In this latest instalment of “A Day in the Life,” we look at the evolution of skills needed in the changing M&E industry through a lens of project collaboration. TMT Insights’ Chris McCarthy outlines the approach, tools, resources, and open mindset required to successfully complete multi-partner projects and address complex media supply chain challenges.
While every customer engagement has different goals, Chris emphasizes that success typically comes down to the same formula: developing a collaborative approach focused on simplifying the solution as much as possible, with minimal manual touchpoints and maximum automation.
Please briefly explain your role.
Chris McCarthy, Vice President, Media Solutions, TMT Insights. I oversee our Solutions Engagement and MediaOps teams, working closely with customers to provide workflow design and guidance on best practices, as well as hands-on assistance with onboarding and accelerating new supply chain builds.
How do you approach each project from the outset, in terms of matching a customer’s overall goals with the right technology and workflow engineering plan?
Our initial goal with every project is to simplify the ultimate solution as much as possible, working with the customer hand-in-hand to design a plan that gets to the end goal quickly and efficiently—with the least amount of manual touch points and as much automation as possible.
We recognize that every organization is at a different point in their transformation journey—whether that means moving their operations to the cloud, leveraging existing solutions with new technology integrations, or gaining better visibility into their content workflows to shorten delivery timeframes. It’s critical to listen and communicate with each customer so we can understand what to prioritize instead of focusing on everything all at once, which slows transformation.
Chris McCarthy
Vice President, Media Solutions
TMT Insights
Chris is an industry veteran with more than 15 years of leadership experience in operational, technical, and product roles at both studios and service providers. He specializes in designing and implementing end-to-end media workflows leveraging cloud and industry best practices. Chris’ background includes senior leadership positions and consulting for large studios at Amazon Web Services, as well as A+E Networks, where he oversaw the processing and distribution of History Channel, A&E, and Lifetime content to more than 200 global linear and digital platforms.
How do you choose and assemble your teams for a new project? Is it based on experience, work styles, skills, or is it all of the above?
When a project includes several integrations with multiple vendors, we first look to our team members who have experience with the specific tools and workflow requirements in question. Then we combine those direct matches with the people whose profiles are a good fit. For example, maybe a new project offers an opportunity to develop specific skills that will help their career development. We’re also fortunate that TMT has fostered an environment where each team member is encouraged to continually sharpen and expand their cloud and supply chain knowledge base, keeping them adaptable, relevant, and ready for any new project that comes our way.
Can you recall a project that called for unique services on the part of TMT, for example a new type of Polaris deployment or software customization, ultimately requiring a combination of skills?
That happens often. On one recent project, we had to integrate Polaris not just with other vendors’ tools, but also with the customer’s home-grown title management system. This created a single point of entry for all deliverables into that client’s ecosystem, enabling deliverables to be tracked and associated with a title version, and allowed us to automate the content acquisition process from upload through ingest, and asset registration.
Do these types of unique experiences help prepare you and your teams for the next project, in a sense giving you a head start by not always having to start from a blank page each time?
Yes, and that type of head start is a huge benefit for us and for the customer. Our teams learn how to continually incorporate what they’ve done on one project, internalize that information and then apply the lessons learned to the next. Once we’ve done the work of integrating Polaris with a third party, we can take many of those same steps in a similar use case without having to start from square one since we've already figured out many of the pitfalls we might encounter and how to avoid them. All that definitely expedites the next deployment.
Are there often key takeaways or lessons learned from each project that you can apply to the next collaborative process, in terms of resource deployment, working with teams and partners, etc.?
Every project reinforces the importance of real partnerships and open communication, moving past the transactional aspect of a relationship to begin building a true community where everyone shares knowledge and resources.
The TMT, customer teams, and partners we are integrating with are constantly in contact throughout the duration of a project, through weekly status updates and notifications of any blockers—doing whatever is necessary to keep everyone apprised and get the project over the line. Developing and maintaining strong relationships with everyone really helps because you can all speak the same language and there's an understanding of the end goal and of how each element needs to come together.
Are large-scale, multi-partner projects easier to manage and successfully complete now than maybe 5 years ago, due to the advancement of people’s skills and the acceleration of new technology development?
Cloud-based media supply chains and workflow automation tools have been available for years now, but the technologies are more mature, intuitive, and comprehensive. Our technology partners are developing powerful APIs in line with their software applications. TMT has also played a large role in this transformation through its development of tools like Polaris and ongoing efforts to instil a stronger understanding by all M&E organizations of how every component of a supply chain workflow stitches together.
Our industry has moved away from a reliance on standalone products that were retrofitted to work together as best as possible, and on to more nimble software solutions designed for seamless interoperability.
This shift reflects more than just a change in how technologies are developed. It illustrates the ongoing need to maintain an open mindset and think of your professional skill sets as constant works in progress.
TMT Insights is a professional services and software development company delivering leading capabilities in the digital supply chain, including media content management, cloud technology, and SaaS/D2C experiences to global media companies. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills within the media & entertainment, digital & cloud technology space, our team offers industry leading services such as strategy and CXO advisory, product ideation & innovation, cloud transformation, process re-engineering and development to our partners. As early adopters of new technologies, we embrace the power of collaboration and work with our partners to combine our guidance with action to further drive efficiency, value, and scale to their communities. www.tmtinsights.com
Note: If you’re an M&E professional that is interested in participating, please submit your request for consideration at https://tmtinsights.com/contact-us.
