My colleague Mark Davey and I have weighed in on the state of the DAM market in 2016, in a recent advisory paper for our subscribers.

I recall 8 years ago when we first published our DAM vendor evaluation report, I stated that DAM was always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Oh, how times have changed. The imperative to deliver imagery, brand assets, broader marketing campaigns and engaging media at a cloud-enabled scale has resulted in DAM sitting firmly at the feet of the C-suite. We're now constantly advising Fortune 1000 CMOs, CIOs, and CEOs on DAM, where and how it fits into the technology stack.

We also firmly believe (unlike other analyst firms) that DAM should not just be bundled into "Customer Experience Management" or "Marketing Technology" as an afterthought. It is vital and significant in its own right, whether it's integrated into a larger stack, or not. Our 2016 market analysis looks at DAM in both contexts, with quick takes on the progress of 40+ vendors in this space. You won't find a deeper or more comprehensive look at DAM in 2016 than you will here.

We explore topics such as:

• Cloud DAM Eclipses On-Premise Offerings: While some vendors have a longer history of cloud and SaaS offerings, havoc continues to ensue due to over-promises from vendors with little more than a cloud "story".
• Acquisitions and Partnerships Revisited: Acquisitiveness already returned to the DAM market in 2015, with Esko’s acquisition of MediaBeacon and Bynder’s acquisition of SocialExpress. We anticipate more acquisitions on the horizon, and explore the why and the who.
• Connecting COM (Creative Operations Management) and DAM: Connecting creative ideation, workflows, copy production, and DAM came to a head 2015, and will continue to be a focus in 2016.
• Hubbub about Content Hubs: As marketers clamor for new ways to inject digital assets into multichannel marketing campaigns, we see the term “content hub” emerging across all sectors of MarTech, sometimes just as a marketing ploy, but other times as a sophisticated product approach. Which DAM-focused vendor "hubs" are worth considering, if any?

If you're already a subscriber, let your account manager know if you'd like to set up a call to discuss how these trends might affect you. As always, we look forward to keeping you abreast of all the key DAM and broader MarTech trends in 2016.