Members Log In | Try Premium| Contact Us |


Print's Home Page — Over 50,000 Subscribers

 

Sections




image




image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

image

Special Exclusive Report



Innovative MetaCommunications Digital Storage Manager Worth a Look

By Cary Sherburne, Senior Editor

July 12, 2005 -- As MacWorld gets underway today at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MetaCommunications, known for its Virtual Ticket and Job Manager solutions for the graphic arts print production community, is extending its reach into the creative environment with its latest offering, Digital Storage Manager. The company bills Digital Storage Manager as the first Intranet Search & Archive Management System for Creative and Prepress Workgroups. Quoting research from GISTICS that indicates that an average of $8,200 per person per year is spent on file management activities including searching, verifying, organizing and archiving files, MetaCommunications has targeted its inexpensive and easy-to-use Digital Storage Manager at solving this rampant problem.

Bob Long, Executive Vice President at MetaCommunications, is quick to point out that Digital Storage Manager is not another Digital Asset Management solution. Rather, it is specifically designed to aide creative workgroups to better manage the creative process. While there is some minor overlap in functionality with Digital Asset Management solutions, the bulk of the functionally is additive. Digital Storage Manager integrates with Quark, InDesign, Illustrator and other packages commonly used by creatives, and features real-time indexing of files similar to the functionality of Google Desktop Search, including both metadata and full text. It also offers a very nice extended preview capability through the Digital Resource Explorer. Running on Mac OS X on the client side, Digital Storage Manager ships with Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) that supports a 2 GB database free of charge. The product can be downloaded for a free 21-day trial, and is priced based on the amount of total storage under management with unlimited client and Web access, starting at $995 for 100 GB, with incremental upgrades up to unlimited storage under management at $19,995. This entry-level pricing strategy makes it affordable even for small creative groups. At this point, there are no plans to support the PC platform on the client side.

Digital Storage Manager supports both decentralized and centralized archiving workflows, with the centralized workflow being managed by a cybrarian or archivist. It can integrate with Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) products such as Retrospect and ArcServe. Its ability to collect and assign metadata is quite robust, and it completes searches very quickly. The company also offers a software developer’s kit (SDK) for integration with FileMaker and Print MIS systems to be able to pull metadata directly from those systems.

This new entry to the market is well worth a look. As all segment of the graphic arts market are looking to automate and improve productivity to stay competitive in an increasingly tight market, tools like MetaCommunications’ Digital Storage Manager are a welcome addition to the field.



This report was written by Cary Sherburne. She can be reached via email at cary@sherburneassociates.com, online at www.sherburneassociates.com and by telephone at 603-430-5463.

-- Click here to tell us what you think about this premium feature
-- Click here to read recent comments from our readers





Prior to launching her consulting practice, Ms. Cary Sherburne was the Vice President of Marketing Communications and Outsourcing Solutions at IKON Office Solutions. In that capacity, she developed and implemented a branding campaign to build brand awareness for IKON in the marketplace as well as enhance employee pride in the organization, and was responsible for all internal and external communications, including trade shows and events, corporate newsletters, and industry and press relations. In the outsourcing role, she set strategic objectives and priorities for IKON’s product and services portfolio in its Outsourcing businesses, including development of programs and sales support materials for that environment.

Sherburne was a Director at CAP Ventures, an internationally known firm specializing in market research and strategic consulting for the digital document and print on demand industry, before joining IKON, where she launched and managed the company’s Document Outsourcing Consulting Service.

Her tenure in the printing and publishing industry has also included sales and marketing positions at Xerox Corporation, Indigo America and Bitstream. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and a recognized author.

Cary can be reached via email at cary@sherburneassociates.com, online at www.sherburneassociates.com and by telephone at 603-430-5463.





The Digital Nirvana

 Services
Newsletter
Premium Access
Corporate Access
Advertise
Consulting
Speakers Bureau
Syndication
RSS Feeds
Contact Us
Submit Your News





image

Click here...


image

Ads by WhatTheyThink

WTT Webinars
Learn how to sell VDP, improve sales & marketing and much more from the comfort of your own office.
More Info


Faster changeovers, higher profits.
See the latest continuously size-variable press technology… Labelexpo booth #5924
mullermartiniusa.com


Digital Printing
Achieve sustained growth for your digital business.
www.Kodak.com

Advertise Here




image



Sponsored Links

KBA: Widest Range of Presses in the industry: 20" - 81"

manroland: Maximize your uptime and optimize your profits.

Agfa :ApogeeX - More power to meet today's workflow challenges.

EFI: World leader in imaging solutions for networked printing.

Komori... experience the freedom of impression

Your Company Name: Find out how affordable it is to have a Sponsored Link
Help WhatTheyThink support the Print & Graphics Scholarship Foundation

PGSF has coordinated the printing industry's largest scholarship program since its inception in 1956. The program provides scholarships and fellowships for students interested in pursuing careers in graphic communications. WTT has established an Annual Scholarship for students attending an accredited school studying a traditional Graphic Arts program leading to a degree.

To fund this effort, WTT will contribute a portion of Premium Access Membership fees to this scholarship. Support the future of our industry by being a Premium Access Member and/or by contributing directly to PGSF.

Industry Resources

PRINTLINK: Graphic Communications Industry Staffing Specialists

PIA/GATF: See GAIN, the portal to the graphic arts industry

IPA: Association of graphic solutions providers

IPMA: Association for in-house corporate publishing, printing and distribution professionals

NAPL: Excellence in Graphic Communications Management

Xplor: The electronic document systems association

PRIMIR: Printing Industry Statistics, Trends and Forecasts

PSDA: Print Services & Distribution Association - Association of print distributors, brokers and printers

GAERF: Organization whose mission is to support programs that prepare the workforce of the future

NPES: The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies


Premium Access | Syndication | RSS FeedsSponsor | About Us | Press | Contact Us | Blog

Private-label branded pages powered by TickerTech.com.
Copyright © 2008 Ticker Technologies Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Quote data is at least 20 minutes delayed. NYMEX/COMEX data is at least 30 minutes delayed.
Please read other important
disclaimer information.

Copyright 2000 - 2008, All Rights Reserved, WhatTheyThink.com.
To reprint this content for your customers, please contact us.
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.