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Lift Kara De...

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Modern day business environment necessitates increased output and cost
optimization. It has therefore become important for corporates to streamline
their workflows and business processes to outgrow competition and obtain better
business results.

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In a drive to achieve this, it is important to address the entire process
chain instead of an isolated approach to get an integrated system. And
broadcasting is one industry wherein process automation through a combination of
audio-visual technology and content, and information technology can offer
improved workflow and process management leading to superior and qualitative
viewer experience. and better business revenue, of course.

Realizing this, Sony Entertainment Network has been creating a new IT
infrastructure that would support its business objectives and provide a seamless
platform for all its core functions.

Future Perfect

Over the last three years there has been a lot of traction towards creating
a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure at Sony. Considering the cut-throat
competition in Indian television biz and the importance of the market here, Sony
is leaving no stone unturned to beat competition. And technology restructuring
has being playing a crucial role amidst all these.

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Creating a tape less environment is the
need of the hour for Sony

Ajay Meher, VP, IT, Sony Entertainment Network

The company began its SAP implementation in 2007. "Its a completely new
system that we are building in accordance with our business needs. We are
deploying various models of SAP in a phased manner," says Ajay Meher, VP, IT,
Sony Entertainment Network. "This approach is allowing us to streamline our
processes step-by-step as per our requirements and multiply the benefits," he
adds.

The initial business requirement for Sony was to consolidate its financial
processes. With SAP FICO (Finance & Control) the company could achieve its first
objective. Next followed implementation of SAP SD module in 2009 that led to
consolidation of Sonys sales and distribution system. The company is currently
preparing to implement material management and HR management modules. "These new
technology deployments are helping us to optimize all our processes like
financial management, airtime inventory management, content management and
scheduling activities and consolidate them under an integrated platform,"
explains Meher.

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The other core application running in the organization is broadcast
management, which is now getting aligned with SAP driven processes for better
efficiency and productivity. Sony further implemented Documentum. Through this
enterprise content management application, the company is streamlining as well
as enabling automation of various workflows. Apart from this Sony is also
migrating from Lotus Note to Microsoft Exchange platform that is getting
implemented currently along with a unified communication system.

More to Come

Despite being a digital age, most of the broadcasting contents are currently
delivered in tape format. Sony is planning to take the uphill task of converting
all the contents into digital data and create a digital asset management system.
"Creating a tape less environment is the need of the hour and a huge task
indeed. Keeping the magnitude and importance of this in mind, this one is going
to be a very critical project for us or for anyone involving into media
business," says Meher.

Piyali Guha

piyalig@cybermedia.co.in

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