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AO UK Limited

Profile Index

    The DAM Playbook

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    DAM 10 Core Accreditation

    This vendor is not 10 Core accredited.

    Vendor Details

    Contact Name
    Mike Dolan
    Company Profile
    AO UK Limited is based in the UK and develops,sells and supports AO Campaign; a product information, content management and multi-channel publishing solution for the travel and tourism, retail & mail order and industrial and manufacturing sectors worldwide.

    Among its customer base, AO UK Limited many industry-leading travel and retail clients including British Airways Holidays, Qantas (JTG) Holidays, Flight Centre, Staples, Compass, Stella, Shearings.

    All users in an organisation; management, administration, product and marketing and brochure production, external designated users such as resort, 3rd party suppliers and production agencies, have direct access to the central content database controlled by and according to user profile and access permissions.

    The AO Campaign suite of applications is an enterprise-strength solution for managing all product data and content fromdata and content capture through the Campaign Enterprise Gateway (CEG + ETL) to the Core database to the AOSS datamarts and output to multiple channels; websites and mobile media. Additionally it has extensive print capabilities enabled by dynamic bi-directional integration with Quark XPress and Adobe InDesign. AO Campaign incorporates a wide range of tools for automatic image import and management, page and PDF workflows and print output, in addition to web and digital channel content capture, delivery and automatic XML generation.

    PDF data sheets; e.g. PIFs / RIFs and contract information can be generated automatically from the database and used as on-or off-line data and content entry, checking and updating forms. These are designed to be used on-screen but can also be used by resort managers as off-line faxed forms where they do not have on-line access.

    Automatically generated publications from AO Campaign, such as eBrochures, last minute price lists, point-of-sale posters, last minute offers and 'manager specials' can all be generated automatically and delivered directly, as e-mail attachments or, for example, as downloads from the suppliers web sites.

    AO Campaign Portal utilises web services to integrate with 3rd party systems and conforms to the OTA industry standard for external communications.

    Contact Telephone
    +44-7971-275 633
    Contact Email
    brian.malarkey@ao-international.com
    Company Website
    http://www.aouk.co.uk
    Years Trading
    17
    Office Locations
    • UK, Belgium, Australia
    Product Name
    AO Campaign
    Latest Version Number
    3.5
    Date Of Last Release
    01/07/2013
    Documentation URL
    http://www.aouk.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=9&Itemid=2
    Clients & Customers
    • Britsih Airways Holidays
    • Qantas Holidays (JTG)
    • Flight Centre
    • Shearings
    • Stella Group
    • TUI Ski
    • Staples
    • Compass
    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

    Hosting

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

    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
    • Desktop client
    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
    • Linux
    • Mac OSX
    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.
    • Tomcat
    • JBOSS
    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
    • PHP
    • C++
    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.
    • JDBC
    • XML
    • MySQL
    Database Notes
    Oracle version on request.

    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).
    • Custom (developed in-house)

    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
    • Filters
    • Faceted Search
    • Linked Asset Search
    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

    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
    • Other
    Embedded metadata support notes
    The database structure is XML compliant and can input from and output to any defined XML schema.

    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

    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.
    • No

    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
    • Flip images
    • Rotate image
    • Change colorspace
    • Effects & filters
    • Batch manipulate groups of assets
    Video Manipulation Notes
    Video manipulation is via user defined application.

    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
    • SOAP

    Authentication

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

    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
    • French
    • German
    Multilingual Metadata Support
    See previous question. Most DAM systems with multi-lingual support will provide it for metadata.
    • Yes
    Multilingual Support Notes
    Languages added to UI on request.

    Product Screenshots

    • Copy items linked to products
    • Editions screen with PDF preview of print page in production
    • Image items linked to products
    • Full size preview of image
    • Page layout plug-in to database
    • Product items


    Profile Last Updated: 22/07/2013
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      All profile information has been provided by the vendors themselves and they are responsible for both its accuracy and validity.