Accenture Broadcast Services innovative design translates Accenture s video infrastructure into a global broadcast communications capability

Transcription

1 Accenture Broadcast Services innovative design translates Accenture s video infrastructure into a global broadcast communications capability

2 Client profile Accenture is an organization that pushes the boundaries of what is possible. It has done so in the creation of Accenture Broadcast Services by taking existing technology all of Accenture s video endpoints globally and turning them into remote broadcasting studios through the visionary design of the Accenture Broadcast Centers in Chicago, Prague and Delhi. 2

3 Opportunity Accenture looked to extend the value of the major investment it has made over the past 10 years in its video infrastructure by translating it from a network of devices for peer-to-peer communication into a network of content sources for global broadcast communications. With this development, Accenture created a dedicated capability, Accenture Broadcast Services, which makes it not only possible but easy for Accenture leaders to participate in global broadcasts by video from any Accenture location or any other site with good network connectivity. Accenture views video and social platforms as the primary communication method in the digital enterprise. The company is developing rapidly as a social enterprise and is encouraging the use of video through broadcast services. We are seeing rapidly growing demand for Broadcast Services as video emerges as the new norm in our social enterprise, says Jason Warnke, Global lead of the Social Enterprise within the Accenture CIO Organization. Solution For more than a decade, Accenture has been transforming its investment in Telepresence and videoconferencing infrastructure into a broadcast communication capability that delivers live online video events to the employees of Accenture worldwide and to the general public. Today, this capability in the form of Accenture Broadcast Services enables Accenture leaders and Accenture s more than 300,000 people to visually connect through live global broadcast events, enabling globally distributed presenters and participants to effectively, creatively and easily communicate with each other as part of a geographically dispersed global organization. The capability operates at the intersection of IT and television broadcasting, bringing together cutting-edge technology and a 50-person global team with highly diverse creative and technical expertise to successfully deliver content specifically targeted at the needs of a large global enterprise. Improved bandwidth and high-quality webcams and video units are enabling more frequent and engaging communications throughout Accenture, being used by leadership, marketing organizations and internal communications anybody who needs to communicate, says Vid Byanna, CIO Executive Director of Infrastructure. Accenture Broadcast Services works with Accenture leadership and people to deliver a wide range of events such as live global broadcasts from the CEO and business unit leads, project group meetings, industry analyst briefings, alumni and recruiting sessions, corporate citizenship and diversity events, and video recordings for a wide range of uses. In contrast to many other large corporations that may have only one or two video production studios in their corporate headquarters location, Accenture s approach transforms hundreds of Telepresence and videoconference rooms into a global network of studios. Three Accenture Broadcast Centers located in Chicago, Delhi and Prague tie the studio network together. Broadcast-quality live shows and edited recordings are created through the customization and automation of high-definition digital video components usually found in television broadcast production control centers. This allows Accenture to deliver global live events at scale with predictability and efficiency. 3

4 Global video endpoints as remote broadcasting studios Instead of creating full studio setups all around Accenture globally, Accenture Broadcast Services turned every one of Accenture s Telepresence rooms, videoconference units, Microsoft Lync endpoints and Cisco Jabber (a unified communications application that streamlines communications on a desktop) endpoints into a broadcast studio by enabling the ingest of video into the Accenture Broadcast Centers. A presenter on a global broadcast makes a video call that is no different from any other video call from an Accenture office Telepresence or videoconference room, through Jabber technology from any location, or from their home through Microsoft Lync. The incredible power of this approach, says Accenture CIO Andrew Wilson, is that Accenture executives do not need to be physically present at the location of where audio and video are recorded. Not only did Accenture Broadcast Services implement an innovative use of video endpoints, but the organization has standardized and industrialized the process of using Accenture s collaboration infrastructure, without losing the flexibility to respond to new requirements and unexpected situations with a personal and professional touch. This approach enables Accenture Broadcast Services to produce a high volume of eight to 15 shows a day on a regular basis, or approximately 150 shows a month. This extraordinarily high volume is possible due to the revolutionary idea of integrating and automating the event planning, setup, and delivery processes, as opposed to the traditionally held idea of building one show at a time as a separate entity. The incoming content from a presenter s video endpoint is then processed and integrated into the live show at the Accenture Broadcast Center. All of the production complexity is hidden from the customer, and is handled by the Accenture Broadcast Services team. It is this team that customizes the viewing experience to match an event sponsor s visual identity and that adds production value by seamlessly incorporating television elements such as graphics, green screen technology, and titling. Other elements for a more interactive experience include online polling, question and answer and survey options. The content is then broadcast directly through the standard Accenture webcast platform to both Accenture employees, and non-accenture viewers with or without registration requirements, wherever either may be located. Live shows can easily be viewed on personal computers or mobile devices, including full-featured mobile access to ios and Android devices a very important capability for Accenture s workforce, which is extensively on the move. Content can also be sent to a variety of external streaming platforms and social media sites including Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and others. For example, Accenture Digital released a research study on Big Data & Analytics and needed a new way to disseminate their message and start a conversation. By working closely with Twitter, Broadcast Services developed a way to embed a live video stream directly into a Twitter feed. Having both the live video and topic of conversation in the same feed encouraged the audience to stay engaged. A typical live show involves presenters in multiple cities, countries, and continents, presenting to a global audience. Due to the new ease of participation though access to the adapted video endpoints and the visionary design and industrialization of the broadcast process, Accenture leadership and employees have more opportunity to get out their message consistently, predictably, and with a human touch (see sidebar on CIO Live!). 4

5 CIO Live! CIO Live!, launched in December 2013, is a global broadcast hosted by Accenture s Chief Information Officer along with a live studio audience. The show is modeled after the highly popular The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. This engaging program, with its serious and not-so-serious moments, is presented quarterly to provide the internal IT organization with the latest updates, news and information about the group s strategy and strategic priorities. In all, the show advances Accenture s digital enterprise agenda and collaboration culture. CIO Live! is broadcast from the Accenture Chicago studio. This show plays out in front of a live studio audience, along with multiple presenters and teams joining from all over the world via Telepresence. During one live show, the Group Chief Executive of Accenture Digital was scheduled to be a keynote speaker for a CIO Live! Broadcast that occurred during his family vacation. Since the show must go on, he joined via video from his vacation location. Any Accenture employee can join the webcast from virtually anywhere. During the show, the audience can submit questions that will be answered on the air by any of the in-studio or virtual hosts. Audience members can also interact and share ideas, comments and pictures via the Stream, Accenture s internal social and collaboration network. 5

6 Repurposing of television production equipment Accenture has built its three broadcast centers (Chicago, Delhi and Prague) with the same equipment that is used in major television network news operations; however, the needs of Accenture are different from those of a television network. Using broadcast equipment in conjunction with Telepresence, videoconference, Jabber and Lync to deliver global events was a new concept to equipment suppliers and system integrators. Bringing these capabilities to life for Accenture required major international equipment suppliers to add new functionality to their products and release new versions of firmware. Unified operational processes across the broadcast centers ensure that each event receives the same level of service regardless of which staff member and location is in control. All production control activity is transparent to the customer. For example, a typical day sees events in India being controlled by both India and Prague teams, and events in Europe being controlled by both Prague and Chicago teams. The freedom to control an event from any facility allows the team to make the best use of available resources and maintain capacity when offices are closed for national holidays. Co-located with the Chicago Broadcast Center, is a production complex that includes master control, audio control, an edit suite, an event support control room and a 400 square foot studio. The studio is equipped to produce a variety of live and recorded video content. It has a green screen with real-time motion and static background compositing, LED lighting, teleprompter and a single professional camera. The Chicago studio is well suited for one-on-one interviews, talk show-style live broadcasting and video news releases. Turned traditionally one-way broadcasts into collaborative two-way events Social media and real-time collaboration have taken center stage in today s hectic business environments. Accenture already relies on technologies such as Microsoft Lync, as well as other internally developed tools like the Accenture Stream, to keep everyone instantly connected during the workday. The Broadcast Services team instinctively recognized these technologies potential and integrated these collaboration technologies into the traditional live broadcast transforming traditionally one-way broadcasts in which people are talked at into collaborative two-way conversational events. The team developed innovative custom automation software to manage the complex tasks and coordination needed to bring a live Lync video call directly into a broadcast on the air. The presenter can interact with callers with a push of a button on his or her ipad. All of the complexity of managing the callers, video routing, audio mixing and data gathering is handled transparently by the custom software. As a result, Accenture leaders and presenters are no longer just talking heads on a web page. Direct questions can now be asked and answered in real time. conversations surrounding ideas brought up during webcasts suddenly become hot topics online. Results Broadcast video has become the primary vehicle used by Accenture leaders to connect with their global teams, inform them and share knowledge and ideas to better serve Accenture and its clients. Clients say one thing that really sets Accenture apart is the way the company collaborates. Broadcast Services delivers major business value to Accenture by connecting Accenture leadership with teams and connecting Accenture people with each other to share knowledge, which ultimately enables us to bring the best of Accenture to clients, says Stuart Brown, managing director Infrastructure Services, Sales for Utilities. Adds Accenture s Warnke, With Accenture s emphasis on collaboration, broadcast communications is now a common and effective way to for teams to work together. The numbers reflect that Accenture people are tuning in: Broadcast Services streams out 1.5 million minutes of content per month on average, representing a near doubling of minutes from fiscal year 2013 to fiscal year Accenture also benefits from cost avoidance due to time and travel savings. Broadcast Services helps Accenture achieve approximately $4 to $5 million per year in avoided travel costs by employees. Not only does Broadcast Services contribute to travel cost savings for Accenture, but the capability also results in tangible savings in terms of people time, enabling them to use their time in more valuable ways. In addition, Accenture is experiencing increased use of video recordings in its responses to Request for Proposals to enhance opportunities to win new business and exponential growth in interest from clients and potential business opportunities for Accenture. 6

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8 About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 319,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, Its home page is Copyright 2015 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture