If you’re in the production industry, you’ve either heard of or used a Media Asset Management (MAM) platform—a typical tool among post-production companies. Therefore, as the demand for digital content continues to increase, MAMs are a critical component used to manage and distribute media assets of all types.
Unfortunately, although MAMs can be crucial for post-production—the most common existing plugins that allow for cloud storage lack key functionality, such as accelerated data movement directly to and from cold storage and cost and time analytics. Of course, MAM providers may offer help with workflow orchestration by moving media assets through a media supply chain. Still, even the most advanced plugins don’t help users determine the cost and time to store and retrieve cold assets.
Case in point: large media file transfers are a significant component of any post-production environment. Knowing the implications associated with the cost and time of storing and retrieving assets from the cloud is essential. Unfortunately, most MAM cloud plugins don’t provide this information, as they’re often limited to rudimentary data set transfers, making it challenging to manage budgets and meet deadlines.
Further complicating matters is the inability of current MAM solutions to provide accelerated data movement. The reality is that traditional data transfer mechanisms can be painfully slow and time-consuming, leading to workflow bottlenecks—significantly impacting turnaround times and delaying delivery of time-sensitive projects.
Worse, cold storage is a critical component of any large-scale media workflow, as it allows for the long-term storage of assets that are not currently being used. Unfortunately, most MAMs don’t natively write to cold storage, and if auto-tiering is used, the restoration process of these assets can be complicated and time-consuming—again, MAM plugins lack the necessary features to handle this process effectively.
So, what can you do to enhance your MAMs archive capability? Luckily, a far better approach exists—one that will enable you to accelerate your data movement, better analyze your costs, and ultimately ensure that your project and your company are a resounding success. First, look for a data movement solution that offers advanced predictive analytics to calculate the cost of data transfers before movement, giving you the required business intelligence to choose the right storage tier for your hot and cold data.
Additionally, select a data movement application provider that enables you and your team to monitor, track and tag every job by users, groups, projects, and departments to quickly and easily know who moved what data, where, and when the transfer occurred. This can be useful for billback and chargeback for departments and projects.
Lastly, choose a purpose-built data movement application to seamlessly integrate with your current MAM platform—enabling a more streamlined approach to your overall data management workflow, movement, and cost analysis. By investing in a comprehensive, modern solution—production companies can enhance their MAM integration and manage their assets more efficiently and effectively—and on budget.
After all, with the right tools and features—integrating a state-of-the-art data management and cloud cost analytics tool with your MAM—you can improve the efficiency and accuracy of your workflows and achieve your goals more effectively. A practice that always leads to a healthier bottom line.
