IBM to Offer First Comprehensive Service Oriented Architecture Solution Tailored for the Media & Entertainment Industry

IBM MediaHub Supported by Industry’s Top ISVs and Leading Vendors

ARMONK, NY and GLENDALE, CA - 24 Apr 2006: IBM today announced the MediaHub Solution Framework, a new offering for the Media & Entertainment industry, using Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) to combine business operations with information technology. Also announced are a number of leading industry partners who are working with IBM to use MediaHub as part of their solution offerings.
MediaHub is IBM’s SOA-based solution to address the evolving challenges in managing the increasing complexity and inefficiencies in running a content-oriented business. These new challenges include business issues resulting from the transition of assets from analog to digital file formats and the processes used to create, manage and distribute digital assets.
“As our media clients move over to digital content they are seeing both an opportunity and challenge in managing the creating, management and distribution of digital content,” said Dick Anderson, GM IBM Media & Entertainment. “MediaHub provides the mechanism of managing the digital content and the window to the workflow.”
Until now, the integration of content-related functions, applications and systems required to produce, manage and deliver media products did not exist in a standardized way and these systems were completely disconnected from the systems running the business. Processes have been held together with manual and labor-intensive routines to move content through its development cycle and make it ready for consumption. With the introduction of MediaHub, IBM brings the benefits of an SOA framework to the Media & Entertainment industry to interconnect resources and streamline processes in ways that were never possible before.
“As we speak with leading broadcasters around the world, they are asking for a flexible SOA platform that incorporates the very best in video processing technology,” said Simon Derry, CEO of Snell & Wilcox. “We are excited to work with IBM to deliver this important innovation through MediaHub.”
The inefficiency in content processing for media companies is very significant. It has been estimated that 30% of a producer’s time is wasted just looking for the right content assets to use in a production. It has also been estimated that up to 50% of the time that supporting IT staff dedicate to managing content systems and technologies is spent on the integration and “glue-code” that hold the processes together.
This fundamental challenge requires clients to spend a considerable amount of time and expense in managing inefficient processes. This translates into delays in product delivery due to the lack of information on product completeness or asset availability. As well, there is considerable inefficiency in productivity as production and distribution resources waste excessive amounts of time looking for content and validating that it is ready for delivery.
The MediaHub Solution Framework gives customers the flexibility to manage workflows in a digital world and visibility into the workflow. This ’portal’ functionality allows customers to view an SOA ecosystem by tapping into information, media assets, and functionality across an enterprise’s various lines of business. MediaHub enables previously isolated systems, users, and business units to communicate more easily and effectively and allows information to flow quickly and consistently throughout the enterprise.
IBM is working with leading industry partners to make the MediaHub Solution Framework a robust offering for the industry. Independent software vendors (ISVs) who have determined that MediaHub is an effective toolset for SOA environments and plan to incorporate MediaHub into their offerings include Ancept, Anystream, Ardendo, Endeca, MeSoft, Masstech, Snell & Wilcox, Sophoi and Xytech.
Last year, an independent report by AMR Research found that IBM is the recognized leader in Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). In the report “Service Oriented Architectures: Survey Findings on Deployment and Plans for the Future,” which surveyed IT executives, IBM was cited as the SOA industry leader three times more often than the closest competitor.
According to Gartner, an IT industry research firm, SOA will provide the basis for 80 percent of new software development projects by 2008.


About IBM
With 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate, IBM is the world’s largest information technology company. Over the past 45 years, IBM has extended its business solutions into entertainment and professional sports by combining real-time scoring, digital asset management, virtualization, and autonomic computing technologies with the expertise of the world’s largest IT consulting services organization. In 2005, IBM received an Emmy award for technical achievement in broadcasting. For more information on IBM, please visit: http://www.ibm.com

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Jorge Alberni

IBM Media Relations

IBM

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