VAM or DAM: Which video management approach is right for you?

Katie leads the copywriting team at Vimeo. Favorite things: grammatical correctness, a book you can't put down, and a really good old fashioned.
Katie Knecht
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Enterprises and large businesses have a lot of options when it comes to organizing and managing content: from digital asset management (DAM) to media asset management (MAM) to content management systems (CMS) and video asset management (VAM). But with varying definitions for each of these acronyms, and a fair amount of overlap between one solution and the next, it can be difficult to understand which approach is actually right for the job.

Choosing the right solution for asset management is particularly important for an enterprise’s video content. According to data from Wyzowl, 88% of marketers now consider video an important part of their overall strategy. Video is also a key tool for internal training and employee communications. These various use cases can cause challenges for enterprises: “We have a lot of videos, and a lot of use,” says Eric Pokorny, Media Content Manager at Starbucks. “If I didn’t have all of this in one place, in neatly organized folders, I don’t actually know how I would keep it all straight. I don’t think I could.”

At the same time, new AI tools are making it easier than ever for organizations to create, edit and distribute video assets at scale. That combination — growing strategic importance and increasing quantity of assets — adds up to a challenge for organization and distribution.

When it comes to managing large libraries of video assets, the majority of enterprises will be choosing between a DAM, which encompasses a broader range of content including text, images and audio, and a VAM, which is purpose-built to handle the unique challenges of managing and working with video content. Past a certain level of scale, traditional DAM systems like Google and Microsoft fail to meet the needs of enterprise users. As a result, many are looking for solutions purpose-built for video. In this blog, we’ll look at the pros and cons of DAM and VAM and determine when it makes sense to invest in a dedicated solution for video asset management.


The difference between VAM and DAM

DAM systems have been around for decades, and therefore have a longer history than specialized VAM systems. DAM systems can accommodate a wide range of digital assets — going beyond videos to include still images, text documents, and audio files. A DAM system often features metadata tagging, search capabilities, and basic access and version control features to enable collaboration. Well-known platforms like Google Drive and Dropbox are examples of DAM — providing an overarching, one-size-fits-all solution for an organization’s digital assets.

VAM mirrors many of the key features of a DAM system, however, each of these features are optimized specifically for video use cases. For example, video metadata extends beyond the basic tags associated with a digital file to include video-specific information like timestamps and even credits — allowing users to search for a specific actor or director. A VAM system can also allow users to search within video transcripts — rather than just titles and basic subject tags — making each asset more discoverable. In large organizations with thousands of videos, this discoverability is immensely valuable; users can find the right training video that explains a specific procedure, or identify the all-hands meeting in which leadership celebrated a specific milestone. Improved discoverability ensures that video continues to deliver value beyond the first viewing.

VAM platforms are also more likely to support useful collaboration on the video assets themselves. A VAM system may support a range of editing features, allowing users to work together on an asset without having to leave the platform — from collaborating on edits to managing reviews and approvals. Videos are typically larger than other assets and use highly specific file types and requirements; VAMs are purpose-built to accommodate the greater needs associated with these files.


Advantages of a dedicated VAM platform

Video strategies — especially in large-scale organizations — are becoming more complicated because of the increasing volume of internal and external-facing content being created, as well as the rise of AI in different workflows. Here are three key advantages a VAM offers in handling these modern challenges:

User access options within the Vimeo platform.

Centralized storage and access control

Large organizations and corporations use video for a wide variety of functions — from social media marketing to employee training to executive communications. These businesses need to keep assets organized, and also need to carefully control who has access to what content. This challenge is particularly important for teams that may be working with external vendors or customers: a VAM will allow them to provide access only to the video in question and not to the rest of the library.


An example of how searching for content works on the Vimeo platform.

Discoverability

Finding a keyword in a 60-page document is one thing, but it’s another thing entirely to find a relevant soundbite in a 60-minute webinar recording. New AI transcription tools like those used with Vimeo make it possible to discover relevant content from deep within an enterprise’s video library, even if that moment isn’t captured specifically in the video title or metadata. This functionality allows enterprises to derive more long-term value from each video they create — even if an employee doesn’t know about a specific video asset, they’ll be able to find what they need using the VAM search function.


Someone commenting on a video in review.

Cloud-native collaboration

In a world of globally distributed workforces, it’s highly unlikely that an entire team working on a video asset will all be based in the same office. A VAM system built around cloud storage makes it possible for employees spread across different regions and time zones to contribute to the same piece of content.

For global insurance leader Allianz Partners, this function was essential as the company transitioned to producing virtual events.

“My team is based in Dublin, I’m in Croatia, and we work with colleagues in Dubai and Australia. Sometimes our collaboration can be messy, but with Vimeo, we have everything in one place.”
Genevieve Deschenes, Content and Event Specialist at Allianz Partners


Enterprise-wide benefits

VAM doesn’t just benefit the creators of the videos themselves — it delivers value to several areas within an enterprise. 

For distributed teams, VAM allows video to be used as a load-bearing tool for employee communications. Wise uses Vimeo’s Video Library as a central repository for streaming video events — both live and on-demand. “We love the auto archiving on Vimeo,” said Sarah-Louise Carter, Internal Communications Manager at Wise. “We create folders for every single event that we have recorded, and we label them exactly when it was.” This comprehensive organization of employee communications ensures that every Wise employee can find the message they need at the right moment without having to dig through hundreds of event recordings.

VAM is especially valuable for marketing teams as they work to edit, excerpt, and redeploy content from previous events. Vimeo Central makes it easy for users to import video content from other platforms — including conferencing tools like Zoom and DAMs themselves like Box and Dropbox — and then edit that material for use across other channels.

For large enterprises, a VAM solution also offers tremendous value for employee training and L&D. The advanced discoverability offered by them allows employees to find the exact training material they need without having to sit through lengthy, irrelevant modules. For example, Starbucks uses Vimeo to deliver the right training content to each of its more than 350,000 employees, regardless of where they are in the world.


Choose Vimeo for your enterprise VAM

Is your enterprise ready to upgrade to a video asset management system? Reach out to a member of the Vimeo sales team to learn more about how Vimeo Enterprise can help you create, manage, and deploy video at scale.

For more information on how to effectively manage an enterprise video library, check out our blog post: 10 ways to organize your video library.


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