As I’ve previously described, a digital asset management API allows organizations to share their rich media files and metadata with other business systems to further increase efficiency and avoid redundant data storage.

While we were developing the API we assumed that Portfolio Server users would be interested in using the Portfolio API to share assets with systems like content management and e-commerce websites, but we were also excited to learn what other ideas people had in mind. During a recent webcast I conducted an informal poll and asked attendees “What other systems would you like to integrate with DAM?”. Here were the results:

It was surprising to me that FileMaker integration was by far the most desired API connection with DAM. Surprising until recently when I attended the UPAA symposium where I discovered that some DAM users rely on FileMaker databases for tracking projects (in the case of UPAA, photography shoots). With this new understanding, the connection between the two systems made sense—a project that originated within a FileMaker database could be associated with assets inside the DAM. For example, clicking a link within the FileMaker database could reveal assets related to the project within the DAM. Or project details in the FileMaker database could be used to populate fields within the DAM for project assets.

If you use FileMaker and are interested in integrating it with DAM, share with us what you’d like to do in the  comments section below.