How to succeed with OpenAsset -A White Paper
Transcription
How to succeed with OpenAsset -A White Paper
How to succeed with OpenAsset -A White Paper How to succeed with OpenAsset How to succeed with OpenAsset – A White Paper In order to succeed with OpenAsset it is important to approach the project with the right strategy from the start. This white paper will guide you through some of the key decisions and strategies that need to be undertaken when implementing OpenAsset within your business. Key topics such as keywording your projects and images, uploading images and how to encourage use of OpenAsset within your business are all covered in this document. axomic ltd 56 compton st london ec1v 0et T +44 (0) 870 850 0435 E support@axomic.com www.axomic.com VAT registered no. 811732750 axomic ltd registered in england and wales no. 4582960 How to succeed with OpenAsset Contents 1 OpenAsset Uploading Strategy 4 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 4 4 6 7 8 9 Introduction Data Migration Who is responsible for uploading images 'Tips and Tricks' to help your uploading strategy What Goes into OpenAsset Related documentation 2 OpenAsset Keyword Strategy 10 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 14 16 16 17 18 3 Guide to Access Levels in OpenAsset 19 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Introduction Configuration Benefits Tips & Tricks Related documentation 4 Guide to using Albums in OpenAsset 4.1 Introduction 4.1.1 Albums 4.1.2 Company Albums 4.2 Benefits 4.3 Tips & Tricks 4.4 Related documentation 5 Guide to encouraging use of OpenAsset 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 White Paper 10 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Getting Started 2.3 Keyword Types 2.3.1 Image Keywords 2.3.2 Project Keywords 2.4 Keyword Categories 2.5 Keyword Examples 2.5.1 Image Keywords 2.5.2 Project Keywords 2.6 Hints and Tips for structuring keywords 2.7 Data Migration – Get a head start 2.7.1 Project Images 2.7.2 Reference Images 2.8 Related documentation Introduction Benefits Tips & Tricks Case Study Related documentation 19 19 21 21 22 23 23 23 23 24 24 26 27 27 27 28 31 32 Page 3 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 1 OpenAsset Uploading Strategy Uploading images is key to the success of OpenAsset. The more up to date and relevant the image library the greater the chances of OpenAsset becoming a key resource within your practice. 1.1 Introduction Axomic are on hand to provide support for uploading images. Data migration projects can be undertaken to ensure you get the best possible start. Once the initial batch of images are in the system you need to choose which is the right uploading strategy for your practice. The purpose of this document is to provide information on what uploading strategies have been implemented by OpenAsset clients, and tips and tricks on how to make them a success. 1.2 Data Migration Axomic provide data migration services to ensure OpenAsset is richly populated with project images when the software is rolled out to users. This saves you time and money managing data migration projects, and gets you up and running as quickly as possible. All of our clients are different, and have individual requirements for data migration. OpenAsset data migration assessments are performed free of charge. We will liaise with your marketing and graphics team to define the best strategy for moving images into OpenAsset. Here's an example of the kind of migration project we can do for you. Project images are located in two areas on your company network: ● \\Project_Images\Global ● \\Project_Images2\Global The images themselves are then held within sub-folders e.g: ● \\Project_Images\Global\100 Smithsonian Institution\USA\Washington\Portrait Gallery\High RES\John Smith\NPG_USA_01.jpg ● \\Project_Images\Global\100 Smithsonian Institution\USA\Washington\Portrait Gallery\High RES\John Smith\NPG USA 01.Tif After a short consultation we would then be able to migrate the images into OpenAsset and tag the images with certain information as follows: White Paper Page 4 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Image information available in OpenAsset Description Original Filename The original filename of the image prior to migration is available in OpenAsset Project code and Project Name The Project code and name is found in the sub-folder under \Global\. Therefore \100 Smithsonian Institution\ translates as follows: Project Code 100 Project Name Smithsonian Institution Description The long description field against each image can be populated with the sub-folder names that will help you with keywording the images later. Therefore using the examples above the following information would be migrated into OpenAsset: • Global • USA • Washington • Portrait Gallery Photographer From the brief consultation it was confirmed that wherever the name John Smith exists in a sub-folder the name John Smith will be stored as the photographer on the image. Only high resolution (res) images It was found that there are two versions of most images, one a high res Tif file and a lower res Jpeg. Only the high res images should be imported, but often there were slight differences in the file names as above. E.g. • NPG_USA_01.jpg • NPG USA 01.Tif Axomic will identify the Tif and any minor filenane differences and only import the high res images. Embedded Information Data such as IPTC data & EXIF data will be transferred Data migration projects are all different so it's difficult to say how long they will take but here's a basic outline: Weeks 1-3: White Paper ● Install software ● Establish remote access ● Liaise with client on what images are for migration ● Axomic submit proposal Page 5 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Weeks 4-6: ● Agree data migration strategy ● Perform the migration ● Client tidies up ‘data migration keywords’ To find out more about Axomic's data migration services contact a member of our team. 1.3 Who is responsible for uploading images Your existing images are now in OpenAsset, but how do you ensure the database continues to be populated with up to date and relevant images? Obviously this is key to the overall success of your OpenAsset project. This is an issue that needs careful consideration, and attention, but it is well worth the effort. There’s no ‘single’ prescriptive way of uploading. We've discussed various options with established OpenAsset users and a number of uploading strategies are popular. Let’s take a look at how other users have done it: Uploading Strategy Single Person Definition OpenAsset is almost wholly managed by a single person • • Head of marketing / graphics Image librarian One person has responsibility for: • Sourcing imagery • Uploading images • Keyword management • Keywording Marketing Team Takes • OpenAsset is managed by the marketing and Control communications group: • Marketing • PR • Business Development team • Communications Responsibility is shared for: • Sourcing imagery • Uploading images • Keyword management • Keywording White Paper Page 6 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Uploading Strategy Gatekeepers Definition OpenAsset is managed by a group of people with different roles, this might include: • Director responsible for marketing • Marketing / graphics • Associates • Heads of ‘project groups’ or ‘studios’ (depends on structure of your company) Each 'project group' or ‘studio’ is then given an OpenAsset gatekeeper who is responsible for uploading the team's images Project group is then responsible for putting images into ‘image dumping ground’ folders for the gatekeeper to upload Key Stakeholders Key stakeholders such as project leaders are responsible for uploading their own project images Project leader puts them into system and is responsible for keywording Marketing team usually responsible for the management of OpenAsset e.g. keywords, but uploading done by project leaders 1.4 'Tips and Tricks' to help your uploading strategy Once you've decided which uploading strategy to adopt you will need to filter this knowledge throughout your practice. Communication really is the key. Here are some ideas that might give you some inspiration: Formalise the procedure for uploading images: White Paper ● Work together with all stakeholders on the project to create a well defined procedure for uploading images ● Document the procedure ● Email this to your staff ● Make sure staff know where to find this document Page 7 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Perform in-house training and seminars to embed uploading procedures: ● Lunchtime CPD sessions spread out over period of time ● Tick everyone off for attendance! Do refresher courses 6 months after implementation Target key staff with focused training: ● Key staff members will be vital to the success of the library ● Target these people with in-depth training (at their desks if necessary!) Include user friendly guides in your staff handbook: ● Simplify the OpenAsset user manuals and include content for the staff handbook ● One client calls their staff handbook the ‘Idiot's Guide’ – Check with staff that it is idiot proof! Use your intranet to inform staff: ● Create an image news page to remind staff to submit images and inform them of new images on your system ● Provide links to the OpenAsset user manuals and your handbook Induction for new staff members: ● Include OpenAsset training in the induction process ● Make sure they have in-depth training when they first arrive so they are familiar with your procedures 1.5 What Goes into OpenAsset OpenAsset organises images into categories. The names of the categories can vary, but here are examples of what you might have: White Paper • Projects • Textures • Projects – Marketing • Materials • Projects – Site • People • Precedents • Staff • Reference • Plants Page 8 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Here are some ideas for the types of images for uploading into your categories: Category Project Images Definition • • • • • General or Precedents Images • • • • Textures or Materials Images • Staff or People Images • • • • • Professional marketing images taken by photographers Any image which has been issued to a client or put in a document for publication Key images that sum up the project and can be used by the whole practice for the purpose of marketing Colourful drawings, anything for marketing or publication Not web images! Mood board images Images of other projects taken by staff members on trips Images which people regularly ask for e.g. growing demand for sustainable and ecological imagery Keep an eye on which images are most frequently used in material leaving the practice, if people are always using the same images it probably means you need to source more of this type Textures collections Materials Staff photos for CVs Charity events Staff trips Social activities (Xmas party / company curry etc) 1.6 Related documentation There are a number of related documents that you should have a look at if you haven't already. Please contact Axomic to request any of the following: ●For information on how to upload images the OpenAsset User Manual will teach you all you need to know. ●For all the administrative functions such as setting permissions for which groups or users can upload images he OpenAsset Administration Manual has everything. ●General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in how to upload images and administer this function. White Paper Page 9 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 2 OpenAsset Keyword Strategy Keywords are a fundamental feature of OpenAsset that allow you to tag your images with specific information. This gives you powerful searching capabilities so you can easily find any image you want to use based on the information it's tagged with. 2.1 Introduction Keywords are a fundamental feature of OpenAsset that allow you to tag your images with specific information. This gives you powerful searching capabilities so you can easily find any image you want to use based on the information it's tagged with. Keywords can be associated with the image itself or with an entire project containing a number of images. Similarly keywords can also be associated with other categories of images such as reference images. This document is designed to help you to decide how best to structure your keywords in OpenAsset so that you can get the maximum out of it. 2.2 Getting Started If you've recently purchased OpenAsset don't be afraid to upload some images and experiment with keywording as this will be invaluable. Rather than writing them down or typing them into a spreadsheet or document try them out in OpenAsset. Here's some reasons why: ● You will learn much more quickly about keywording this way ● Desired keywords can all be moved into your live system ● It's easy to edit or delete any unwanted keywords ● You will quickly understand how keywords are tagged to images ● You can download your keywords from OpenAsset as a spreadsheet for team review 2.3 Keyword Types Keywords can be broken down into two main types: Image Type Description Image Keywords Linked to each individual image Project Keywords Linked to the project that the images reside in 2.3.1 Image Keywords When an image is uploaded into OpenAsset it can be assigned to different categories. Projects are an example of one such category. It is possible to have many different categories of images but the standard solution is to have two main ones: White Paper Page 10 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Category Description Projects Your Company's high quality project images for marketing Reference E.g. Stock images of people, nature etc. Inspirational images for mood boarding An example of an additional category might be: Category Staff Photos Description Team photos, PR Shots and Staff events e.g. Christmas party Image keywords are uniquely assigned to each category that you have in OpenAsset. Therefore you can have a set of keywords for Projects, a set for Reference, for Staff Photos and so on. Please remember that the names of your categories and the number that you have is completely down to you and your specific business requirements. 2.3.2 Project Keywords Project keywords are simply generic keywords for the entire project. Therefore each project created in OpenAsset can be tagged with a series of project keywords. In turn any image uploaded into a project will automatically be assigned with these project keywords. 2.4 Keyword Categories Each group of keywords sits within it's own category. This enables you to define a series of similar keywords that have a commonality and easily add to this when you need to. Similarly keywords can be edited or removed at the touch of a button if your permissions allow. Here's an example of this structure: Keyword Category Elements of Buildings Keywords • • • • • • • White Paper Atrium Balconies Cladding Common Areas Escalator Façade Floor • • • • • • • Hall Lighting Ramp Roof Stair Terrace Wall Page 11 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 2.5 Keyword Examples In order to give you a better idea of typical keywords and get you thinking about what will work for your business here are some examples: 2.5.1 Image Keywords These are directly related to the images that fall within their category. Therefore you can have image keywords for projects, references or other categories. These keywords are specifically about the image: Category Project Keywords Keyword Category Type of Image • • • • • • Project Materials • • • • • • Project Area of Building • • • • • • Reference Natural World • • • • • • White Paper 3D Aerial Black & White CGI Composite Diagrams • Aluminium Brick Bronze Ceramic Chrome Cladding • Atrium Auditorium Bathroom Bedroom Breakout Space Garden • Animal Bird Clouds Desert Fish Flowers • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Drawing Masterplan Model Photo Portrait Sketch Concrete Glass Granite Steel Stone Wood Kitchen Library Mezzanine Museum Roof Garden Terrace Fountains Insects Landscapes Sea Sky Weather Page 12 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Category Reference Keywords Keyword Category People • • • • • • Academic Architect Artist Children Contemporary Engineer • • • • • • Entertainer Photographer Professional Public Sport Tourist 2.5.2 Project Keywords These are keywords for the project itself so that every image uploaded to a project is tagged with the associated project keywords. These keywords are specifically about the project: Project Keyword Category Sector Keywords • • • • • • Building Type • • • • • • Country • • • • • • Arts Commercial Culture Education Healthcare Hotels & Leisure • Airport Apartments Bridge Festival Hall Gallery Hospital • Australia Belgium Canada China England France • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • International Offices Public Residential Retail Transport Hotel Library Research Centre Restaurant School University Germany Japan Mexico Portugal Singapore USA Important Note Please note that the number of keywords within any keyword category will obviously vary. You may well need less than suggested above or in fact many more depending on your requirements. White Paper Page 13 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 2.6 Hints and Tips for structuring keywords If you're struggling to come up with keyword categories and their related keywords then here are some ideas that might give you some inspiration: White Paper ● Upload some images, study the images and experiment with keywording ● Look at your current marketing materials: ● Brochures ● Website ● Practices book or Portfolio ● What common topics or themes come up in the marketing materials? Could these potentially become keywords? ● What reference images do you regularly get asked for? What terminology is used? ● Are there any commonalities with your reference images? ● What images do you send out to press? Do any themes emerge from these images? ● How would you describe your top 20 most prestigious projects? ● Do you have an In-house photographer? Talk to them and find out if there's any specific process they follow to categorize their images ● If you use a PR company discuss keywording with them. They may follow a similar process with their projects ● Do you know any other companies similar to yours that are already using OpenAsset? Perhaps they can give you some pointers on how they've successfully implemented their keywording? ● Ask Axomic. We'll be happy to help you and can put you in contact with a similar organisation to yours that has successfully implemented their keywording ● When it comes to keywords often less is more. Start off with a small very relevant number and add to them when you have the business requirement ● For project keywords try and come up with a set of keyword categories that will apply to every single image that goes into the project. For example: Page 14 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Image: FOS123_N1.jpg - Project: FOS123 – Washington National Portrait Gallery Project Keyword Category Value Keywords • £2m - £5m • £5m - £10m • • £1k - £100k £100k - £500k £500k - £1m £1m - £2m £10m - £20m £20m - £50m • Arts • • Commercial Eduction Healthcare • Allied London BAA Bovis Imperial University • • Smithsonian Institution • • Apartments Bridge • Gallery • • Library • Museum Office Stadium Swimming Pool • Birmingham Boston Cardiff Dublin • Australia France Germany Ireland • • • Sector • • Client • • • • Type of Building City • • • • Country • • • • • • • • • • Hotels & Leisure Offices Residential Transport Manchester University Natural History Museum Norwich Union • London Manchester New York • Washington • Italy • USA • UK Wales • • In the example above there are just six project keyword categories but the image fits into all of these based on the keywords within. Create a small number of categories and add more when needed. Do the same with the keywords. White Paper Page 15 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 2.7 Data Migration – Get a head start Axomic can give you a great head start on your keywording when performing data migration services for our clients. We have helped our clients move hundreds of thousands of images into OpenAsset and can tailor each service for your specific requirements. When performing the data migration we can create keywords for you and tag information to your images. Here's some examples of how this might work for your image library: 2.7.1 Project Images The project images are located in two areas on your company network: ● \\Project_Images\Global ● \\Project_Images2\Global The images themselves are then held within sub-folders e.g.: ● \\Project_Images\Global\100 Smithsonian Institution\USA\Washington\Portrait Gallery\High RES\John Smith\NPG_USA_01.jpg ● \\Project_Images\Global\100 Smithsonian Institution\USA\Washington\Portrait Gallery\High RES\John Smith\NPG USA 01.Tif After a short consultation we would then be able to migrate the images into OpenAsset and tag the images with certain information as follows: Image information available in OpenAsset Description Original Filename The original filename of the image prior to migration is available in OpenAsset Project code and Project Name The Project code and name is found in the sub-folder under \Global\. Therefore \100 Smithsonian Institution\ translates as follows: Project Code 100 Description White Paper Project Name Smithsonian Institution The long description field against each image can be populated with the sub-folder names that will help you with keywording the images later. Therefore using the examples above the following information would be migrated into OpenAsset: • Global • USA • Washington • Portrait Gallery Page 16 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Image information available in OpenAsset Description Photographer From the brief consultation it was confirmed that wherever the name John Smith exists in a sub-folder the name John Smith will be stored as the photographer on the image. Only high resolution (res) images It was found that there are two versions of most images, one a high res Tif file and a lower res Jpeg. Only the high res images should be imported, but often there were slight differences in the file names as above. E.g. • NPG_USA_01.jpg • NPG USA 01.Tif Axomic will identify the Tif and any minor filenane differences and only import the high res images. Embedded Information Data such as IPTC data & EXIF data will be transferred 2.7.2 Reference Images A similar process would be used for the reference images except Axomic would also generate keywords based on the sub-folder structure. All keywords would be created within a keyword category called Data Migration. This would mean that following migration you can then easily organise all the keywords into sensible categories. Here's an example: ● \\Reference_Images\Global\Natural World\Birds\Robin.jpg This image would be tagged with the following keywords that you can categorize and edit as you wish: ● Global ● Natural World ● Birds Important Note It is very important that there is clear responsibility for keywording both at the start of the project and going forward. This will mean that a good structure is organised once the initial image data has been migrated into OpenAsset. Additionally resources will be available for the continual development of keywords and their categories in line with your business requirements. This will help you to get the most out of OpenAsset. White Paper Page 17 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 2.8 Related documentation There are a number of related documents that you should have a look at if you haven't already. Please contact Axomic to request any of the following: ● If you've forgotten how to upload images, view keywords and search for keywords the OpenAsset User Manual will teach you all you need to know. ● For all the administrative functions such as adding & editing project keywords, keyword categories and keywords the OpenAsset Administration Manual has everything. ● General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in how to use and administer the keywords for your business in OpenAsset. The course outlines have all the details you need. White Paper Page 18 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 3 Guide to Access Levels in OpenAsset Access levels are used in OpenAsset to allow you to categorise your images using a simple traffic light system. Images are tagged with one of three categories that can be defined for your business requirements with the correlating category colour red, amber or green. 3.1 Introduction Access levels are used in OpenAsset to allow you to categorise your images using a simple traffic light system. Images are tagged with one of three categories that can be defined for your business requirements with the correlating category colour red, amber or green: The access level is set against each individual image so that you can ultimately control who sees particular images: 3.2 Configuration A standard configuration for the access levels could be as follows: Colour White Paper Name Definition Red Un-approved Images that have not been approved yet or you do not hold copyright for and are therefore not for general distribution. Amber Internal use Images that are not to be used for external distribution at all. These images could be used internally for documentation if required. Green External use These images are approved, of high quality and can be used for both internal and external distribution. For example an image of this quality could be made available to the press or used in marketing materials. Page 19 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Importantly the system can be configured to your exact requirements and the name against each traffic light colour can be changed for you. Following this the group permissions can be edited as required: In the example above we are looking at the marketing group. The traffic light system helps you build a business process around managing your images. The following example is for the Marketing group: ● They can upload images at the Un-approved or Internal use statuses ● They can edit an Un-approved image and delete it if necessary ● They are able to change an Un-approved image to the status Internal use ● They are unable to change an Internal use image to the status External use ● They are unable to upload images at the External use status ● They are unable to edit or delete images at the External use status ● These access levels apply to all categories of image, e.g. Project, Reference & Textures Within this process it is intended that images start at an unapproved status and become upgraded until it is confirmed they can be used externally. The ability to assign a status of 'External use' would be restricted to certain group/s such as administrators only. Furthermore, other groups such as an external press group could exist that only have access to view images with the External use access level. This simple example provided starts to demonstrate how a business process can be built around the use of access levels, but this can obviously be taken further and developed for your own unique business requirements. White Paper Page 20 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 3.3 Benefits Here are some examples of the benefits of using access levels: ● Build business processes around access levels and groups of users ● Implement OpenAsset across your entire enterprise by controlling the access of your users ● Allow access to external users such as the press by implementing strict access level properties ● Ensure only the best images are made visible to general users ● Quickly restrict the access levels at the category level e.g. project & reference ● Track the numbers of images in the different access level categories broken down by project, photographer, category and more 3.4 Tips & Tricks There are many ways that OpenAsset can be configured using access levels. Here are some tips for how to get the most out of them and some handy tricks you may not be aware of: Tips and Tricks Change access level descriptions Description • • Create a business process • • White Paper These don't have to be Un-approved, Internal use & External use. They can be changed depending on what your requirements are. Please speak to the OpenAsset support team if you make a business decision to change these and we'll be happy to help. Think about how you would like to control your image library and give different types of users access to the images. By coming up with a high level business process you should be able to determine what specific access levels different groups of users should have and how the access levels are structured. Enterprise Wide Access • Think about everyone within your organisation and what kind of access you want them to have to the system and the images within. This should help you determine what access levels you need and assist with the business process. Make the best images available • One strategy is to have the best images tagged as access level green. If you restrict general users of the system so that they only view images at access level green then they will only ever be able to use the best images. Page 21 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Tips and Tricks Description Configure the Default preferences can be set up for each group of users. Default preferences Here the Search order can be ordered by Access level meaning images are returned and displayed in the order green, amber & red. In fact this can even be reversed if preferred: Set the Thumbnail info so that the Access level is shown against each of your search results for certain groups. For groups that only have permissions to view one access level it's advisable not to set the Access level as a thumbnail since they only ever see one type. Identify the With the appropriate permissions it's possible to view how numbers of images many images there are at each Access level. For example you can view this for your categories: Additionally this can be done for Colourspaces, Image formats, Projects, Copyright holders & Photographers. 3.5 Related documentation ● The OpenAsset User Manual and OpenAsset Administration Manual contains information relating to using and configuring Access levels ● General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in using and configuring Access levels respectively. The course outlines have all the details you need White Paper Page 22 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 4 Guide to using Albums in OpenAsset Albums are a place to collate chosen images from one or more categories to facilitate the creation of a document, presentation or company album. An individual can share an Album with colleagues or clients, or the Album can be submitted for consideration as a company Album. 4.1 Introduction Within OpenAsset there are two types of Album: 4.1.1 Albums Albums are a place to collate chosen images from one or more categories to facilitate the creation of a document, presentation or company album. An individual can share an Album with colleagues or clients, or the Album can be submitted for consideration as a company Album. Albums can be created by anybody within the organisation, as long as they are given permissions to do so within OpenAsset. 4.1.2 Company Albums Company albums are displayed on the home page of any user who logs into OpenAsset, company albums are ideal tools for sharing examples of 'best' or 'most recent' images. Example company albums could be: ● Pictures of the latest award winning project ● Best examples of mixed-use Residential and Office developments ● Favourite selection per sector: Sport, Residential, Retail etc. ● The Christmas Party! Company albums can be approved by any member of staff, as long as they are given permissions to approve company Albums within OpenAsset. Albums are central to the creation of documents using OpenAsset and improving collaboration within the organisation. From an Album a user can perform the following: White Paper ● Create a PowerPoint presentation containing all images within the Album ● Create a contact sheet for emailing or printing ● Create a .zip file containing all images ● Launch the AssetBar for dragging and dropping images directly into MS Word, InDesign and other applications ● Share a collection of images with specific individuals or groups of people, or with external clients and partners via the web Page 23 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 4.2 Benefits Encouraging the use of Albums with OpenAsset will be beneficial to your organisation. Here are some of the reasons why: ● Increase collaboration over images both internally and externally, removing the need to email copies of images to colleagues or external clients and partners ● Albums are just links to the shared image library, so there is no limit to the number of images in an album or the number of albums that can be created ● Create a PowerPoint presentation containing all images within the Album at the click of a button ● Improve the process of using images within documents – images can be “dragged and dropped” from OpenAsset directly into MS Word, InDesign, Quark etc ● Use company Albums to inspire staff with images that are available to improve marketing and business development materials 4.3 Tips & Tricks Albums are a powerful feature within OpenAsset, however the key is to consider simple processes and rules for the creation and usage of Albums to ensure the practice gets the very most out of them now and in the future. Here some suggestions: Tips and Tricks White Paper Description Who should be able to create Albums? All staff should be able to create Albums to get the most out of image searching and usage, for example the creation of a PowerPoint presentation. Who should be able to create Company Albums? All staff can submit an Album for approval as a company album, however it may be best to implement an approval process where only particular staff can grant approval. How many Company Albums should we allow? Having too many company Albums may be unwieldy, leaving staff unwilling to trawl through those available to find the images they wanted. It could be a great idea to implement a naming convention for Company Albums, see next point. Consider a naming convention for Albums Implementing a simple naming convention for your company albums would make it easier for staff to search through company albums and find the ideal image. See the screenshot below for an example naming convention: Page 24 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Tips and Tricks Consider short & accurate descriptions for Albums Create groups for publishing selected Albums to Description As well as an Album Name, each company album can be given a short description to inform the user as to the nature of the images within each Album. See the screenshot above for an example of this. • • • Integrate OpenAsset with the Intranet / Internet to display your best Albums • • Training services White Paper Clients could consider creating groups consisting of people who share a common interest in specific Albums. For example, if several people from different offices generally work on brochure production in the practice, a group called “Brochure Group” could be created to make it easier to share a particular Album with all people within that group. Other examples may be “Marketing Group”, “Directors”, “Leeds Office” etc. Contact Axomic for more information on the APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) available to achieve integration with your intranet or internet site. RSS feeds are also possible – again contact Axomic for more details. Clients should consider training in order to get across to users the importance and capabilities of Albums. The following ideas could be considered: • Training - General training courses can be provided by Axomic at the client site where groups of employees are trained in the general features of OpenAsset including Albums. • In-house training - Clients who have attended Intensive training can cascade training to staff via short group seminars run in-house that cover the key features and benefits of OpenAsset including Albums. Page 25 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Tips and Tricks Description • • OpenAsset support • • Power users cascading knowledge • • User manuals - End-users could be given the OpenAsset user manual that contains step-by-step instructions on how to create, use and manage Albums within OpenAsset. Intranet links - Clients could provide a link from the Intranet site to OpenAsset documentation and on-line demonstrations. OpenAsset on-line demonstrations can be found at the following website: http://www.axomic.com/ViewDemo.html Axomic provides a professional support service for all clients subscribing to annual support. This covers day to day queries that end users may have. Users can contact the support service between the hours of 09:00 & 18:00 Monday to Friday. Users should be encouraged to use this service if they need a query answered or are unsure about how to do something in OpenAsset. Having a number of power users of OpenAsset means that their knowledge can be passed down to others when needed. It is often beneficial to designate power users as the first point of contact for any queries users have so that a firm process exists when a user has an issue they're unsure about. 4.4 Related documentation There are a number of related documents that you should have a look at if you haven't already. Please contact Axomic to request any of the following: ● The OpenAsset User Manual and OpenAsset Administration Manual offer detailed information on how to structure and use Albums within OpenAsset. ● General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in how to use and administer all features within OpenAsset, including Albums. The course outlines have all the details you need. White Paper Page 26 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 5 Guide to encouraging use of OpenAsset In order to make OpenAsset a success within your organisation it's important that it's made available to your business as a whole. 5.1 Introduction In order to make OpenAsset a success within your organisation it's important that it's made available to your business as a whole. OpenAsset is an enterprise wide image management solution that is designed to become the central resource for all of your project and reference images as well as other image categories defined by you. The advanced security settings for users and groups means that you can encourage the use of OpenAsset to everyone including external parties safe in the knowledge that your information is suitably protected. 5.2 Benefits Encouraging the use of OpenAsset will be beneficial to your business. Here are some of the reasons why: White Paper ● Help you have a successful launch of the product ● Improve performance by enabling teams to work faster and better ● Increase the transparency of the practices' work ● Improve return of investment on OpenAsset ● Create an enterprise-wide image management resource for all employees ● Centralise your image library so that images are sourced from one place only ● Grow the image library making more resources available to promote your practice ● Help promote the image library and get everyone positive about this resource ● Minimise storage requirements by reducing image file duplication ● Reduce network traffic by centrally controlling image file sizes Page 27 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 5.3 Tips & Tricks There are a number of different ways that the use of OpenAsset can be encouraged. Here some suggestions: Tips and Tricks Intranet/On-line resources Description • • • • • Easy access Training services If you don't have a company intranet then it's important to make it easy for users to access OpenAsset. Here are some examples of how to do this: • Email all staff containing a link to the site • Ensure the OpenAsset site is added as a website Favourite or Bookmark • Provide a link on all staff desktop machines • Provide a link on the computer's network places • • • • • White Paper Many of Axomic's clients use their own intranet as a portal to OpenAsset. This will often involve a link that will take a user directly to the log on screen. If you are looking to launch OpenAsset in the future why not advertise the product on your intranet? If you have a news section on your intranet OpenAsset can be discussed here in the build up to the product going live. Use the intranet news section to promote new project images and get people interested in OpenAsset. Why not have a screenshot or banner on the intranet promoting the product and its use? Training your staff will help them feel confident in using the product so that they can start reaping the benefits. Axomic provide a number of training services to our clients for the different types of users that may use OpenAsset: General Training Courses are perfect for practices that are ready to roll out the system to everyone. Users will learn how to search for images and create documents such as PowerPoint presentations. Intensive Training Courses are aimed at the power users of OpenAsset that will take on responsibility for managing the product. Train these users before going live as they will be instrumental in setting it up. If you have new staff or users that need refresher training then Axomic can also provide a day package that allows you to break the day up into a number of general and intensive sessions. Page 28 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Tips and Tricks Alternative training services Description • • • OpenAsset documentation • • • OpenAsset support • • Power users cascading knowledge • • White Paper Axomic already provide a number of on-line demonstrations of different features of the product. (http://www.axomic.com/ViewDemo.html) Encourage use of the product by using these resources. Alternatively Axomic can create bespoke demonstration videos tailored to your specific requirements and using your OpenAsset environment. Make these videos available on your intranet as a resource for your employees to use at any time. The user and administration manuals offer detailed information on how to use and configure OpenAsset. Typically these materials are made available following training. By having these resources available for reference users can feel confident using the product. If you have a number of different types of groups of users then consider creating smaller documents aimed at these types of users. Extract the information from the manual based on what these users do and create booklets for your user groups, e.g. Marketing Group, Press Group or Admin Group. Axomic provides a professional support service for all clients subscribing to annual support. This covers day to day queries that end users may have. Users can contact the support service between the hours of 09:00 & 18:00 Monday to Friday. Users should be encouraged to use this service if they need a query answered or are unsure about how to do something in OpenAsset. Having a number of power users of OpenAsset means that their knowledge can be passed down to others when needed. It is often beneficial to designate power users as the first point of contact for any queries users have so that a firm process exists when a user has an issue they're unsure about. Page 29 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset 5.4 Case Study Gifford, the consultancy of engineers and specialist advisers, really kicked off their OpenAsset project in 2008. In April 2008 just a small number of users were uploading images into the system to get the project started. With a go live date planned for the beginning of June the system was promoted internally using methods such as: ● Advertising on the company intranet using the desktop news area ● Planned launch using the intranet ● Posters distributed across all offices By having designated groups of users such as uploaders, employees and marketing Gifford have ensured a structured approach to rolling out OpenAsset has been taken. For example full restrictions have been made on who is able to upload images so that only high quality images are used. Importantly OpenAsset has been strongly promoted during the roll out which has seen continued growth in its use across the organisation since the initial purchase. The following charts demonstrate this: Figure 1 – OpenAsset User Access Volumes Figure 1 shows the number of different users that have logged into OpenAsset and used the system over the past 15 weeks. During the first few weeks detailed on the chart back in April there was a consistent relatively small number of users with designated users uploading images into OpenAsset. As a greater number of people became involved with OpenAsset and the enterprise wide roll out date approached, usage increased from 27 users to 167 users in week seven. Since going live on the 2nd June usage has risen up to almost 500 users having visited OpenAsset to use the image library. White Paper Page 30 of 31 How to succeed with OpenAsset Figure 2 – OpenAsset Image Upload Volumes Figure 2 shows the number of images that have been uploaded into OpenAsset in each week over the same 15 week period. In the first six or seven weeks the uploaders steadily built up the image library with a peak of over 1000 images being uploaded in week six. With a planned and structured approach specific users have been designated as uploaders of the system and since the live roll out on 2nd June uploading levels have grown massively. In weeks eleven, twelve and thirteen figures have reached into the high thousands peaking at over 8000 images being uploaded in any one week. There are currently well over 40,000 images available in OpenAsset with a target to increase this to one million by the end of the year. 5.5 Related documentation There are a number of related documents that you should have a look at if you haven't already. Please contact Axomic to request any of the following: ● The OpenAsset User Manual and OpenAsset Administration Manual offer detailed information on how to use and configure OpenAsset. ● General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in how to use and administer OpenAsset. The course outlines have all the details you need. White Paper Page 31 of 31