Xinet was "work-in-progress" (WiP) DAM vendor focused on pre-press workflows in the print publishing industry when it was acquired by DAM suite vendor North Plains in 2012.

Today, Xinet remains one of the few DAM options truly applicable to pre-press scenarios. In the newly released version 7.0 of our Digital & Media Asset Management research, our Xinet chapter has been updated to include more analysis around the product's technical specifications and feature sets, in addition to scenario mapping.

With the rise of omni-channel marketing, solutions like Xinet really serve as a single puzzle piece in what may be a multi-tool approach to complex personalized marketing, where print is but one destination among many.

We question whether North Plains' management and current architectural bent will lead Xinet toward supporting digital workflows more extensively, or if North Plains will leave that to the other products in their suite -- On Brand and Telescope.

The overlaps within North Plains' product suite remain extensive, and the vendor's still-evolving strategy has yet to play out.

Subscribers can access our analysis of all three North Plains offerings.

If you don't yet subscribe, you can check out our complimentary review of North Plains Telescope.