PIM - Product Information Management - is where product data is managed, largely attributes and categories. Images and files, assets, are managed in DAM - Digital Asset Management. Exactly this already draws its raison d'être from the interaction with a PIM. We had already described this in an earlier post: Without the integration with a PIM, no product data for the assets would be available in an automated way. These would have to be entered manually. Only together do PIM and DAM play out their full power. In the DAM, you can search for product names and get the associated assets shown, and with the PIM you can not only populate your website or produce catalogs together with the DAM. The assembly of standard data exchange formats such as ETIM or the customer-specific extraction of attributes and assets is best done with a well coordinated team of PIM & DAM. At EIKONA Media we work with the Akeneo PIM and we have developed the TESSA DAM ourselves.
Linking and data exchange between PIM and DAM
For PIM & DAM to work together, there must be an exchange of data between the two systems. As is usual with Internet software, this data exchange takes place by means of an API, an interface that enables automated data exchange. The DAM needs to know which product an asset belongs to and vice versa the PIM needs to know which assets exist for a product. This is the basis for your work - it speeds up many processes and makes them more efficient. Imagine that you have to produce a catalog and run a webshop at the same time. In the catalog you need A4 photos of your products in 300 dpi, because it should be printed glossy on high quality paper. Then your photo should be at least 3,500 points high and at least 2,500 points wide in portrait format. Then you might also need to work with TIFFs, because that's the best fit in terms of color management. For the website, on the other hand, you need JPEGs with 1,600 pixels squared. With the channels of a DAM, this works wonderfully. With Akeneo alone, you would be able to map this - if you absolutely have to and you want to do a lot more work. However, if you want to offer many different versions to meet the requirements of your customers as closely as possible, then this becomes too difficult with a PIM alone. In the interaction between the Akeno PIM and the TESSA DAM, it becomes very easy, because the DAM can take over the conversion automatically and, if desired, also store the data on a CDN. You build an integrated system with a PIM together with a DAM and an e-commerce software, in which you output your data as you need it to the desired target system. You can even combine action with product images automatically for special effects.
If you want to deliver data, what do you need to deliver? Is it always everything you have in the PIM or DAM? Often it will be specific assortments or sub-assortments, in many cases customers or service providers will send product lists. So you should pass on a selection of your data. This is exactly what works with a well-matched double of PIM & DAM, like Akeneo and TESSA are. If you have an assortment definition in the Akeneo PIM - no matter where it comes from - you can use the TESSA DAM to deliver the associated assets in the desired customization. By the way, it doesn't matter whether you provide assets physically as a file - perhaps as a large ZIP download - or together with your product data and individual download links in the table you pass on. In the case of the ZIP download, the data recipient would of course receive the file names in the product data table so that they can easily associate the files on their end and, if necessary, simply import them into their DAM. Again, the perfect match from the TESSA DAM and the AKeneo PIM is super helpful.
Update processes in PIM and DAM
If you want to update an image, in our case you just throw this on the asset to be updated in the TESSA DAM and poof, it can be updated in all other places as well. You have a single point of truth for attributes with the PIM and a single point of truth for assets with the DAM. That's great! Individual silos are abolished and everyone in the company knows where to go when they need product data - all up-to-date and valid. By the way: If necessary, we can also automatically inform recipients of your data about updates.
However, the prerequisite for these advantages, which should not be underestimated, is the harmony of both systems. They must work well together. If something changes in the DAM, the PIM must know about it quickly. The reverse is also true, of course! With the TESSA DAM and the Akeneo PIM, this is clearly the case. With Akeneo version 5, the API has gained even more speed. This makes update processes a breeze, even with large amounts of data. The systems run stable and secure hand in hand and with EIKONA Media you have the partner who knows both systems very well and adapts them exactly to your needs.
Conclusion
PIM and DAM complement each other perfectly
PIM and DAM form the "single point of truth" for your master data, ensure synchronous output for asset/image formats and the associated product attributes in the form adapted to a target system - for example, to a customer requirement. Not to forget that this can be restricted to differently defined assortments.
