, CMS systems, cloud storage, laptops, desktops and even phones). Consider the process of controlling the asset versions, cleansing the system of old digital assets, getting multiple vendors to operate in an efficient manner from asset creation to asset dissemination to various channels that consume the assets. The picture needs some clarity. All of these factors provide an opportunity for significant efficiency improvements and savings, if the appropriate streamlining and focus is placed on the Digital Asset Value Chain.

Our experience suggests that companies in life sciences have digital assets ranging from 5,000 to more than 500,000 assets and they have three to 15+ CMS systems, possibly a DAM and usually an unknown number of other storage systems that contain digital assets. This creates an environment that is impossible to search and encourages departments to create their own solution, in turn aggravating the situation with more fragmentation and more stranded assets. Up to 50 percent of the digital assets are in a “stranded” state—either old, unknown or not leveraged with poor metadata, so finding them is challenging at best. Think about the impact this has on agency’s cost efficiency, rework, duplication, asset expiration, compliance issues based on using the wrong asset and the time it takes to get websites updated with the right assets.

Do you know:

➔ How many digital assets you have?

➔ How many duplicate digital assets you have?

➔ Key metrics per digital asset to create and store?

➔ How much reuse you get across the internal and external stakeholders?

➔ How many storage, CMS and DAM technology solutions exist in your organization today?

➔ The total cost of creative services to develop these assets?

➔ How many stranded assets you have?

“ You cannot optimize what you don’t have visibility to.”

— GREG BLOUNT, Chief Growth Officer

Xpediant Digital




Xpediant DAM Maturity ModelWhere is your DAM operations relative to others? Where should it be to meet the demands of your business? Your maturity model is a direct correlation to how efficient your Digital Asset Management Supply Chain (DAMSC) functions and directly affects your cost structure. Every element discussed in terms of copyright management, asset reuse, creation of new assets and having a single source of truth for your digital assets all play an important role in speed to deploy, cost of creation and management of the assets. Knowing where you are helps you establish a roadmap to implement a more efficient digital asset management supply chain.

Let’s discuss the single source of truth. Think about having visibility to search and manage all of your digital assets. Can you do this today? Clients have many digital asset storage solutions in place, most of which are not integrated and are tied to an individual or small team, not the entire organization. The agencies that clients use in most cases create and store assets on their systems, then email or transfer those assets to their client through a file sharing tool. How often is that asset stored and tagged in the right system? How is that asset approved for use? Is it reusable? We all know the answer.

AD HOC

DEFINED

MANAGED

OPTIMIZED

BUS

INES

S V

ALU

E

VALU

E G

AP

E X H I B I T 2 :

Xpediant Digital DAM Maturity Model

Digital Asset

a Assets are highly fragmented

a Fragmented assets a Managed assets a Single source for all assets

b No to limited asset visibility

b Some visibility, poor metadata

b Visibility & good metadata

b Visibility & complete metadata

c Cannot search - duplicates, old, etc

c Improved search, still very limited

c Search across assets in some silos

c Search across all Digital Assets

Business a No known asset reuse

a Some asset reuse a Some asset reuse a High asset reuse

b High level of duplicates

b Many duplicates b Few duplicates b No duplicates

c Unknown creation cost

c High creation cost c Improved creation cost

c Optimal creation cost

Technical a Vendor storage systems

a DAM in place today a DAM in place today a Single DAM source used

b Multiple storage/CMS systems



b Integrated storage systems

c No integration across systems

c Manual/Some data integration

c Improved data integration

c Data and process integration

EcoSystem a No Management Processes (ad hoc)

a Silo'd management processes

a Some cross-silo management processes

a Comprehensive management processes

b No digital asset governance

b Minimal digital asset governance

b Targeted digital asset governance

b Digital asset governance

c No sourcing governance

c No sourcing governance

c Silo'd sourcing governance

c Sourcing governance




Organization ConsiderationsOne of the challenges that exists today is the segmentation between IT, marketing and business units. All three have significant stakes in the organization’s brand management, digital assets, websites and overall management of the technology to support the business. Based on this segmentation, most organizations simply do not have a holistic view of how the digital assets are managed and what the total cost of ownership of those assets are, thus a very inefficient digital asset supply chain (DASC) at best.

IT has gotten better at managing IT costs as well as outsourcing arrangements and optimizing costs. Improved governance has resulted in much lower costs per unit across most IT segments. However, marketing and business in general have not become as mature or sophisticated when it comes to governance and optimization.

This maturity will occur over time as processes are improved, the full end-to-end ecosystem is understood by all, and ownership is defined across the organization. Couple this with some improvements in contract and outsourcing arrangements with improved incentives, risk management, and more comprehensive governance. Solving these issues and moving to a single source of DAM truth is where the real savings can exist to not only drive lower costs, but also establish an efficient end-to-end process with higher quality assets that can be deployed much faster. This would improve the brand quality. Now there is untapped value.

Digital Assets in Regulated IndustriesEvery industry faces digital asset challenges, including creation, storage, retrieval, search, reusability, untenable taxonomies, version control and streamlining processes. Throw in the added issue of compliance! The word in itself causes people to sit up and cringe. This white paper focuses on a specific example from within the regulated pharmaceutical (pharma) industry. The ideas and processes are a result of significant experience and strategic work around marketing systems, CRM, campaign management, CMS and DAM solutions, integration, outsourcing and development.

Let’s look further into the sales and marketing operation in large and mid-sized pharmas. Typically, they will have two systems in play; one is a personal selling system (CRM such as Veeva CRM) and the other is a non-personal selling system (marketing platforms such as Adobe AEM).

Analytics & Testing (GA, GTM, Adobe Target, etc .)

CampaignManagement

HealthCareProvider& Patient

PersonalChannel

Delivery (Veeva)

Non-PersonalChannel

Delivery (AEM)

E X H I B I T 3 :

Typical Sales & Marketing Operation




In a pharma, every drug is viewed as a separate and distinct product with its own P&L, dedicated marketing support team, sales team, distinct websites, brand management, a plethora of agencies and stakeholders to create and manage the digital assets. The numbers of assets vary dramatically based on a number of factors, typically ranging from 5,000 to well over 500,000 digital assets. Now, think about how much fragmentation exists across systems. Where are the correct source assets? Are they visible to all of the key teams that need access to create marketing materials? Can you search to find an asset before starting to create more? Lots of questions arise. The creation and re-creation time and costs are incurred with multiple assets produced and limited controls in place. This environment creates a large number of stranded digital assets, high costs, resistance to change and the ongoing risk of compliance. Why does this typically occur? The individual costs to create the assets appear low and don’t require approvals. However, the costs are starting to have more visibility with fragmented ownership and thus, the burning platform develops to put in place a better, more efficient solution to improve the DASC.

As you can tell, assets are created in a variety of places. Some are produced on in-house systems and some are on supplier systems. In some instances, the component assets may not even be stored in the company’s DAM! They are kept in the agency’s DAM. Conservative cost estimates for creation of and changes to interactive Visual Aids (IVA) for large pharmas can range from $50,000 - $100,000. Important Safety Information (ISI) updates can be very expensive partially because the sites are managed by various entities and the digital assets are not stored in a common DAM that has MLR compliant assets. This kind of update affects all brands and so it can end up being very expensive for companies that have multiple brands. We hear costs ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 for a simple ISI change!

Systems wetypically see

INTEGRATORS

CONTRACTORS

INTERNAL

AGENCIES

CREATE

STORE &MANAGE

SEARCH &DISTRIBUTE

E X H I B I T 4 :

Typical Current State Digital Eco-System




The Single Source of DAM Truth, Really!It’s very common to hear the following: “Yes, we have our ‘true’ single source of truth. This is where all of our digital assets should be stored.”

Really? All companies have been building digital assets for a long time and continue to add to the supply with an increasing velocity. With the distribution of assets and multiple teams and agencies building new assets, websites and print media.

This problem is not trivial to solve, but very solvable. You may not get to one single source of truth, but you can get to visibility across assets and a manageable number of storage sites. So, where should you start?

E X H I B I T 5 :

1 Know what you have (sources, assets, technologies, processes, agencies, contracts).

2 Define the target digital asset model.

3 Gain alignment on the target model.

4 Define the target technology model.

5 Develop a cross-organizational, phased roadmap.

6 Define and implement a strong asset governance model.

7 Define and implement a DAM contract governance model.

8 Define and implement DAM policies.

9 Consolidate and rationalize agencies.

} Define key metrics and optimize with incentives.

What Needs to Change:First, the mindset needs to change! The most common response is: “This has always been the way we handle our assets.” Well, it’s time to make the change. The message needs to be one that is cross-organizational. It can only be done with alignment, good data governance, change management, clearly articulated roadmaps and policies, coordination and, most importantly, shared value. All teams must realize that migration to a single source of truth will not occur without some pain, but the benefits are very significant.

Secondly, the better the asset metadata, the better the visibility. This investment in time to scrub the assets and define good metadata will be well served down the road. Many companies do not see value in this, but when you look at the ecosystem of assets and realize that how much you are really spending based on a lack of visibility and compliance, the effort offers a strong return on investment.

Finally, you need to ensure approval, compliance and other critical review processes (such as the MLR process) are followed across the organizational boundaries and assets are vetted, managed and consolidated in a subset of systems with complete visibility. It’s not just asset data consolidation. It’s asset data, metadata and process consolidation.




Making the Change If Your Organization Uses Veeva Vault Promomats and Adobe AEMThe key to solving these challenges is connecting the DAM end points and at the metadata and process levels. This is where XpConnect™ comes into the picture. Connecting the endpoints and having the ability to assign the single source of DAM truth is the short- to mid-term solution and could be the long-term solution. It will enable the transformation of digital asset storage and usage, which is the digital asset pot of gold. Couple this with the other points in Exhibit 6, and you have a much improved, cost effective and highter quality digital asset supply chain (DASC).

Create Web Page

Sen

d fo

r MLR

thro

ug

h X

pC

on

nect

AgencyCMS

AgencyStorage

BuildComponent

Assets

Other CMSsystems

CloudStorage

� Advanced Metadata� Search & Browse� Version Management� Work�ow Support� Mapping� Authentication� Authorization

Component &Composite

Assets

Integrate then migrate to 1 DAM over t ime

UploadTo DAM

CMS

DAMApproved —Sent back thruXpConnect

PUBLISH TO:

› Print Media

› B2B

› B2C

› Video Streaming

InternalCreative

CreativeAgency

ContractCreative

E X H I B I T 6 :

Future State with XpConnect™




ConclusionHigh quality digital assets have become the new currency across industries. Digital asset creation and management is critical for the business, impacts sales and, most importantly, your brand. The current Digital Asset Management Supply Chains (DAMSC) are not as efficient as they could be, and we are losing a tremendous amount of productivity searching for and developing new assets with minimal reuse. There is a significant opportunity to transform this supply chain to a much more efficient ecosystem.

Numerous systems and storage solutions have been deployed over the years—at the enterprise, department and personal levels as well as with the agencies. This makes the idea of having a single source of truth a myth, especially since there is not a streamlined DAMSC or rigorous governance across the digital asset ecosystem. Assets are being managed in an ad-hoc manner, resulting in systems that are siloed, having limited to no version control, assets with incomplete metadata, and poor visibility across the enterprise. So, unless you know where the assets are located down to which system and folder, you just can’t get the reuse to a high level. The other significant challenge is metrics. Without the data and knowing the current state, it is hard to optimize that supply chain.

Starting the journey toward a single source of truth for your digital assets will deliver very significant benefits in leverage, reuse, productivity improvements, agency cost reductions and, ultimately, in more dollars being spent to improve the brand quality at a much lower budget. There are many aspects to achieving these improvements namely:

A organizational change,

B enhanced processes,

C sourcing optimization, and

D integrated technology platforms that all enable broader visibility and, ultimately, a single source of truth.

The single source of truth is the goal, and you can achieve it in different ways: having a single DAM system across the enter-prise with an optimized DAMSC or having multiple DAM systems that are integrated with an optimized DAMSC.

Xpediant has developed the XpConnect™ Platform that integrates two key personal and non-personal selling systems today, Veeva Vault and Adobe AEM. This solution provides an integration platform to allow for a single source of truth and integra-tion of critical processes such as the medical, legal and regulatory (MLR) approval process. The key in the integration of DAM solutions is not just data. The integration has to be at the metadata level and process level, while managing the synchroniza-tion of assets across both platforms. This platform will support other CMS/DAM solutions in 2019, so it can be the integration platform for numerous storage/DAM systems. This will provide customers with a single source of truth. Completing the remaining items to enable optimized digital asset management supply chains can then be achieved.

We will explore more about this as well as the entire digital asset ecosystem in the second whitepaper in this series, “Single Source of Truth, Really? The Ecosystem.”




Qusai MahesriFounder and CEO Xpediant Digital

Qusai founded Xpediant Digital and has evolved and grown the company over the past 19 years. Qusai has over 25 years of experience and advises Xpediant clients on digital strategy and operations with a clear focus on return on IT investment. He has broad and deep experience in digital marketing technologies, web and IT strategy, cloud solutions, change management, consulting and operations management. Prior to starting Xpediant, Qusai was an entrepreneur in a CAD startup in Abu Dhabi, two start-ups and turnarounds in the United States and a technology leader in BSG, a leading client-server consulting company. Qusai has been a frequent speaker on innovative digital solutions such as digital asset management, knowledge management and IT services disruption. He is involved in a number of non-profits helping Houston and other communities. He has a BSEE from the University of Texas, MSEE from Cal State and Executive Certification in Management & Leadership from Sloan School of Management, MIT.

Greg BlountChief Growth Officer Xpediant Digital

Greg has been developing business and technology solutions for over 30 years. With proven experience on all three sides of the table: 1 buy side serving in technology execution and delivery roles, 2 sell side in project and large-scale outsourcing/transformational solutions, and on 3 the advisor side, outsourcing and insourcing solutions designed to enable IT optimization and restructuring. This experience has enriched Greg’s ability to understand perspectives from all stakeholders. He is experienced as a strategy consultant, CIO/CTO, senior technology leader, and outsourcing/organizational restructuring advisor. He is a recognized industry leader in structuring and innovating complex, managed sourcing deals with over $15 billion in transactions completed. Greg has driven many transformations to drive optimized operations across numerous industries from services organizations to marketing and operations. He has a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering and a master’s degree in Computer Science from Loyola University.

About the Authors



About Xpediant Digital

XPEDIANT DIGITAL is a next-generation services company, committed to the pursuit of digital experience and digital systems integration and products. For nearly 20 years, our team has crafted full lifecycle marketing ecosystem solutions with services ranging from digital strategy, consulting and creative, to development and managed services. Specializing in digital content and asset management for life science and pharmaceutical verticals and working with many of the leading companies in that space, Xpediant has continued to evolve as the markets have evolved. Our exclusive XpConnect™ Platform (and XpGenerator products) is the world’s leading bi-directional connector between Veeva Vault and Adobe Experience Manager that enables a single source of truth for your digital assets.

We leverage proven strategies and expertly employ world-class tools such as Veeva, Adobe Experience Cloud, Analytics and Campaign, OpenText, Boomi and Magnolia to name a few.

For more information, please visit www.XpediantDigital.com and www.XpConnect.net.

PUBLISHED DATE: November 29, 2018

© Copyright 2018, Xpediant Solutions Group, LTD. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission from Xpediant Digital or Xpediant Solutions Group, LTD. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

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