Only two percent of Global 2000 organizations offering proprietary content online — such as media and music — fully understand and have implemented digital rights management (DRM) technology. However, that number is expected to increase to 20 percent by 2006, predicts the Meta Group, an information technology research firm based in Stamford, CT.
In separate research, the researchers also found that the non-broadcast digital asset management (DAM) market continues to endure tumultuous times, even though businesses have a need for better management of rich content assets. Though the DAM report was not made public, its results were reported in an Australian newspaper.
Poor business case development, unreal expectations among vendors and clients, underestimation of complex integration, and poor usability and end-user training are the main contributors to unsuccessful projects, the study found. Broadcast and streaming media DAM applications were not grouped in the overall problems due to their niche status.
DRM technology, now in its early stages of adoption, is used for content protection, royalties associated with content, intellectual property protection, content dissemination, or as a way to measure the use of protected information. Its most significant current use is with media and music content. DRM adoption has been held back by a combination of complex management, cumbersome implementation and the high cost of control, the report said.
In its report “DAM Busters: The Evolution of the Digital Asset Management Market,” the Meta Group said DAM projects are often viewed as unique end-user applications to serve individuals, rather than as a service for creating, managing and accessing critical rich information assets across the entire organization.
Vendors who have recognized the need for change are those who serve the enterprise content management markets, rather than broadcast and streaming media systems that cater to specialty markets. The Meta Group predicts a realignment of DAM functionality to satisfy broader business needs in the next two to three years, as vendors find themselves increasingly squeezed and forced into diminishing market niches.
