Digital asset management

Sorted Collections

Outlook

ResourceSpace wins ahead of Phraseanet in the open source camp. The former hardly lacks a function, and anything that cannot be done out of the box can be supplemented by plugins. The range of functionality partly comes at the expense of usability; it takes a while for users to come to terms with the web interface.

When it comes to usability, however, Phraseanet is much worse. The interface is cluttered and bulky, and each click on a module opens a new browser tab. Some modules lack a bar with links to let users access other sections. Nevertheless, Phraseanet is the only candidate to monitor directories for newly added files and automatically import them.

The testers could not determine a clear winner among the commercial DAM systems. Although Razuna can do much more than Smartimage, and even imports ZIP archives, its metadata management leaves a lot to be desired. The integrated search function, on the other hand, is much more successful. Smartimage focuses on images and does a good job of that. The interface is clearly laid out, and the learning curve is low. It's a pity that user management only supports administrators and that collections are either public or password-protected – a little fine tuning would be nice.

The two open source solutions – with ResourceSpace heading the pack – are very good alternatives to the commercial providers for NGOs or companies for whom price is more important than convenience.

Infos