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storage structures to manage the content, rekeying and duplication of metadata is a significant, time consuming and error-prone process.
Colleagues at TMD once carried out a workflow consultancy exercise for a major broadcaster, and found that the title of an acquired programme was keyed in 34 times, each time into a different application, as the content was prepared for transmission. That is 34 opportunities for typing errors which would mean the content would get lost between systems. It is also 34 times the operational cost for data entry.
But as the challenges are now multi-faceted, so too is the solution. First, I would say to any organisation seeking to implement a media asset management solution, start by carefully defining what you are seeking to gain from it.
This may sound obvious, but it still surprising that sometimes the business requirements have not been identified. Nor haver the existing end-to-end processes been documented.
Second, I would suggest that from the very outset a project should include stakeholders and users from all aspects of the business. That includes people who do the tasks and use the information as well as senior management. The best people to identify the real, core processes are those that own those tasks; people who care about metadata are the right people to define and enter it; and in any project buy in is crucial. If you hear the statement “we’ve always done it that way”, then you are building resistance to change not realising efficiencies.
Finally, if we go back to where I started, the volume of content being consumed today means that media organisations have to be agile. They cannot afford to wait for a vendor to modify the solution to take account of changes in workflows or to bring in new distribution partners.
That means two things. First, the user should have simple graphical tools to add, modify, automate and test new workflow processes. Second, you need to draw comprehensive business metrics and design your own management and operational reports and dashboards. Together they give the business the ability to measure and continually improve their performance, realise all available revenues and maximise the return on investment.
Taken together, along with accurate and comprehensive metadata capture in a flexible and customisable data model, such a system will deliver real efficiencies across the entire media lifecycle.
For more information on TMD’s Mediaflex solution, visit www.tmd.tv
Tony Taylor is one of the co-founders of TMD. As Chairman and CEO, he provides the overall strategic and sales direction for the company. With over 30 years’ experience within the communications, broadcast and media sectors, he is a well-known speaker on the international conference circuit, presenting papers on, amongst other topics, the importance of integrating media asset management and workflow processes, and the role of technology in helping to meet some of the broadcast industry's most pressing challenges.
Managing Assets
Considerations
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Broadcast Beat Magazine / Sep-Dec, 2014