DPCI helped Symantec define its digital asset management strategy as well as to select a marketing resource management solution to manage global corporate marketing communications campaigns.
Founded in 1982, Symantec Corporation is the world’s largest maker of security software for computers. Symantec provides solutions to help individuals and enterprises assure the security, availability, and integrity of their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries.
In May of 2008, Symantec set out to find a digital asset management system to centralize and manage all image and brand assets used in corporate marketing campaigns and messaging materials.
Realizing the breadth of available product options in the digital asset management market, Symantec corporate marketing communications department sought a consulting partner with deep subject matter expertise to help identify the best solution to meet the organization’s needs. Symantec retained DPCI to help the organization define its requirements and manage the request for proposal (RFP) process for what originally was defined as a digital asset management solution, but later grew into a global enterprise marketing resource management platform that included DAM.
After initial onsite interviews with management and stakeholder groups, DPCI quickly identified that Symantec was working on two separate but interrelated initiatives at the same time. One was a digital asset management strategy and the second was a marketing resource management selection process. Given that DAM is usually considered a technology component within marketing resource management systems, DPCI and Symantec agreed that DPCI would help with the overall enterprise strategy that included both.
With respect to the organization’s digital asset management needs, Symantec wanted a system to help improve asset workflows and distribution globally by automating the delivery of collateral to regions and external portals. Symantec sought a solution to help staff identify expiring collateral, so that notifications could be delivered to different partners and sales portals.
First, DPCI met with key business stakeholders, analysts and information technology representatives to progressively elaborate on the functional and technical requirements for the marketing resource management system.
Next, DPCI conducted an in-depth feasibility analysis with Symantec’s stakeholders to ensure that all the elicited functional and technical requirements mapped to clear and specific business objectives. DPCI then helped Symantec to prioritize and validate functional requirements based on the feasibility analysis.
DPCI and Symantec worked together to identify seven potential vendors to invite to participate in the Symantec marketing resource management RFP. DPCI next prepared a set of worksheets that contained questions for product vendors to address. From the responses, Symantec selected four of the seven vendors for further evaluation.
During the next round of evaluations, Symantec commissioned DPCI to create and disseminate additional questions to vendors that were selected as semifinalists. These questions included more detail on functionality, system architecture, vendor service level agreements, system security and pricing. After this round of screening, Symantec winnowed the semifinal list down to three vendor finalists.
DPCI next developed a demonstration script derived directly from Symantec’s requirements that vendor finalists were asked to follow in their allotted demonstration time.
At the end of the procurement process, Symantec chose Aprimo as the best fit marketing resource management system for its needs. The Aprimo marketing resource management system was then implemented by staff resources at Symantec in conjunction with Aprimo’s professional services.
In addition to managing the entire RFP process, DPCI worked with Symantec to develop a new taxonomy and metadata strategy to help classify and track assets stored within the system and distributed to partners.
