MUMBAI: Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft Corp. have been selected to design and build an integrated broadcast system to support MediaCorp Pte Ltd., Singapore's largest broadcaster and a leading media company in Asia.
Accenture, which is leading the project, is teaming up with Avanade to design and deploy a scalable and open-standard-based solution featuring the Microsoft Connected Services Framework, a software solution that enables broadcast companies and film studios to create, deploy, integrate and manage services.
The work at MediaCorp will streamline many of the company's core business processes, including program planning, scheduling, airtime sales and finance processes, into one integrated system, which will support all of MediaCorp's television businesses. The system will support nine channels and be used by more than 1,200 employees.
The new system will include a unified grid for programs, ads and automated workflow. Once the system is in place, MediaCorp users within different groups and departments will be able to share information, work together more effectively and react more quickly to the changing needs of the business, giving the company a competitive advantage in how it does business.
"As one of the region's most established broadcasters, we need to be prepared to take advantage of new opportunities. By working with Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft and our internal IT teams, we are building a solution that will leverage our capabilities to support the current and future needs of our television businesses," said MediaCorp deputy group CEO Group Services Henry Lim.;
"We have been working with MediaCorp to develop a solution that effectively migrates its core business processes onto one unified platform. We evaluated multiple options to implement the system and development platforms. Based on that assessment we designed an application blueprint founded on Microsoft .NET. The platform will be highly scalable, giving MediaCorp the flexibility and control to integrate other, future processes such as digital asset management, editing services and new content delivery channels," said Accenture partner in the media and entertainment practice Robert Chew.
"We chose a service-oriented architecture to manage MediaCorp's investment in technology. The media industry is transforming. Digitization is rapidly changing the business dynamics of yesterday's television. A strong and scalable information system becomes a requirement for MediaCorp to embrace digital media and benefit from its growth in the future," said MediaCorp chief information officer Jack Chiam.
To deliver the integrated broadcast system, Accenture will team up with Avanade, combining its business and industry acumen with Avanade's technical expertise in Microsoft technologies. Accenture and Avanade will build the system using Microsoft .NET and the Microsoft Connected Services Framework.
"MediaCorp's business lies in the successful management, distribution and consumption of content. As the world's first terrestrial broadcaster to adopt the Connected Services Framework, MediaCorp is helping to demonstrate Microsoft's knowledge of the key business drivers in the broadcast industry and, more important, how to translate that knowledge into solutions that enable broadcasters to work efficiently, increase revenues, and expand and retain audiences," said Microsoft corporate vice president communications sector Maria Martinez.
