Item: Acquia DAM (Widen)
Rating: 7
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Acquia DAM (Widen) to store "best of" selects from events and programs for our organization. These photos can then be added to albums or downloaded for use in marketing materials, multimedia, social media, or whatever is needed. It also makes it easier for other teams to access photos when needed and provides a backup in case we cannot access any of our other digital asset management systems. It's been great for working from home since employees have had limited access to wired-in servers and systems.

Pros and Cons

Provides a detailed database of photos from past events and programs
Keeps photos organized so that they are easy to find, especially for teams unfamiliar with Acquia DAM (Widen)
Helps provide context for images and makes writing captions easier

User management can be a bit tricky
It should be easier to make collections shareable (i.e. make it easier to supply a downloadable link)
Make albums more downloadable – it's not always clear on how to download images from collections for non-Acquia DAM (Widen) users and you can't download the entire collection of images at once

Features

The ability to store files that can be accessed from anywhere
Managing who can access the files
Shareability of collections and images

Return on Investment

Faster and easier to add/take out photos from collections based on the request
Easy to flag files that shouldn't be used/downloaded
Makes it easier to upload large amounts of files at one time

Making it a database for all multimedia files from past, present, and future events and programs for the organization.

Support Rating

They are always there to answer questions or concerns and are very thorough with their answers. The chat option is very helpful as it makes it easier to continue working without having to wait for an email or stay on the phone.

DAM System Solution

We mostly use it for photo storage, but it has been really helpful when we rebranded our website and needed to add new photos and albums across our site.

Other Software Used

Dropbox, Adobe Bridge, Adobe PhotoShop

Alternatives Considered

Dropbox

It is easier to download an entire folder of files instead of just one at a time. It is easier to comment on files for approvals and edits on Dropbox as well.

Key Insights

Do you think Acquia DAM (Widen) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Acquia DAM (Widen)'s feature set?

Yes

Did Acquia DAM (Widen) live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Acquia DAM (Widen) go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Acquia DAM (Widen) again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

Pros: It's great for providing a safe space for organization photos and other multimedia files Make it easy to keep files organized – you can upload files directly to the place you need on the site You can manage how users use Acquia DAM (Widen) so they don't upload/download the wrong and/or flagged files Cons: Gets more expensive the more users and files you add Not great for storing raw files of photos, videos, and other multimedia as it will get expensive to store and manage Not always user friendly – can take a while to figure out user management, uploading, organization, etc.

Great tool!

Overall Satisfaction with Widen