Let’s face it: many Digital Asset Management projects (or for that matter even most technology projects) do not have the luxury of unlimited budgets. In addition to overcoming myriad business, technology and process-related challenges, DAM champions often have to deal with resource constraints as well. 

Here is a recommendation for DAM project managers: in tandem with selecting your technology, plan how you will run the engagement with the right mix of internal, vendor, and implementation partner resources. I am not suggesting that you use vendor services teams for the entire time the system is in use at your organization. But, specialist vendor resources are often part of the implementation project team, particularly at project beginning -  often they alone understand the nitty-gritty of the DAM product you’ve selected. The extent of your reliance on such consulting resources should be determined by the proficiency (& availability) of your in-house team and of course, your project budget. 

Your goal as a project manager should be to derive the maximum mileage from the involvement of any such specialist (and need I say, expensive) external resources.  While it may sound like Project Management 101, you’d be surprised at how often we encounter customers who are squandering away precious consultant time and money. It almost always boils down to this: the customer has not done the preparatory work prior to engaging the consultants. So, the consultants idle away (but their billing meter keeps ticking as the project budget starts to strain), and the customer is only then trying to figure out what the information is that the consultant needs to help them. 

With a bit of planning, you can help the vendor or parter integrator consultants hit the ground running – organize necessary workshops, meetings with the stakeholders, gather existing documentation and requirements – the exact specifics depend on your project, but you get the general drift. 

I'll add that vendor and integrator consultants should be briefed up front about your specific requirements, context and constraints so that they provide you the solution that best matches your requirements, rather than a cookie-cutter solution. Consultants are happy to supply either – but remember, the onus is on you to clearly explain, so you can get what you want.  

It takes two to tango and what many customers do not realize is that it’s not just the knowledge of the consulting resources but your own preparedness to engage effectively with them also matters. It means you need to do your homework before consultants come on board and not after they’re on board. Do that and you’ve increased your odds of staying on course and within your budget. 

Our Digital Asset Management stream outlines more best practices for DAM projects. Sometimes, we can forget the basics as we try to keep on top of whatever we’re supposed to keep on top of.

As always, we love to hear from you - what’s been your DAM project management mantra?