A method and system and computer program product implementing same can be used to automatically manage a digital asset, from development to deployment, to control change within a network environment in a comprehensive and efficient manner. Digital assets can be tracked for progress and inaccuracies, mistakes, and incompatibilities can be addressed prior to deployment. Stages can be used to formalize and automate the flow of digital assets along the process. Further, metadata regarding the digital asset can be captured at any time to provide an audit trail for the digital asset from development all the way through deployment. The metadata can include not only the change records for the digital asset but may also include other information, such as results from staging and where the digital asset has been deployed. Any stage may have access to any or all metadata captured for the digital asset.