Posted by:
invenioLSI
Publish Date:
17 Nov, 2022
Last Thursday, invenioLSI had the pleasure of partnering with SAP for an informative webinar, “Content Financials—Your Solution to Tighter Control on Production Spend, Budgets, Accounting, and Finances.” Host Caroline Silva sat down with invenioLSI’s James Maysonet, VP of Global Media & Entertainment, Shyam Jajodia, EVP & Global Head of PreSales, and SAP’s Richard Whittington, GM of Media & Entertainment. The speakers established invenioLSI’s Content Financials—built on SAP’s S/4HANA—as the Media and Entertainment industry’s solution to greater cost control throughout the production workflow. Attendees watched an informative demo, listened to an engaging discussion among the panelists, and received answers to their most-asked questions.
Please read our blog for an overview of the webinar, and watch the recording!
'New Hollywood' Calls for a New Solution
Transformation of the Media and Entertainment industry has spiked within the last five years, mainly due to the shift to streaming and subscribing services coinciding with growing demand for content. Speaker James Maysonet mentioned, “If a theatrical release had done poorly, it was able to make up for the box office losses when it was released as home video…those days don’t exist anymore.”
As a result of this shift from “old Hollywood” to “new Hollywood,” organizations face heightened pressure on their budgeting and financial models. Yet, the tools frequently used today are manual or single-use within fragmented systems, so there is a lack of integration along the production workflow. Furthermore, the market shift will only continue to evolve; within the next five years, the industry should expect an increased focus on costs, real-time analytics, and sustainability. Thus, media professionals need a new integrative tool to streamline costs and make informed, sustainable budgeting decisions that ultimately draw consumer attention.
How Does invenioLSI's Content Financials Fit Into SAP?
Media companies already built on SAP have a fantastic opportunity to maximize their investment and reduce the amount of other unnecessary integrated technologies that SAP can replace. Considering that seven of the nine major media companies fall into this category, speaker Richard Whittington of SAP explained the ease with how Content Financials ties into their existing SAP ecosystem and value chain.
The value chain for the Media and Entertainment industry is as follows:
Despite the industry’s significant shift to streaming and subscribing services, the value chain has not changed all that much. Richard explained, “What changed underneath it was a movement to the cloud…as customers evolved, SAP had to evolve.” Thus came the integration of SAP’s Industry Cloud for Media, which maximizes the use of data throughout an organization by aligning ‘Lego bricks’ (aspects of the Intelligent Suite such as Finance, Billing and Revenue, and more) with the value chain.
What You Will Gain with Content Financials, and How We Can Help You Get There
Content Financials is your unique solution to gaining insights into production costs. The product, which sits on top of the standard SAP system, is designed specifically for Media and Entertainment; as the speakers explained, it integrates and facilitates the industry’s value chain within SAP through an array of apps:
Overall, Content Financials allows you to gain greater control over production costs and track these costs against the budget, integrate other expenses such as travel and procurement, and track and analyze performance. With tighter control on budgeting, more accurate financial reporting, and more timely and enhanced analytics, executives can make better decisions. As a result of tighter integration, less manual effort is required when inputting data, as it will all be entered into one unified system. Furthermore, these capabilities result in more visibility and transparency across the company.
The speakers underscored the transition from the traditional culture of studios and studio-based processing to the high-tech industry, which—proven by the benefits above—is all about information and data. invenioLSI and SAP recognize that humans are at the forefront of this transformation. As we implement new technology, we assess what is currently happening within the human processes, roles, and technologies our customers use, focusing on what needs to change to help the organization achieve its goals. Additionally, we ensure the proper people and processes are in place to drive change from above and show those in the rank and file how their jobs will change and improve with these tools.
Learn more by watching the webinar recording!
Please feel free to reach out to our team with any questions!