ADAM finally hires a North American as the competition creeps close

As much as I love a good Belgian ale and steaming mussels with frites, the Francophile in me who's often on the Eurostar jokingly refers to Belgium as "the speed bump of Europe." When it comes to the Digital Asset Management (DAM) world, however, out of Belgium comes a vendor too significant to speed over: ADAM, one of the few .NET, Microsoft-friendly, platform-oriented offerings out there.

Unlike many other technology vendors, ADAM isn't prone to exaggerating the capabilities of their product or outright lying about their staff, support, or business practices. The vendor's Dutch-Belgian inclination towards bluntness is something that has always appealed to potential buyers, especially in Europe.

On the left side of the Atlantic, though, the Dutch-Belgian lack of Vegas-style showiness, humor, and flair (that's more typical of vendors like MediaBeacon) has been a hindrance to winning over potential customers. In fact, I've seen outright stylistic and cultural gaps between Europe and the Anglo-Saxon world quite often, not just between Europe and North America but also between continental Europe and the UK. I often say the cultural gap of the Atlantic is narrower than that of the Channel.  

Now, it may not seem worth a blog entry to point out that ADAM has hired a North American, but in a world as intimate and region-specific as DAM, it is. That person is San Francisco-based Joel Warwick, a highly respected longtime DAM industry contributor, and he will support ADAM initiatives in the US. If you're in the US and looking at European vendors, you should always ask: "do you actually have anyone on this continent to support me?" For most European DAM vendors, the answer is no. By the same token, if you're on the western side of the Atlantic looking at a North American-based vendor, be sure to ask the same question. They may have a sales guy in Germany, but if you're in the UK and have already bought the product, that won't matter much. 

At the same time, ADAM's slow pace of product development has a number of European DAM cohorts snapping at their heels. Austria-based celum, in particular, has made quite a move into North America in the last two years and has eclipsed ADAM in annual revenues and employee count. But, celum has the same trans-oceanic challenges, including the establishment of a reliable partner network.

Be sure to consult our DAM evaluation research for more in-depth information.


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