Once you've bought a new house, planning your move becomes far easier, especially if you've already determined what you're taking with you and what is not. Similarly, the DAM platform purchasing process provides the high-level scope for the migration that allows you to then plan more precisely. In this article, we outline what pieces of information should be included in your migration plan and some best practices to make executing that plan easier.
Get Down to the Details
Once the project is properly scoped, the plan can be developed, from the high-level, big-picture decisions to the in-the-weeds minutiae that often prove more important. The foremost thing to keep in mind at this stage is how the project will impact the day-to-day operations of your organization and thus the end-users of your existing DAM system. Some of the more important detailed to include in your migration plan are listed below.
- Timeline - Think of this as the closing process on your new home. In that process, there are many steps you take to evaluate both your needs and the projects you'll need to do to get the home ready for move in day. The same is true here. Start by establishing when you'd like to ideally launch the new system and work backwards through each step that you'll need to execute to ensure the pieces are in place for launch.
- Technology - Remember, there will be a time when your old and new systems will overlap. Plan carefully for this period to minimize confusion and ensure users continue to have access to assets. As you create your project roadmap, keep both managers and employees in the loop and ensure they can easily raise issues and identify risks.
- Users - When will you gain access to the new platform and who should be trained first on how to use it? Think about the people you want to be executing the projects required to launch the platform to the rest of your organization and make sure they are trained first. From there, onboard users based on their level of involvement in the DAM program as the assets they need access to are added to the platform.
- Assets - As referenced above, you'll want to align your schedule for uploading assets with your schedule for training and onboarding the users that need them. Take time to outline what kinds of metadata you want added to your assets before they are uploaded to the DAM platform.
Collect and Start Packing
Once you’ve closed on your new house, it’s time to start packing. In the DAM world, this means collecting, auditing, and prioritizing the digital assets you’ll be migrating to the new platform. Just like some people may put all their boxes in a guest room to organize them, it’s often best to bring all your assets into one central repository in order to assess what you have.
Due to the hustle and bustle of day-to-day marketing and creative operations, organizations often aren’t aware of the sheer volume of valuable content they have. Migrations are an opportunity to identify which content should be archived and removed from current operations and which are being underutilized or forgotten.
