I don't think that serif needs just a DAM.
I think it would be interesting for serif to develop a C1/LR like program. I see affinity photo as a PS competitor, but the develop module doesn't allow for easy non-destructive adjustment iterations. For example, one can infinitely edit images in LR and C1 before exporting to PS if at all. I find that it is not so easy to just go back in the development module to tweak, requiring a reset.
I have some 20k-30k photos in my photos library. For this reason I use LR, since I can manage all of them, edit them mostly non-destructively without going to Photoshop, print them, and geo-tag them all in the same program. Only very "special" images ever make it to PS, since doing so moves you away from RAW files and thus you loose some leeway in terms of editing or you end up with tiff files which are 3x the size of raw images.
I think a DAM that at least allows the develop module to be run (and those settings remembered), which can be integrated directly in affinity photo can also be useful/desired if the integration and the work flow are properly thought out. Then one can use the rest of affinity photo editing via layers to truly end up with some none destructive edits that won't cause a ballooning of space taken on our drives with multiple copies of images (tiff like files being very large). With virtual-images/snap-shots one can truly use their images very broadly.
Of course the whole eco-system would be much more powerful if the DAM was somehow also integrated/available between the other software of serif.
For example... You open affinity photo. If you have the DAM and affinity designer installed tabs for them would also appear.
1. Go to the DAM and select the image you want to develop
2. Developing the image can be completely non-destructive and dynamically adjustable. As in even when you have layer edits from affinity photos or designer, adjusting the image in the develop section would allow the user to see that bottom layer adjustment even with the overlay of the photos or designer (or both) layers shown.
3. The user can either enter photos or designer to do whatever edits they want.
4. By working with layers, when adjusting photos layers the UI would adjust accordingly and same with designer layers.
I think such a tightly integrated environment would give users not only a powerful tool, but would go a step beyond what photoshop offers. After all, photoshop edits are baked in when you want to go back to LR, while on the affinity side the develop module is what bakes into the image that is then "exported" for use in photos. One example of why one would want to be able to tweak the image in the develop module are for things like shadow and highlight adjustment, where it is ideal to manipulate the RAW, and not the image in the other photo module.
cheers
