All posts by Modula4

New Case Study: Modula4 Helps Alchemy Systems Streamline Workflow

Modula4 has just released a new case study about how they helped their client Alchemy Systems develop a more efficient workflow.

Alchemy Systems helps leading brands create front-line worker expertise in the food industry and establish a safer and more productive workforce with an innovative technology suite. Modula4 helped Alchemy Systems improve their workflow by making sharing files between offices faster, reducing the cost of storing videos and the time it takes to process videos, providing greater security and rights management for their assets and creating a central asset repository for the entire organization.

Read the case study.

What I Wish I Had Told My Manager About Workflow Systems

Working at an ecommerce startup on the creative team, it seemed that everyday I was putting out fires or addressing mistakes that had nothing to do with my job: copywriting. While I appreciated working in a dynamic environment, and I’ve always enjoyed wearing many hats, I found that on a daily basis my ability to be productive was hindered by not being able to access files, editing the wrong version of a file, or having my team work on the wrong assignment, only to learn after the assignment was completed that it was no longer needed.

How did this happen? Was it gross mismanagement, terrible leadership, lack of initiative or drive? None of the above. I had an extremely competent team and an informed, workaholic manager. What we didn’t have was support from upper-management. Though we voiced repeatedly that we needed a new workflow system, the time that we wasted was not seen as valuable enough to address the problem.

Looking back, I realize that this wasn’t just an isolated incident. Often, creative teams do not have the buy-in of decision makers that can help them to become more productive. We creatives often feel like we work on our own island, separated from everyone else, yet expected to work on tight deadlines, and to drop everything for whatever last-minute projects come up. This creates an “us vs. them” mentality that is fundamentally destructive to any company.

So, what can be done to prevent this from happening in your business? Here are some steps that you can take to empower your team to work smarter.

Listen To Your Staff: They See Problems Before You Do

The needs of every department are different at every company; one size does not fit all. While the general questions are alike for each organization, the processes are often different. Ask: what files or images does your team need access to? Who needs to sign off on their projects? Who should be able to edit or give comments? Get feedback from each team about where their pain-points are and ask what they think could be done to make their workflow more effective. By doing this, not only are you gathering requirements to find the optimal system for everyone’s needs, but you are showing that you care and are invested in each team, which makes everyone invested in the outcome.

Support Staff Morale

Every manager is cost-sensitive, and they should be. However, often the long-term value of a system is overlooked because of the initial price. Meanwhile, creatives spend hours a day trying to find the right files, which has a financial impact and adds stress to your team. It is extremely frustrating to waste time on tasks that could be easily be automated, or at least facilitated, with the right system. The overall effect on the team is demoralizing, and makes team members feel as if their time and work is not valued. This is not just about productivity and ROI but also impacts the quality of work and employee retention.

Address the Weakest Link: It’s All Connected

If one team doesn’t have the systems they need to be efficient, this has a trickle down effect throughout the whole organization. It can also cause resentment and misunderstandings between teams, which breaks down effective communication. Find their common pain-points, and bring them together regularly to discuss their intersecting needs. This will help your teams learn how their processes impact each other, and how each team getting the support that they need benefits all teams.

As a manager, it is easy to overlook what at first appears to be a small problem in one department, without seeing how it snowballs into a much bigger problem throughout the organization. I wish those who had decision-making power had listened to the creative team, included us in more planning sessions, and understood our interdependence within the broader framework. If we had a better workflow and a system to support it, we would have had a cohesive department, getting our tasks done quickly and been a more valuable asset to the company. Providing each team with the tools they need to succeed builds an organization that works together as a unit, combining and sharing resources for the benefit of everyone.

Modula4 Partners with Netx

Modula4 is now partners with Netx, a Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform developer. Modula4 will resell their product, also named Netx, and provide services, customizations and integrations for it.

Netx is an enterprise-class system that offers a variety of deployment options. The options include using it as a cloud service in Netx’s own secure hosting environment, in third-party clouds such as Amazon Web Services, Rackspace and Microsoft Azure, or on-premise. Hybrid solutions, combining on-premise asset management and cloud distribution is also available.

NetX is based on open standards, with the ability to integrate into a wide variety of technology environments. It deploys on virtually all platforms (Windows, Linus & Mac), works with major databases (MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle and Postgres), most popular applications servers and authenticates with LDAP directory services such as Active Directory. For additional flexibility, you can choose from a wide variety of image and video processing engines to meet specialized needs.

To learn more visit the Netx  product page or contact Modula4 to schedule a demo.

Meet Modula4 Management Team at Henry Stewart DAMNY

Modula4’s management team, CEO Jon Hornstein and CTO and co-founder Michael Gellner, will be attending DAMNY, the Henry Stewart digital asset management conference in New York May 7 & 8.

Jon and Michael will set aside time while at the conference to meet with clients and those interested in learning more about  Modula4 and its offerings. It’s a great opportunity for those on the East Coast to meet with Modula4’s top management.

Now in its 12th year, the DAMNY conference brings together DAM users, vendors and independent experts. There are a variety of conference tracks addressing various aspects of DAM planning, deployment and use.

To schedule time to meet with the Modula4 management team, contact Modula4. Visit the Henry Stewart DAMNY event page to learn more about the conference and to register.

Cumulus 9.2.2 Now Available

Modula4 Partner Canto has just released Cumulus 9.2.2, an update to their popular Digital Asset Management (DAM) product.

New in Cumulus 9.2.2 within the Web Client is the ability to preview multi-page documents, a customizable tool bar and the option to show or hide specific metadata fields. The update also contains bug fixes and performance enhancements.

To learn more about Cumulus visit the Cumulus product page or contact Modula4 . 

Modula4 Updates its DAM Reporting & Analysis Tool

Modula4 has just released an update to its powerful Digital Asset Management (DAM) reporting tool. Reporting & Analysis 2.1 can extract live data from Canto Cumulus and other systems to capture detailed activity information, and perform analytics on the data it gathers. Usage and asset information can be captured from asset catalogs, statistics catalogs, and asset usage history fields.

Coupled with the powerful features already available in the Reporting & Analysis tool, users can now quickly and easily run sophisticated reports that show things such as the number of files ingested or downloaded by type, date, category and user. Data about the assets and all activity is gathered and analyzed no matter which interface is used.

In addition to the ability to capture and analyze additional data, Reporting & Analysis 2.1 also offers improved usability. Designing reports is more flexible and frequently used queries can be saved for later use.

Reporting & Analysis 2.1 is available now from Modula4 and its reseller partners.

Learn more about the Reporting & Analysis tool.

Picturepark Offers DAM Foundation Training to New Customers

Modula4 partner Picturepark has announced that it will buy DAM Foundation certification training for new customers.

The DAM Foundation course is an online program designed for working professionals. The program comprises six lessons that are intended to prepare students for careers in Digital Asset Management.

The course material was authored by Elizabeth Keathley in cooperation with the DAM Foundation Education Committee, which consists of noted DAM experts Mark Davey, Henrik de Gyor, Deb Fanslow, Emily Kolvitz and Jeff Lawrence.

Picturepark is known for its efforts to promote digital asset management education. The company started the DAM Guru Program in 2013, launched the #LearnDAM educational initiative in 2014, and it dedicates a significant portion of its website to vendor-neutral DAM education content.

Learn more about Picturepark and DAM Foundation certification training.

Cumulus 9.2.1 Released

Modula4 partner Canto has released a minor update to Cumulus, their popular Digital Asset Management (DAM) product.

In addition to performance improvements, expanded file format support and bug fixes, Cumulus 9.2.1 also offers several new features and enhancements. Saved queries can now include”placeholders” so complex queries can be modified and reused quickly and easily. Images can be cropped prior to downloading with the new Pixel Image Crop Processor. And the Web Client makes more efficient use of screen real estate and offers other minor interface improvements.

Read more about Cumulus or contact Modula4 to schedule a demo.

WoodWing Enterprise 9.5 Now Available

Modula4 Partner WoodWing has announced the release of Enterprise 9.5, an update to their market-leading multi-channel publishing platform. New features in Content Station include a revamped user interface for publishing to print and tablets using the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS), the ability to create a new article by importing content from another Publication Channel, and support for Indic fonts.

Smart Connection now supports Adobe Creative Cloud 2014 and can use InDesign Object Styles for automatically styling text when placing articles.

Improvements to the Enterprise Server includes support for PHP 5.5 and Drupal 8, the ability to include images when posting to Twitter and various performance improvements.

To learn more, visit the WoodWing Enterprise product page.

New Year, New Site

Modula4 has relaunched its website with a  completely overhauled design and new content. The site now features an “adaptive” design which provides the optimal display not matter which device is used to view it; computers, tablets and even phones. Added content includes a new Blog to provide tips,  insights and commentary about managing and distributing your digital media content, new client case studies and updated product demo videos. And our already content-rich Product and Services areas have been rearranged to be easier to navigate.

We hope you find the new site interesting, useful and intuitive.