Connections

By Hassan Alzein, Chief Technologist, Technology Media and Telecom Industry, DXC Technology –

M&E companies have a choice: They can embrace the digital revolution, analyze the petabytes of data being created today and generate insights that will improve the customer’s experience, or they can sit by and watch their competitors figure out digital and overtake them.

At DXC Technology, we’re all about guiding companies through digital transformation. We have vast experience working in a broad range of industries, from M&E to hospitality, transportation, medical, government, financial services and education. In every case, we follow five principles that help us harness data so our clients can meet their goals:

1. Consumers are in control. Everything media companies offer should revolve around the wants and needs of customers. Making that happen requires that M&E companies deploy data analytics to see how much their customers spend with them each year, what they spend it on, and the age and regional demographics of their customers.

2. Data helps companies deliver a customized experience. When M&E companies gain visibility into their customers through analytics, they can deliver customized experiences. For example, if a company knows that a customer listens to a certain band on Spotify, attends its concerts, even travels out of town to see the band, the company can offer deals at reduced rates instead of just offering one-off tickets. Airlines now offer travelers discounts for food, hotels and entertainment when they fly to popular destinations. Media companies should offer similar deals. For example, if someone plans to fly in for a show, offer that person discount airline tickets, hotel accommodations, and coupons at restaurants and attractions in that city. Over time the companies will develop relationships that create customers for life.

3. The consumer owns the data — and the data must be protected. As companies personalize services based on data analytics, it’s very important to ensure security and privacy. Start by building systems that manage opt-in privacy interfaces for online shopping. Then back them up with end-to-end security services, including network monitoring, threat detection, network intrusion prevention and detection, vulnerability scanning, audits of systems and organizational controls, and two-factor authentication.

4. Create a platform. Publishers used to just print newspapers and magazines. No longer. Media companies are now platforms for many other activities. For example, the Wall Street Journal still prints a paper edition, but it now runs events such as the CEO Council. Computer industry publishers have made this shift even more dramatically. Few of them print paper editions anymore. All content is posted online and serves as a platform for an increasingly robust event business. For broadcasting, it’s the same. All the broadcasters now offer news and entertainment online, create podcasts and promote special programming.

5. Leverage new technologies. New value chains require that companies become digital, taking advantage of technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. By harnessing these technologies, we create something we call the customer-driven entertainment supply chain. It’s about knowing what customers want and making it easier for them to obtain packages of services where and when they want them, on any device.

Delivering this high-quality customer experience requires designing a solid user interface right from the start. And because most people view content on a digital device, that means designing a user-centered interface that supports customers in accomplishing their goals and business value for the organization. Media companies should partner with computer science companies that offer extensive design capabilities.

Look for companies that can uncover customer needs and requirements, conduct visualization workshops, and develop user experience/ user interface (UX/UI) designs that empower users and create value for the organization.

At DXC, we take a holistic view of your technology operation, from desktops, mobile devices, and storage and networking, to business processes and UX/UI designs that make for high-quality customer experiences. We’re not saying it’s easy. But based on our experience in guiding customers through digital transformation, we can help M&E companies analyze their organizations and set goals for a digital future.

Media companies, especially print newspapers and the music industry, have been facing disruption since the dawn of the internet. It’s been going on for decades. We are confident they will adapt to this digital world and leverage new technologies to stay profitable and deliver high-quality entertainment for many years to come.

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