An expanding set of cloud-deployment options is roiling the digital & marketing asset management (DAM) industry as customers now enjoy an unusually wide set of options for deploying DAM technology off-premise, according to vendor evaluation research released today by independent analyst firm, Real Story Group.

Version 8.0 of Real Story Group’s DAM research evaluates 34 products from 31 vendors, and is available at www.realstorygroup.com/Reports/DAM/.

Fig 1. RSG evaluates 31 vendors across four categories of DAM.

MANAGED HOSTING vs. SaaS

Newer vendors that offer multitenant, software-as-a-service deployments are challenging established players on cost and ease of deployment. Traditional DAM vendors are often limited to providing single-tenant, managed hosting offerings in the cloud.

AMAZON vs. AZURE

Although Amazon has traditionally dominated DAM cloud-based deployments, more vendors are starting to offer Azure-based options that support Microsoft-oriented customers as well as key retail and product companies that consider Amazon a competitor in the ecommerce arena.

IMAGE RECOGNITION

DAM vendors are increasingly responding to customer desires for image recognition by OEM’ing cloud-based recognition services from Microsoft, Google, and Clarifai.

SAFE HARBOR DATA PROTECTION AGREEMENT

Safe Harbor data regulations continue to complicate customer choices regarding cloud providers for digital assets, particularly for global consumer goods companies.  

ANALYST QUOTE

"DAM customers are increasingly turning to cloud-based services, and the breadth of options today bodes well for them,” says RSG Principal Analyst Theresa Regli. “But enterprise digital leaders need to understand the impact of the cloud choices they make on long-term costs, compliance, performance, and agility.”