Video is everywhere. There is no doubting that it has revolutionized the world of communication. Forbes research has shown that 6 in 10 executives prefer watching a video over reading a text-heavy document. Businesses don’t just use videos for marketing. Here are just some of the internal use cases:
- Live and asynchronous corporate training courses
- Onboarding content
- Knowledge Management
- Internal Meeting Recording management
- Webcasts
Hence, the need for a video asset management system arises. You might be wondering why not a digital asset management system. Worry not! This article discusses video asset management and why you must opt for an intelligent video asset management system rather than a standard digital asset management system.
What is Video Asset Management?
Videos are a unique type of media. They are not static – rich media type that requires unique management methods in sharing, storage, metadata optimization and much more. Given that organizations have to protect PII and ensure the security of their confidential data, it is critical to have these videos protected from unauthorized access. These are just a few of the elements that Video Asset Management covers.
Additionally, imagine having all of your videos stored on different applications (like LMS and video conferencing systems) without a way to organize them accurately. A critical component of video asset management is creating a “single source of truth” by having all your videos be stored and organized in a centralized, searchable repository.
Drawbacks of Standard Digital Asset Management System
Let us now explore why exactly a standard digital asset management system falls short when it comes to videos:
Lack of Playback Capabilities
Buffering is annoying, and viewing grainy footage ruins the whole viewing experience. This is what a traditional DAM system offers in terms of its playback capability. That is in case they even offer playback. In most cases, playback is altogether (especially for large videos) not even offered, and viewers have no choice but to download the videos. This is not only a huge hassle but also is highly risky in terms of internal, private videos.
Upload Limit with Pricey Storage
Most DAM systems have upload limits in place that limit you to only upload a video below a specific size (mostly 1 GB). There are various instances where businesses are handling more extensive videos due to their lengthier duration and higher quality. These could be your hour-long training sessions or recording of your annual townhall or even simply your weekly team meeting recordings.
Global Content Delivery is Hindered
DAM systems do not provide CDN support, and they do not offer adaptive bitrate streaming. All this hinders their ability to allow your remote teams working in secluded areas to play your videos.
Minimal Security and Compliance Support
It is critical that you opt for an enterprise-grade video asset management system designed to resolve all your security concerns. DAM systems can’t fulfill these security needs of yours.
Weak Metadata Extraction & Search Functionality
Without the possibility of optimizing your video’s metadata, it won’t be possible to find the right video at the right time accurately. Standard digital asset management systems are weak in filtering the search results to pin down the video you require quickly. Plus, these systems are not AI-powered to transcribe your videos. So, you won’t be able to search within your videos. You also won’t be able to add custom identifiers to your videos. This hinders the filtering capabilities even further.
Benefits of an Intelligent Video Asset Management System
All the drawbacks are just some of the reasons why an AI-powered video asset management system is the need of the hour. Let us explore some of the key offerings of an intelligent video asset management system:
Scalable Storage
Video requires much more storage. However, as we are aware, storage proves to be highly expensive. Hence, it is best to choose a cloud-based video asset management system with scalable storage options to scale up or down as your requirements change. Moreso, some VAM systems go one step ahead by providing you tiered storage that allows you to archive your old videos in cold storage that is less costly. You can move these videos back to hot storage when your access requirements rise again.
Metadata Extraction and Extensive Searchability
Not only can you optimize the title and description of the video, but you can also utilize the machine-generated transcripted to auto-tag your videos. Plus, you can add custom identifiers to your videos to accurately filter down your search results. Plus, you can even use the transcripts to search within the videos and jump right to the relevant parts.
Optimized High-Quality Playback
Automatically transcode your videos to create multiple renditions (formats and resolution levels) that will allow you to provide an optimized viewing experience aided by the support for adaptive bitrate streaming. Modern VAM systems also provide CDN support to reduce your video’s load time globally and remove buffering problems even for those viewing from remote areas facing bandwidth issues. All this ensures that your videos are playable are supported on all devices and browsers.
Robust Security and Wide Compliance Coverage
When it comes to enterprise videos, security is of utmost importance. Choose a video asset management system that caters to enterprise-grade video security challenges. Some crucial capabilities they must encompass are:
- SSO integration for authenticating your video portal users
- End-to-end content encryption
- Role-based access controls to swiftly limit which user can perform what actions for your videos
- Content segregation through the creation of restricted user groups
- IP and Geo-restriction
- Limited Sharing capabilities
Moreover, there are some important compliances that enterprises are required to meet while operating in specific industries (like HIPAA for the health sector) and certain regions (like GDPR for the EU region). Your VAM system must allow you to meet these compliances through the security features mentioned above with additional capabilities like audit logs, redaction, custom retention period, anonymous user policy, and custom security policy.
Detailed Analytics Capabilities
To provide videos that are actually engaging and generate the results you desire, you must understand what your viewers are responding well to and what exactly their requirements are. This is only possible by analyzing their viewing behavior (are they watching your videos? Leaving midway?), understanding where are they are from, and what they choose to interact with. Improve your videos accordingly.
Integrate with Your Existing IT Systems
A key element that a video asset management system should provide is the possibility of integration with your existing business technologies like single sign-on providers, video conferencing solutions, learning management systems, customer relationship management systems, tracking tools, etc.
Conclusion
To sum It up, utilize a video asset management system to extract the full potential of your continuously growing pile of videos. Video is the future – make sure that you are not left behind!
