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MerlinOne, Inc
https://www.merlinone.com

Profile Index

    The DAM Playbook

    This vendor appears in the in the DAM Playbook.

    DAM 10 Core Accreditation

    This vendor is 10 Core accredited.

    Vendor Details

    Contact Name
    Robert Burgee
    Company Profile
    MerlinOne has amazing in-house AI technology which delivers major search advances to the Digital Asset Management world. Our NOMAD Visual Search allows you to monetize previously undiscoverable objects, even if they have scarce or no textual metadata.

    Contact Telephone
    617-328-6645
    Contact Email
    rburgee@merlinone.com
    Company Website
    https://www.merlinone.com
    Years Trading
    33
    Company Turnover Category
    The turnover of the vendor can give an indication of their size. US Dollars is used as common currency to allow comparisons. Note that turnover is not necessarily any indicator of financial stability but as part of any procurement due diligence you are obliged to carry out by your organisation, any vendors who have not agreed to show their turnover here might be required to do so if subsequently appointed.
    • $5m - $10m
    Company Turnover
    This is the actual turnover of the vendor in US Dollars.
    1
    Percentage of Revenue From DAM Software
    A vendor might have a large turnover and many employees, but their DAM software division is a very small element of what they offer. If a large proportion of their revenue comes from DAM solutions (licenses, support, hosting, consulting etc) then this may mean they are more specialised, but also there are risks to their overall financial stability if there is a downturn in the DAM software market.
    90
    Number of Full-Time Employees
    Along with turnover, the number of full-time employees gives an indication of the size of the vendor. Note that although a firm might have many employees, not all of them might be dedicated to developing DAM solutions, so this cannot be relied on in isolation.
    30
    Office Locations
    • Braintree, MA
    Product Name
    MerlinX
    Latest Version Number
    6.3
    Date Of Last Release
    29/10/2021
    Documentation URL
    https://merlinone.com/support/
    Online trial link
    https://merlinone.com/contact/
    Company LinkedIn URL
    https://www.linkedin.com/company/93001?trk=tyah&trkInfo=tarId%3A1414502092178%2Ctas%3Amerlinone%2Cidx%3A1-1-1
    Company Facebook URL
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/MerlinOne-Inc/200816796408?ref=bookmarks
    Clients & Customers
    • Angie's List
    • The New York Times
    • The White House
    • USA Today
    • Make-A-Wish Foundation
    • The Humane Society
    • KOA
    • Harvard University
    • Children's National Hospital
    • De Telegraaf-Netherlands
    • University of Chicago Medical Center
    • Aramco
    • ProMedica
    • 9/11 Memorial
    • Council on Foreign Relations
    • Heifer International
    • Muscular Dystrophy Association
    • Panini America
    • Syncrude
    • NRECA
    • NREL
    • NASA
    • University of Connecticut
    • University of Missouri
    • ESPN
    Partner Network
    If the vendor operates through a sales channel they may use intermediaries who have regional focus or additional specialisms in a given vertical market.
    • No

    Licensing

    Licensing Model
    This refers to the type of licence the DAM system software is supplied under. Proprietary means that the developer restricts access to the source code (the instructions used to generate the software). Open source means that the developer provides full access to the code so you can modify it yourself. Split model is hybrid and means they may offer both options with some restrictions removed (or added) depending on the model chosen. If split is selected, it is advisable to verify the differences with the vendor.
    • Proprietary
    Use of Open Source Components
    Many DAM systems use freely available open source components to deliver key functionality. The products themselves may not be open source, however. This question will help to identify to what extent they are open source.
    • Some open source components used, but core product is not open source

    Hosting

    Software Delivery Methods
    • Installed (On-Premise)
    • Cloud/SaaS
    • Hybrid

    Technology

    Client
    Client refers to the type of hardware or software device that can be used to access or control the DAM system.
    • Web client
    • iOS mobile app
    Server Operating Systems supported
    This only applies for installed or hybrid DAM systems and refers to what types of OS they can be run on. This question is less relevant for DAM systems where a third party will be hosting it for you.
    • Windows
    Web Server
    The type of web server software that the DAM system can operate with. Not all DAM systems use a web server and for pure SaaS products the question is irrelevant. If you either want SaaS or non-web DAM systems, do not choose an option.
    • IIS
    Software Development Technologies Used
    This means the programming language or development technology used to implement the DAM system. This question is more important for open source software or if you have IT policy restrictions that require you to use (or not use) some technologies. It may not be relevant if you require a hosted DAM and never intend to host the system in-house.
    • Java/J2EE
    • .NET
    • Node.js
    • PHP
    • Python
    • Ruby
    • C++
    • Other
    Database Technology
    The Database that the DAM system uses. All DAM systems require some kind of storage for asset metadata and they are usually based on an existing technology - but that may not always be a conventional database. If the DAM will be hosted by someone else (e.g. SaaS/Cloud) this question may not be relevant.
    • SQL Server
    Search Technologies
    This refers to third party search components that the vendor uses to provide the text search features (and sometimes other related search functions).
    • ElasticSearch
    • Custom (developed in-house)
    Service Oriented Architecture
    Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) means the vendor's product uses a modular architecture where each core DAM function is delivered as a service which can be separated out independently from other functions. It is important for large-scale Digital Asset Management implementations or more complex integration requirements.
    • Yes
    Service Oriented Architecture Definition
    Some vendors have widely differing opinions of what Service Oriented Architecture means. Their response to this question allows you to understand if their definition concurs with your own. If you are not contemplating a large scale DAM implementation or one with many complex integration requirements, SOA may not be relevant to your needs.
    A Service-Oriented Architecture is a design approach that defines a large software system as a collection of loosely-coupled applications which communicate with each other in defined ways to perform work.

    Merlin's server architecture consists of a collection of web APIs which connect to a constellation of over a dozen independent services. Those services manage storage, inputs, outputs, database, imaging, auditing, logging, application extensions, and batch processing behaviors.

    Unique SOA Services
    If the vendor uses a Service Oriented Architecture, they should be able to identify a number of unique services that are isolated from each other. Note there is overlap between with question and the one about scalable asset processing. Some vendors do not have an SOA but do offer large scale asset processing capabilities.
    • Storage
    • Asset Media Processing
    • Metadata
    • Metadata Extraction
    • User Management
    • User Authentication
    • Permissions (Access Control)
    • Instance Management
    • Workflow
    • Search
    • Collections (lightboxes and arbitrary selections)
    Microservices
    Microservices are similar in nature to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) with the key difference being that they can be deployed entirely independently of the platform that uses them. Microservices are usually prevalent in Digital Asset Supply Chain projects.
    • No
    Microservices Definition
    As with Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) some vendors have different opinions of what microservices are. Their response to this question allows you to understand if their definition concurs with your own. If you are not contemplating a Digital Asset Supply Chain project, large scale DAM implementation or one with many complex integration requirements, microservices may not be relevant to your needs.
    NA

    Search

    Search Features
    This describes the search strategies that can be used to find assets. If you do not understand any of them, leave the options de-selected. Most DAM systems should support at least keyword search at a minimum.
    • Keyword
    • Folders
    • Filters
    • Linked Asset Search
    Search Notes
    NOMAD AI Visual Search, Visual Similarity AI Search, Facial Recognition

    Index/Search Text Content Of Documents
    Some DAM systems can search the text content of document assets and that might be important for your DAM solution.
    • Yes
    Document Text Indexing Notes
    Merlin indexes in real-time all text in any .PDF document, MS Office document (Powerpoint, Word, Excel), non-rasterized text layers in graphics files and Photoshop files, speech-to-text converted from audio tracks in video or audio files.

    Visual Search
    Visual Search allows your DAM to search and identify digital assets based solely on their visual qualities, as opposed to relying on metadata and keywords. This is often achieved using a combination of natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and image recognition.
    • Yes
    Visual Search Notes
    Put NOMAD™ to work for you

    Whether you’re a MerlinOne customer using our Merlin digital asset management solution or you’re already well-established with your own DAM or MAM, you can begin using any of NOMAD’s powerful search capabilities right away.

    NOMAD™ Visual Search for Images - With NOMAD™ AI-powered search, images with little or even no metadata are immediately discoverable by simply describing them.

    NOMAD™ Visual Search for Video – The same purely visual search t

    Metadata

    Embedded metadata support (reading)
    Embedded metadata refers to information stored within asset files which can be searched from the DAM system. There are different standards for this type of metadata. Some image cataloguing software like Adobe Lightroom will write this data to asset files and a device like a camera may capture details also such as GPRS coordinates where an photo was shot. XMP metadata is often used with other types of files such as InDesign or PDF. If you are unsure whether this applied to you, do not check any options.
    • IPTC
    • IPTC Core
    • XMP
    • EXIF
    Embedded metadata support (writing)
    See the reading question above for more details on what embedded metadata is. This question refers to whether embedded metadata can be written back to files if edited within the DAM system.
    • IPTC
    • IPTC Core
    • XMP
    • EXIF
    Controlled Vocabularies
    Controlled Vocabularies are predefined lists of search terms. They can be realised in many different ways but the common factor is the user picks from a restricted selection rather than enters a keyword. Most DAM systems will usually support both controlled vocabularies and keywords.
    • Yes
    User Defined Metadata Fields
    The ability to configure metadata your own metadata fields is important for DAM systems so you can assign a dedicated field for certain items of information rather than using a generic classification method or one of the vendor's own standard fields.
    • Yes
    Cataloguing Interface Options
    When cataloguing assets with custom fields, some metadata will be controlled selections, others will be free text. There are further choices like date fields, file attachments etc.
    • Text field
    • Text area (narrative)
    • Radio
    • Drop down menu
    • Combo-box (multi-item selection)
    • Checkbox
    • Date
    • Numbers
    Cataloguing Interface Notes
    Verify how the vendor has implemented a given cataloguing interface control. It is preferable if they can demonstrate with examples of how they have implemented interface options for cataloguing and metadata entry.
    UI chooses interface appropriate to the field type.

    Business Intelligence & Reporting

    Asset Usage Records
    To enable reports to be generated, DAM solutions must retain records of asset usage, including searching, download and editing of records. The reporting should include the user who carried out the activity and the date/time it occurred.
    • Yes
    Asset Usage Notes
    Merlin ad hoc reporting tool supports creation of reports for any aspect of user and/or activity within Merlin.

    Audit Trail
    A detailed audit trail that logs every user action in a central record is useful to gain insight into user behaviour. Comprehensive audit trails allow DAM system users to produce reports that address their unique needs.
    • Yes
    Built-In Reports
    A range of built-in reports that you can quickly generate is useful to answer common questions such as the "what is our most popular asset?".
    • Most popular assets by download
    • Most active users by uploads
    • Most active users by downloads
    • Average number of search results returned over a given period
    • Download activity over a given period
    • Login activity over a given period
    • Popular search terms
    Reporting Notes
    Merlin ad hoc reporting tool supports creation of reports for any aspect of user and/or activity within Merlin. Merlin's report tool allows you to create custom reports based on data within the system, and automatically send them out.

    Asset Processing

    Dedicated/Scalable Proxy or Derivative Asset Generation
    Nearly all DAM systems will generate thumbnails and previews of media, including more dynamic types like video or audio. Some products use a separate server to do this which usually makes them more suitable for large scale asset ingestion and processing.
    • Yes
    Multi-Page Document Asset Previews
    If you deal with document oriented assets, having a solution which can generate multi-page previews (and also zoom in on them) can save the hassle of downloading a file only to discover it is not the one you need. For assets with very similar content, this can be a useful feature.
    • Yes

    Asset Manipulation

    Image Manipulation
    Many DAM systems allow users to manipulate images by resizing, cropping etc. Choose any features which are important to your users.
    • Image re-sizing
    • Image cropping
    • Format conversion
    • Rotate image
    • Batch manipulate groups of assets
    Video Manipulation
    Some DAM systems may allow video assets to be converted or modified. If that is a potential requirement for you, specify those features which are likely to be needed. EDL = Edit Decision List and refers to providing in/out points when editing video footage.
    • Format conversion
    • Timeline metadata
    • Batch operations on multiple video assets
    Video Manipulation Notes
    Subclips may be defined and extracted. Still images may be extracted from the original video as jpeg images.

    Data Import/Export

    Importing Metadata
    Importing metadata is an important feature if you have either legacy assets or metadata is generated using some other tools (for example a spreadsheet). Not all systems offer this, but usually if the feature is not available, the vendor will be able to carry out batch importing for you via professional services (note: this will usually incur a cost, unlike a built-in capability).
    • Yes
    Metadata Import Formats
    This question only applies if the vendor has features to import metadata. There are common formats like CSV, XML and Excel which DAM solutions may support. If this is a requirement you are likely to make frequent use of, it is essential to verify whether the product supports the formats you typically work with.
    • CSV (or any delimited file)
    • XML
    Metadata Import Notes
    CSV and XML imports may require custom mapping. Merlin can also import and export via API.

    Exporting Metadata
    As well as importing metadata, sometimes it is important to be able to export sections of it to conduct further analysis in third party applications. Not all products support this, but usually it will be possible to request the vendor provides an export via professional services (although a fee may be charged).
    • Yes
    Metadata Export Formats
    This question only applies if the vendor has features to export metadata. There are common formats like CSV, XML and Excel which DAM solutions may support. If this is a requirement you are likely to make frequent use of, it is essential to verify whether the product supports the formats you typically work with.
    • XML

    Integration

    API
    API means Application Programming Interface and allows third party software to control a DAM system. If you intend to integrate your DAM with another existing solution then you need to choose the API protocol that is compatible with that.
    • REST
    API Notes
    MerlinOne offers a complete set of APIs. In fact, the Merlin client applications are written entirely with our own APIs. Contact MerlinOne for a complete set of API documentation.

    API-First Architecture
    API-First means that anything the user can do via the graphical interface is possible via the API. If a DAM has an API-First architecture it is far more likely to be easier to integrate with other solutions than one that does not.
    • Yes
    API-First Notes
    If the vendor claims an API-First architecture then they should be able to provide a definition of it. In addition, documentation which describes their support for it will typically be available. Implementing API-First is a complex undertaking so vendor development teams will definitely know whether they have this attribute or do not.
    MerlinOne offers a complete set of APIs. In fact, the Merlin client applications are written entirely with our own APIs. Contact MerlinOne for a complete set of API documentation.

    Hooks
    Hooks are related to APIs but are initiated by the application rather than by an external application making the request. Hooks allow other actions to be initiated based on events, for example if a user downloads an asset, an action can be commenced to notify another application that this has taken place (along with the ID number of the asset, date/time etc).
    • Yes
    Hooks Targets Supported
    In most DAM applications that support them, hooks are initiated as web requests, so the system will call a given external URL and provide some parameters. Some solutions also support initiating scripts or applications which can run on the server where the system is hosted.
    • Web hooks
    • Scripts (using an existing scripting feature, if it exists)
    Hooks Definition
    If the vendor claims support for hooks, check how they define them and see if their interpretation concurs with your own. A reasonably detailed explanation along with citations/links should be given here.
    The Merlin Extensions Service is a server component which allows Merlin Services, including the MerlinX API, to be customized through the implementation of scripted "hooks". The extensions are designed in the Extensions Web UI, which allows MerlinOne staff or technically advanced users to create step-by-step processes to modify data, enforce custom policies, or trigger custom actions within the application without having to deploy compiled code to the server.

    Storage Integration
    Many DAM solutions will now allow assets to be stored on the server of Cloud storage providers. This allows asset files to be distributed and/or integrated with other solutions. Some third party services use generic protocols like FTP, others are proprietary.
    • Amazon S3
    • Box
    • Wasabi
    Storage Integration Notes
    Our tiered storage service supports the addition of plugins to allow integration with other storage vendors.

    AI Component Integration
    A number of DAMs integrate with multiple third party AI image recognition components. This question allows you to see which ones they use.
    • Google Cloud Vision
    AI Notes
    This question seek to find out how vendors have implemented their support for AI image recognition components. A number of vendors may have also developed custom-built AI solutions entirely in-house and this question gives them an opportunity to present those.
    MerlinOne has developed its own suite of AI tools designed for DAM. This includes, our own Facial Recognition AI, Visual Similarity AI, IMPACT! AI (ordering search results by overall visual impact), and NOMAD AI Visual Search (a game-changing new, purely visual search that searches for visual assets in a DAM completely independent of any metadata). Merlin utilizes AWS Transcribe for speech to text. Plugin architecture that allows us to integrate as needed.

    Content Delivery Networks (CDN) Integration
    Content Delivery Networks allow digital assets to be distributed across a wide geographic area to improve performance and reduce the pressure on the DAM system for in-demand assets.
    • None
    Content Delivery Networks (CDN) Integration Notes
    A customer's CDN may be set up as a destination for a workflow target so that assets sent to that workflow target from Merlin will be handled by the CDN to the parameters associated with that target. For this type of integration we already support Amazon Cloudfront.

    Content Management Systems (CMS) Integration
    Many DAM solutions now provide specific integration modules that allow users to select assets from their Content Management System of choice without leaving the CMS application in order to do so.
    • Drupal
    • SiteCore
    • WordPress
    CMS Integration Notes
    Integration with other CMS solutions is via CMS SDK, which exposes Merlin in an iFrame within the CMS environment. CMS SDK is available to developers.

    Creative Tools Integration
    Some DAMs will integrate directly with specific creative tools so designers and creatives do not need to leave them in order to use assets from the DAM.
    • Adobe Creative Cloud
    E-commerce Integration
    A number of DAMs integrate with e-commerce systems so that product catalogues can be updated automatically from the DAM. There might also be features like tracking of asset usage and conversion ratios for product images etc.
    • None
    Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Integration
    • None
    Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)
    • None
    Marketing Operations & Project Management Integration
    • None
    Master Data Management (MDM) Integration
    • None
    Mobile Apps Integration
    • iOS
    Mobile Apps Integration Notes
    The Merlin web application is mobile responsive and runs on any Android and iOS devices.

    Office & Productivity Integration
    • None
    Product Information Management (PIM) Integration
    • None
    Rights Management Integration
    • None
    Sales & Marketing Integration
    • None
    Social Media Integration
    • Hootsuite
    Stock Media Providers Integration
    • None
    Templating & Print On-Demand Integration
    • PrintUI
    Video Integration
    • None
    Web Analytics Integration
    • None

    Scripting & Plug-Ins

    Scripting Capabilities
    Some advanced DAM solutions have a scripting capability that allows users or third parties to add functionality which the vendor did not originally envisage. Usually programming skills will be required to use this, but some tools have visual interfaces also.
    • Yes
    Scripting Capability Notes
    Merlin Extensions Service has a GUI to customize system behavior.

    Plug-In Support
    In addition to scripting (or sometimes instead of), some DAM solutions will have a plug-in architecture that allows third party developers to extend the core platform.
    • Yes
    Plug-In Capability Notes
    We provide custom development of plugins to our software.

    Authentication

    Authentication Support
    If you need to integrate with an existing corporate authentication service then this option will be important for you.
    • Active Directory
    • Azure Active Directory
    • SAML

    Multi-Lingual Options

    Multilingual Application Interface Support
    The interface means the controls to use the DAM system. This is different from the metadata support which is usually entered by end users when cataloguing assets.
    • English
    Multilingual Metadata Support
    See previous question. Most DAM systems with multi-lingual support will provide it for metadata.
    • Yes

    Version Control

    File versioning
    File versioning refers to the digital media associated with an asset record. This is usually the minimum requirement for a DAM system to claim support for versioning assets. See also responses to the related question about metadata versioning below.
    • Yes
    Metadata versioning
    Metadata versioning is separate from the files associated with assets. Many DAM solutions will track updated digital assets but only retain a single current version of the metadata. Since metadata is likely to be edited many more times than assets get replaced, this can be an important point to check.
    • Yes
    Independent Metadata And File Versioning
    This questions assesses whether the solution allows versions of either the file or metadata to be reverted independently or if both are linked to a single shared version instance.
    • Yes
      •

    Product Screenshots

    • Clean Interface
    • Auto Tags
    • Versioning

    Product Datasheets

    • MerlinOne Features
      Download (PDF, ~5.16 MB)

    Product Videos

    Chat Metadata Made Easy

    Rights Management

    MerlinOne Overview


    Profile Last Updated: 22/08/2023
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      All profile information has been provided by the vendors themselves and they are responsible for both its accuracy and validity.