Media-Asset Overload
When the File System Is Not Enough
By Peter Spicer
Few people would dispute the notion that a developer's source code is an asset that needs to be managed and protected. Companies recognize that code is valuable because it runs the business -- in fact, it is the business. It is also very costly to produce and maintain. As a result, companies have invested in source-code control systems and other tools to help developers manage these assets.
On the Web, designers and developers are creating sites that include a variety of digital media assets, including graphics, HTML, photographic images, sound, video, animation, text, scripts, and designs. Increasingly, companies need to manage the growth of their digital media assets and are realizing the benefits of implementing a media-management system.
Such a system organizes collections of different types of digital media, and automates the storage and retrieval of media. A media-management system is typically much more than a repository. It provides for the acquisition, editing, archiving, and redistribution of media. It also provides structure for the development process and enables the reuse of media by a team of developers.
This article provides an introduction to the basic functions that a media-management system can perform. Fortunately, there are now significant media-management tools to assist Web designers, developers, and managers with these tasks. We've been involved in developing media-management solutions at our company, Arriba Soft, and I'll describe how our products, Arriba Express and Arriba Vista, perform some of these basic functions.
