New CI HUB Drive Enables Desktop Access to DAMs, PIMs, and More

CI HUB has been a persistent explorer of in-app connections. The company’s software enables users to access and manage content from various key sources, including DAM (Digital Asset Management), PIM (Product Information Management), cloud storage, stock sources, and even work management systems. 

Connectors like this have become critical to productivity as brands wrestle with an increasingly complex and disjointed landscape of data sources. This is a big reason why CI HUB announced a major investment from Scale Capital in March of this year, with plans to further advance its ecosystem of connector capabilities. Currently, it provides two core offerings: CI HUB Connector Professional and Connector Corporate.

A big focus for CI HUB has been the burgeoning Adobe Creative Cloud, but they’ve also been blazing trails with other large-scale enterprise systems, including Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud, and Google Workspace. CI HUB also offers solutions for content, experience, and prototyping platforms like WordPress, SharePoint, Figma, and Sketch. 

One of the biggest deterrents to DAM and PIM utilization is complexity. With distributed teams having to leverage multiple platforms with different access credentials – and unwieldy systems stymieing the ability to locate assets – content creators can become frustrated and productivity can be significantly impacted. 

This can result in users getting “creative" with outside tools and unauthorized assets, which can impact brand consistency and integrity. In some cases, it can even open up Pandora's Box around things like stock image licensing and copyright infringement.

CI HUB is once again easing the DAM burden with its new CI HUB Drive, which enables users to access assets stored in DAMs, PIMs, and other systems directly from their desktops via MacOS or Windows machines. By bringing these systems into a local environment, CI HUB reduces the friction of finding and utilizing key assets, syncs components fluidly, and accelerates productivity and time to market. This translates into greater value around a DAM or PIM investment. 

“Most companies don’t get the most from their DAMs because employees find it difficult or inconvenient to log in and access what they need,” said Andreas Michalski, CI HUB Founder and CEO. “But with CI HUB Drive, DAM assets and data are available right on their desktop. By integrating CI HUB Drive into the most commonly used tools, MacOS Finder and Windows Explorer, there is zero training needed. This will significantly improve the adoption rate and company-wide use of DAM assets and data, making them a go-to hub for content, rather than simply an asset repository.” 

Enhancing the value of DAMs, PIMs, and other sources

CI HUB Drive is capable of connecting multiple data sources simultaneously, providing a single desktop connector interface for DAMs, PIMs, MAMs, and stock image providers – as well as common cloud storage services such as SharePoint, Dropbox, Google Drive, and many more. 

Here's how it works: CI HUB Drive virtually mounts an asset management system in a MacOS Finder or Microsoft Explorer. This enables users to seamlessly locate, use, and synchronize files without ever having to leave their desktops. 

CI HUB Drive on MacOS

The beautiful thing about CI HUB Drive is its familiarity. From a visual perspective, the file structure is simple, clear, and highly navigable – which reduces the surface area of complexity for users. And with a multitude of connections available (anything from Adobe AEM to Bynder to more exotic systems), users have much more control over their asset domain. 

In MacOS, for example, being able to preview a stock image in a desktop window makes the entire experience second nature. It's intuitive and requires no training whatsoever.

Viewing a stock image file in MacOS via CI HUB Drive

The app also enables real-time multi-threaded file synchronization, meaning that edits made to assets locally on the desktop will be updated on demand in the original DAM or drive where they are stored. CI HUB Drive also replicates any permission-based access to folders within the DAM system, ensuring that users can access the correct files based on existing roles and rights within the connected system. 

“Everyone within a company is a potential content creator, and employees are accessing files from multiple sources every day,” said Gerd Glaser, CI HUB CSO. “However, each system has a different log-in, interface and search function. Using CI HUB Drive eliminates the time-consuming processes of accessing and transferring assets between drives, tools and work management platforms. Now, users can access the company assets they need as easily as a personal drive folder linked to their desktop.” 

The new CI HUB Drive complements the existing CI HUB Connector plugin, which already enables users to seamlessly access their digital asset libraries within the most popular work apps such as Microsoft 365, Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma, SharePoint, Google Workspace, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and dozens more. 

Why it matters

As brands and organizations struggle with the expanding ecosystem of assets – and the apps that house them – CI HUB Drive provides ease, fluidity, and familiarity that maximizes the value of a DAM or asset system. By reducing complexity and streamlining access, users can successfully locate what they need at a local level faster and more efficiently. 

Having a native UI in MacOS or Windows makes the entire journey of locating assets much easier. The process becomes more intuitive, eliminating much of the friction around the grunt work associated with simply browsing, picking, and finding stuff in the morass. Having a solid DAM makes it even easier, but bringing the assets closer to home makes the entire process feel more natural. 

One of the key benefits of CI HUB Drive is its first-class respect for permissions. This ensures that any mounted desktop access inherits the same roles for users and groups from the source DAM or PIM, so organizations can maintain governance across their teams – wherever they might be accessing resources. Additionally, the real-time multi-threaded syncing is a slick function, making it even easier to maintain consistency when users make edits at a local level. 

All in all, CI HUB Drive is a solid addition to the company’s portfolio of products. To sign up for access, you can visit the company's website for details. 

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