Why Do Many Digital Rights Management Projects Fail After POC?

Introduction

The globe is littered with opportunists with sticky fingers – and it’s never been more prevalent than in today’s digital landscape.

Whether it’s the one-off hacker who is trying to lock down your files and demand a ransom for your data; a government-sponsored collective that wants to steal your digital intellectual property and create an all-too-similar knock off; or even a legal purchaser of your product who attempts to redistribute it without paying for extra instances – companies who are in the business of delivering their products in bits and bytes are under assault.

Companies that are trying to lock down their leaky borders often take on this task internally – with less than stellar results. We’ve seen countless cases where a company will develop a proof of concept (POC) around a digital rights management project, only to watch the scheme fail upon its attempted implementation.* One mistake we see companies making repeatedly: Using existing infrastructure and network security resources who are woefully underprepared for the rigors of a significant and successful DRM effort.

There’s real value – measurable in dollars and cents – when a digital rights management project is implemented successfully. At Netwoven , we take on the burden of creating and implementing DRM projects that deliver real business value to our customers who wish to fend off insider risks or data exfiltration.

Why DRM?

In addition to the aforementioned reasons to implement DRM, there are legitimate “blue sky” reasons to have a robust DRM program serving as a gatekeeper to your data and content. These include:

DRM technologies can be bespoke or off-the-shelf and can be software or hardware-based. All do the same thing – prevent unauthorized usage and piracy.

You likely are already familiar with DRM schemes, even if you didn’t realize it. Such DRM solutions include:

Why do DRM POCs fail?

Making your DRM project successful

Implementing DRM the right way requires a few things:

Conclusion

DRM has become a vital part of today’s digital world because it educates users about the sanctity of data and copyrights and helps organizations protect their sensitive business-critical data . A robust DRM strategy and implementation ensure that the organization’s data and content is distributed in a secure manner.

*Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220207850_Solvable_problems_in_enterprise_digital_rights_management