Don't Go It Alone

Don't Go It Alone: Get Organizational Buy-In
An article by Rob Zimmelman, a senior digital asset management consultant for the Rookwood Group. This is the second in a series of best practice articles by the Rookwood Group.

Last month I wrote about the importance of doing a “pilot project” that solves a discrete business problem as a way to get started with Media Asset Management (MAM). I touched on the idea that you should find a small pilot project that is easy to succeed at, build something and then showcase your success. This month I’m writing about the importance of getting organizational buy-in to the success of any MAM initiative. Last month’s theme was “Don’t boil the Ocean”. This month’s theme is “Don’t Go it Alone”.

Organizational buy-in is critical to the success of any MAM initiative. The MAM issue is too large to live in one department or workgroup. You are going to have to get organizational buy-in for your MAM initiative to succeed. If you deploy MAM in one department without getting organizational buy-in, you end up with a system that serves the needs of one group but fails to consider the needs of the organization as a whole. This situation has been referred to as “islands” or “silos” of rich media. Each island is distinct, and the islands do not connect (without getting messy).

Management buy-in is the first step on the way to achieving organizational buy-in. You are going to have to start with managers high enough on the organization chart that you cross departments. If you get management buy-in for an agreed-upon solution, you will find that cooperation from the individuals who create and touch media assets will follow. Support and cooperation from these individuals is necessary in order for your MAM initiative to be successful. However, the first step is to get organizational buy-in by getting management buy-in at the right level on the org chart.

If you are in the Production Department or the Information Technology Department, visit the Marketing Department and tell them you are thinking about MAM. If you are a Brand Manager in the Marketing Department, visit the Information Technology Department and let THEM know you’re thinking about MAM. If you’re the VP of Sales and Marketing visit the CTO and let him know you’re thinking about MAM. Put your heads together and come up with a starting point as a team. Don’t go it alone.

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Here are some items that a consultant can help you with regard to gaining organizational buy-in:

Identify management decision-makers and make sure that they understand and support the investigation of MAM.
Identify the people that the MAM initiative will impact and get a good understanding of HOW they will be impacted.
Map out the workflow that will be affected. Map out the new workflow after the MAM initiative is in place. Be prepared to identify the tangible benefits of MAM in your resulting diagrams.
Return on Investment calculations. At a minimum, show the cost of recreating an average media asset, cost of time spent searching for assets, cost of time in idle project setup. If you can’t come up with some tangible reason to be involved in MAM, then it may be time to wait until you can.