The Aspen Group’s marketing department faced a critical challenge: managing production assets and campaigns across five different healthcare brands with no centralized system. What started as “a stack of 30-40 hard drives” and fragmented workflows has transformed into a sophisticated media operation powered by Iconik’s media asset management platform, implemented by systems integrator IMT, and supported with Wasabi storage.
Since launching its media management system in summer 2024, the Aspen Group has consolidated 45 terabytes of video, photo, and production files into a single searchable system that serves their entire marketing organization.
The challenge: Fragmented workflows and missing media
When Kyle Probst joined the Aspen Group as Studio Director, he discovered a media management crisis. The marketing department, which produces content for campaigns, training videos, social media, and communications across five brands, had no systematic way to track or access their assets.
“There wasn’t any process in place,” Kyle explained. “There wouldn’t really be any say as to who would upload that or where, when it would be uploaded or if it got uploaded at all.”
The previous system—a digital asset management (DAM) tool—was being misused as a repository for raw production files. Teams uploaded low-resolution JPEGs for review, but the platform wasn’t designed for production workflows. Without on-premise or cloud storage, editors and creatives had nowhere appropriate to store working files.
“The process, or lack of process, was a stack of 30, 40 hard drives in and around my desk,” Kyle recalled. Everyone from the organization dropped off drives with him. “And then they would ask, ‘Where’s this footage from this campaign?’ And I wouldn’t have historical knowledge.”
The organization needed more than just storage—they needed a complete rethinking of their media operations.
The solution: Iconik for MAM with Suite cloud storage and Wasabi archive
Kyle identified that the organization needed both cloud storage and a proper media asset management system. The solution came together when he discovered how Iconik’s hybrid-cloud storage solution.
“We needed some kind of storage, whether on prem or in the cloud, and Iconik’s work with storage solutions like Suite just made perfect sense because it married those two,” Kyle said.
The Aspen Group brought in Mike Miserendino as Senior Manager of Creative Operations in June 2024, and together with IMT as their implementation partner, they designed a system that would serve both production workflows and marketing asset sharing.
The architecture
The Aspen Group’s current setup includes:
Implementation: a true partnership approach
IMT and Wasabi played a crucial role in getting the system production-ready. The implementation wasn’t just a handoff—it was a collaborative process of bench testing, troubleshooting, and continuous refinement.
“We worked in close collaboration with IMT to get it into a ready state. They worked hand in glove with us to make it happen,” Mike explained.
When the team encountered RAM issues that were causing system crashes during content processing, IMT went beyond standard support. They engaged directly with Suite, the cloud storage provider, to develop a patch that resolved the performance problems.
“IMT was incredible in helping us diagnose that and reaching out to our other vendors to get the most appropriate response in place,” Mike said.
Kyle emphasized that the relationship feels like a genuine collaboration: “As we continue to use the system more, we have pointed out features that might not be available. They’ve been responsive to that, putting in feature requests…You don’t always get that.”
The implementation process would not be as smooth without Wasabi’s reliable storage and flexible egress flow. Of the Wasabi engine, Mike said,
“Assets need to be highly available at a moments notice, and Wasabi’s egress is responsive and rapid which allows us to better serve our immediate teams and the needs of the business and business partners alike.”
