Acquia DAM (Widen) needs to put more effort into understanding users.

I was the project manager for implementing this system within our organization. We purchased DAM, Portals, Workflow, and Templates. Many of the gripes below we have been told that have heard the same from a lot of clients, but there is no indication of if they will ever be addressed. Additionally, this system and many of the add-on tools require any outside users to have a licensed seat for the DAM which can add up - especially if someone who may submit a form or use a template has absolutely no need for access to the DAM. This is very different on systems that allow collaboration with outside users back and forth. Breaking this out into a few sections; DAM (Asset storage and tagging), Portals (asset sharing), Workflow (including forms), and Templates. DAM: I would give the DAM aspect a 6 out of 10. It's fine. But it truly is just a space to store your assets and tag them. It does not provide a single source of truth, because if you want to have an AI file, a production ready print file, a screen file (without dyelines and bleed for example), or an immediate access printable PDF without crop marks, you can't have a single source of truth because you have to have four separate files/assets saved and tagged in the DAM and they don't talk to each other to know there are four other assets to update if you make a change in the working file. Additionally, tracking of asset downloads and usage is not as rich as you would expect it to be. Portals: The brand portals are really the useful piece here, but it's an upcharge. It is not that different, and you are already paying a lot of many for basic portals. This should just be the standard. We were sold these portals with the idea that what we were getting was the brand portals. It's not, and the standard portals are not super useful. Workflow: Don't waste your time. It is not a project management tool, it's not made for marketers or by marketers, it's lacking in so many areas but most importantly the intake form is a flop. Templates: Templates has major potential, however there is no option for dependencies "if you use this image, then use this headline" and also no option for parameters on text boxes, for example to say this is a price and the price can't be higher or lower than X. While templates require you are a licensed user to utilize, they don't save your work! If a template is submitted and decline, the user can't just make an edit and resubmit, they have to start completely over.

It has not provided the singe source of truth that we had hoped it would.