Outdated asset management systems are slowing enterprise teams down and leading to inconsistent branding, duplicated work, and costly production delays.
As organizations scale, the need for a centralized, efficient, and secure system becomes critical. Enterprise digital asset management systems like Frontify combine scalability, governance, and user-friendly tools to help brands grow faster and smarter, especially as AI-driven workflows become the new standard.
Keep reading to explore enterprise digital asset management systems, including why brands adopt them and how to choose the best platform for your team.
How does enterprise digital asset management differ from regular DAM?
An enterprise digital asset management (DAM) system is a centralized solution for storing, organizing, and governing digital content. At the enterprise level, companies typically store a high volume of media assets that are wide-ranging, from photos and video content to logos and templates.
Enterprise DAMs (like Frontify) differ from standard digital storage platforms that focus only on file organization. Most enterprise DAMs include features like artificial intelligence (AI) functions, integrations, customizable templates, smart filtering, and other core capabilities that meet the growing complexities of enterprise businesses. Many enterprise DAMs also prioritize strong permissions, version control, analytics, and custom workflows, whereas traditional DAMs are simpler and less customizable.
Why enterprises are turning to DAM platforms for brand management
Centralized access to brand assets anytime, anywhere
A cloud-based enterprise DAM ensures universal access to branded assets, regardless of location. For distributed teams who are spread out across locations or working remotely, this type of DAM eliminates scattered file systems and inconsistencies by providing a single source of truth for your assets, typically as an asset library. Your teams are less likely to have production delays due to inaccessible assets. Instead, your assets are always accessible to everyone who needs them.
With Frontify, Leonardo Hotels replaced scattered content systems with a centralized DAM, making it easier for teams across many locations to find and reuse assets. This shift boosted efficiency and template adoption and reduced time spent on asset requests and manual design work.
Enhanced collaboration and streamlined workflows
When collaboration and workflows break down, enterprise companies face delays, inefficiencies, and duplicated efforts that drive up costs and slow down growth. These bottlenecks weaken brand consistency, frustrate employees, and make it harder to respond quickly to market demands. Over time, they erode both internal productivity and external brand impact.
Cloud-based platforms improve collaboration and workflows by enabling:
- Simultaneous feedback
- Role-based permissions
- Streamlined approval workflows
A strong enterprise DAM enables your team to create a clear, cohesive process that keeps internal teams and external partners aligned and moving efficiently.
Improved brand consistency across touchpoints
Enterprise DAM systems ensure that all content aligns with the latest branding standards by integrating live and interactive brand guidelines. You can replace outdated assets with approved, on-brand materials, which helps to maintain visual and messaging consistency across every region, channel, and campaign.
After launching a new brand identity, Brenntag used Frontify’s DAM to replace outdated assets and ensure global consistency across 700 locations. With over 10,000 assets managed and 500+ new publications created monthly from branded templates, the company strengthened recognition, reduced design effort, and improved brand compliance.
Scalable and flexible asset management
As organizations grow, so do their content needs. Enterprise DAM systems are designed to scale, supporting multi-brand portfolios, regional variations, and expanding teams without adding operational friction. Many modern DAMs for enterprises have key features that make it easy to manage content across departments and locations, including:
- Customizable metadata management (including metadata tagging)
- Granular permissions
- Workflows that use automation
- Integrations with creative and marketing tools
- Advanced search and filtering
Frontify, for example, helps global organizations adapt quickly by offering a flexible, cloud-based hub where all brand assets live in one place. Its scalability ensures that whether you're launching in a new market or merging with another brand, your teams can keep moving fast, without compromising brand consistency or efficiency.
Analytics insights for better decision-making
Modern enterprise DAM systems don’t just store assets; they deliver the insights you need to make smarter decisions. If your DAM has built-in analytics, you can track how brand assets, guidelines, and templates are being used across teams, channels, and markets. These performance metrics reveal what’s working, where gaps exist, and how content creation strategies can be refined.
By tapping into usage data, your marketing team and brand team can confidently align their content investments with real-world performance.
Frontify’s analytics features go a step further by visualizing data in intuitive dashboards. Whether you're evaluating template usage, monitoring brand guideline adoption, or identifying underutilized assets, these insights turn everyday activity into actionable strategy.
How to choose the right enterprise digital asset management software for your brand
Different brands may have different DAM software requirements. Take a look at your brand’s unique needs and use this checklist to find the software that works best for your teams.
1. Identify your organization’s pain points and goals
Start by defining your team’s core challenges. Common branding challenges include inconsistent branding, siloed asset storage, and inefficient collaboration across departments.
From there, you can identify clear goals. These goals might include speeding up content production or improving cross-team visibility. Understanding your brand’s position on these points — and the specific use cases of your customers that you’ll need to support — will narrow down potential DAM solutions, based on how well they address your situation.
Look for digital asset management platforms that solve your top pain points without overcomplicating your workflows. Prioritize solutions that offer scalability, flexible permissions, and centralized access to ensure the DAM supports both your current needs and long-term brand goals.
2. Evaluate user-friendliness and adoption processes
A powerful DAM system is only valuable if your teams actually use it. Prioritize platforms with intuitive interfaces, minimal learning curves, and strong onboarding support. This is especially important for enterprise organizations where users include both designers and non-designers (e.g., marketers, legal, and sales teams).
An easy-to-use DAM encourages faster adoption, smoother workflows, and greater overall ROI, regardless of technical ability. Solutions like Frontify are designed with all users in mind, making it easier for everyone to stay on brand, find what they need, and contribute confidently.
“The roll-out of Frontify was a success: The platform is very intuitive and easy to use, which makes it easy for people to get started using it.”
Daniel Hoolachan, Project Manager Corporate Design, Mercedes-Benz
3. Look for integrations with existing tools
Your DAM should work with (not against) your existing tech stack. Seamless integrations allow your teams to access, update, and publish assets without jumping between platforms, which saves time and reduces friction.
Modern enterprise DAMs often integrate with tools across your content and marketing ecosystem, including:
- Creative suites like Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva, and Figma
- Content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Sitecore, and Contentful
- Project management tools like Miro, monday.com, and Wrike
- File storage systems like Google Drive and Dropbox
- Image tools like Getty Images and Shutterstock
- Social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube
Choosing a DAM like Frontify that supports these integrations helps your teams stay in flow and ensures brand assets are consistently used across channels.
4. Ensure robust security and permission controls
For enterprise organizations, protecting brand assets is critical, especially when working across regions, teams, and legal jurisdictions. A secure DAM should offer flexible access controls, archiving options, support compliance, and safeguard sensitive content from unauthorized use.
Frontify is built with enterprise-grade security at its core. It offers features like role-based permissions, restricted access for external partners, and Single Sign-On (SSO) to help you manage who can view, edit, or share brand materials.
Hosted on secure infrastructure and certified to international standards, Frontify ensures your data is protected with encrypted storage, regular audits, and strict data residency protocols.
Simplify asset management with Frontify’s DAM
An enterprise DAM system helps you streamline and simplify your asset management. It enables unified brand management, global consistency, and improved team efficiency.
Frontify’s DAM is an intuitive, scalable platform built for large, global, and distributed teams. From centralized brand hubs to powerful analytics and integrations, it’s designed to keep everyone aligned and consistent.
Ready to see it in action? Book a demo to discover how Frontify’s enterprise-ready DAM can support your team’s specific needs.
