How to move from shared drives to a DAM system

Is your organisation still relying on shared drives like Google Drive and Box to manage your digital assets?

You’re certainly not alone, but relying on shared drives can make it harder to keep up as asset libraries grow and workflows become more complex.

Even if you’ve recognised that a dedicated Digital Asset Management (DAM) system needs to be your next investment, concerns around migration might be delaying progress. However, it doesn’t have to be as complicated as you might think.

Working with DAM experts, like the team here at ResourceSpace, helps a lot, but there are also four key steps you should build into the migration so it goes as smoothly as possible:

Step 1: Audit every existing asset storage location
Step 2: Declutter before you migrate, not after
Step 3: Translate folders into a taxonomy and metadata model
Step 4: Migrate in phases, starting with active assets

READ MORE: The hidden costs of shared drives for digital asset management

Step 1: Audit every existing asset storage location

A successful migration starts with a comprehensive inventory, so before any files are moved into a new DAM system, the first step is understanding exactly where your assets are currently stored. For most organisations, the answer is usually more complicated than expected.

Shared drives will often be the primary storage location, whether that’s a cloud solution like Google Drive or a central file store system, but assets will also be found on other devices too. For example, images might’ve been downloaded from email threads to personal drives and never uploaded to shared drives in the first place.

The objective of this exercise isn’t to just count files, but to identify every location where assets are stored and understand how different teams use them. For example, marketing, communications, design and regional teams might all have their own collections that are invisible to the wider organisation.

This is why the audit process should involve conversations with each team rather than relying on searching for assets. Team members often know about unofficial storage locations that DAM Managers and Marketing Managers won’t, such as personal cloud accounts or archived project folders.

By creating a complete picture of your existing asset landscape, you reduce the risk of valuable content being overlooked and establish a clear foundation for the rest of the migration project.

Step 2: Declutter before you migrate, not after

One of the most common mistakes organisations make is treating migration as a file transfer exercise. However, if you move everything into your new DAM system, you’re often just transferring years of clutter into a more sophisticated environment.

It’s hard to implement DAM best practice when you’re using shared drives for storage, which means they often contain duplicate files, outdated versions, expired assets and content that has not been used for years. Migrating these assets adds unnecessary complexity, consumes storage and makes it harder for users to find what they actually need.

Instead, view migration as an opportunity to improve the quality of your asset library: 

• Identify and delete duplicate files
• Remove assets that are no longer relevant or approved for use
• Archive old brand assets that are no longer in circulation but that you want to retain for future reference

A pre-migration clean-up means your DAM starts life as a trusted source of truth rather than a new home for old problems — and the less clutter you migrate, the faster users will see the benefits of the new system.

Step 3: Translate folders into a taxonomy and metadata model

One of the biggest differences between a shared drive and a DAM is that folders are not the main way people search for assets.

In a shared drive like Google Drive or Box, an asset’s location often provides a lot of context about it’s meaning and purpose. For example:

Marketing > East Africa > Campaigns > 2025 > Fundraising > Summer Appeal > Approved Images

You can navigate this if you have a clear understanding of file and folder naming conventions, but using the example above, what if you don’t know which year an asset was produced?

By contrast, assets in a DAM are described using structured information. The same image could contain metadata fields such as:

• Campaign: Summer Appeal 2025
• Asset type: Photography
• Region: East Africa
• Subject: Community programme
• Approval status: Approved
• Usage rights: Internal and external marketing

This means users can find the asset through multiple routes without needing to know where it was originally uploaded or when it was taken.

For example, a fundraising manager searching for approved donor-facing photography from East Africa can filter by those attributes and immediately discover the relevant content. A communications team member looking for Summer Appeal assets will find the same image through a completely different search path.

With this in mind, review your existing folder structure and identify the information it is trying to communicate. Taking the time to map this properly is what transforms a collection of files into a searchable, scalable Digital Asset Management system that continues to work as you grow.

Step 4: Migrate in phases, starting with active assets

A common mistake organisations make when migrating from shared drives to a DAM is trying to move everything at once. This might seem more efficient, but large-scale migrations often become complex, time-consuming and difficult to manage.

Instead, start with the assets that teams actively use every day, such as:

• Current campaign materials
• Approved brand assets
• Recent photography
• Frequently accessed documents

This doesn’t just reduce risk and make the migration more manageable, but it also allows users to begin working in the new DAM system immediately and experience the benefits of improved search, permissions and workflows from day one.

Once active assets have been successfully adopted and teams are confident using the new system, older content can be migrated in manageable stages, creating a smoother and more successful transition overall.

How ResourceSpace simplifies the migration process

Many organisations delay migrating from shared drives to a DAM because of the perceived complexity involved. 

And we get it.

The idea of transferring all of your most important assets to a brand new system sounds scary, but fortunately we can support you and make migrating to ResourceSpace easy in a couple of ways.

First of all, our Uppy Companion Uploader simplifies the file transfer process, allowing you to easily upload files from GDrive, OneDrive or Dropbox with just a few clicks.

Using ResourceSpace has been a huge step forward in how we manage stories, photos and videos. It's easy to use, customisable and the team have been super helpful from setup through to ongoing support.

Secondly, our fantastic support team are solutions experts, and can help you every step of the way to ensure the migration goes smoothly and your new DAM is set up for success.

We also work with partners who can actually do the whole migration for you. Everything tagged, organised and moved to the new system, ready to go. 

READ MORE: What charities achieve in their first month with ResourceSpace

Want to find out more about how we can transform your Digital Asset Management? Book a call with one of our solutions experts below and we’ll look at your current challenges and how we can help.