Seeing the (Media Technology) Forest Through the Trees

It’s challenging to see the forest through the trees when new trees pop up to disrupt the view. New media technologies, delivery mechanisms, and business models emerge at such a frequent pace that organizations can find themselves taking focus away from their core mission to figure out how to incorporate each new iteration.

One of the most impactful ways companies can maintain their vision is through a holistic view of the media technology lifecycle. These three fundamental tenets can help them develop a comprehensive view of technology platforms:

1) Develop cross-functional KPIs

Certainly, it’s not news that specific, measurable and attainable KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are absolutely essential for business. The trick is to develop and implement performance metrics that work to align different groups and organizations. KPIs from different groups are often developed separately; but interconnecting them is a powerful means of supporting the higher-level strategic objectives of the entire organization. The insights gained from cross-functional KPIs help organizations to better understand how groups work together and interact, and develop a more comprehensive view of the entire media technology lifecycle.

This approach is not isolated solely to internal divisions. As companies begin to develop deep partnerships with vendors, they can also benefit from a cohesive view of their content’s performance from creation to consumption. I took a deeper dive into this topic in this blog.

2) Refine Workflows  

Innovation and testing are key to future success. One way to ensure a safe space for such testing is to review and harden mission-critical processes and systems. The first step in hardening systems is identifying the systems that must operate at high availability, and then building the infrastructure around those systems to mitigate as much risk as possible. This could mean investing in power and cooling, or creating dual and diverse paths for networks. Whatever system or process is critical to the business, aim to have redundancy and back- ups in place. When key workflows are bolstered and refined to be relatively bullet-proof, organizations can apply a more critical eye at the business from a high level, and be confident that the most fundamental parts of the business are sound.

3) Know thyself

As companies strive to achieve a holistic grasp of the media technology lifecycle, they should start by weighing everything against the current state of their business. How are development teams working cross-functionally? What efforts are being duplicated? Where can automation be implemented? What tools does a team use exclusively, and which do they share? These questions are just the starting point for a business that wants to take a holistic, comprehensive view of their media technology lifecycle and improve upon it. But they can only be answered with a real and honest evaluation of the overall health of the organization.

Applying these three tenets can help position companies to take a more holistic view of their media technology lifecycle and better equip them to be more agile and adaptable.