What internal growth obstacles does your publishing company face today? Most likely they are related to problematic operational data, and difficulty in making sound executive decisions. Siloed IT systems that prevent any comprehensive analysis for strategic planning are one of the most common data problems that media/publishing firms encounter.
One frequent outcome of this issue for these companies is the inability to accurately capture and analyze sources of revenue. Publishing, TV and radio advertising, and online news subscriptions can generate revenue from multiple titles and a variety of sources to include subscriptions, advertising sales, special content sponsorships and even special events. This often means disparate financial data and processes in different departments or in separate subsidiaries. These silos of information lead to huge inefficiency and lost opportunities including: the inability to accurately capture and analyze sources of revenue across properties; disparate data and processes at different business units or newly acquired subsidiaries; difficulties with order management(opens in new tab) and reconciliation; and too much time and resources spent on IT upgrades and integration.
As with many organizations, media/publishing companies grapple with ad hoc connections between systems and between departments and business units. Financial planning(opens in new tab), HR managment(opens in new tab) systems, provisioning, databases, and individual spreadsheets often litter the IT landscape and defy attempts to unify them and their data into a single system. The larger the media/publishing company, the worse the problem usually becomes.
Moving to a cloud-based IT system, also known as Software-as-a-Service, is a step many media/publishing companies are taking to save time and money on their IT maintenance and to enable them to move to an integrated system more quickly. It costs considerably less to use a cloud-based enterprise application than to maintain an on-premise system: an estimated 50 percent less in TCO over four years for a 100-seat system, or a net savings of $700,000, according to an analysis by the Hurwitz Group(opens in new tab).
For example, Gawker Media implemented NetSuite OneWorld and now rolls up Gawker's 8 blog properties and associated websites into five subsidiaries, which include multiple countries and currencies. Its integrated accounts payable and receivable processes cut bookkeeping costs by 20 percent.
The technology advantage of the cloud is clear in the TCO, but the business advantage of moving quickly to capture revenue and tune one’s media/publishing business is harder to capture and hard to replicate. To survive in the market today, having the KPI(opens in new tab) at one’s fingertips is crucial.
Gawker Media, Thrillist and SheKnows are among the many leading media/publishing companies running smarter, faster and more profitably in the NetSuite cloud. Tune in to this NetSuite YouTube video(opens in new tab) to explore how your company can do the same!
Chris Hering, Industry Manager, Media, Advertising and Publishing for NetSuite