Digital Media: getting to the next generation
With 15 years experience in the Telecom & Media industries, Kris Verstraelen has a comprehensive vision of the changes taking place in the media sector, with, for example, operators moving into the content arena, media players using telecom innovations to design new applications, and regulators addressing the challenging issues of a world in movement.
In your opinion, what are the main challenges facing the media industry?
In the media industry, the former frontiers between content producer, content bundler, content aggregator, distribution platforms and home-based applications no longer exist. Everybody is now eating everybody's lunch, and digitalisation has made many business models obsolete. Players wanting to stay in business must adapt to the new environment and deliver added value to the final customer by offering increasingly attractive products in a cost-effective way. They have to forge strong customer ties and use data and algorithms efficiently to compete against the pure Internet players.
In a context of perpetual technical and business change, there is an enormous risk that the traditional media industry will quickly become obsolete. Customers are now seeking faster and cheaper content delivery. With the ongoing improvements in terms of bandwidth and mobility, this is no longer a challenge. Major device manufacturers have completely understood the market potential. Most have their own "On-Demand" portals whose profitability is enhanced by targeted advertising. These platforms are bypassing the more traditional, long-tailed and closed distribution models of the past. Players in the Media industry must be able to reinvent and find new ways to set themselves apart if they want to stay at the top. That’s where we come in; to help them achieve perpetual innovation both at the technological and business levels.
What does your job involve? Can you give us some examples of your accomplishments?
I am in charge of solution development for the Telecom and Media market, as well as leveraging our technological expertise and in-depth knowledge of the industry. Examples of our accomplishments include the management of complex programmes and the development of innovative applications for set-top boxes, the definition and development of interactive television to enable the “digital home” concept, and designing training modules for a telecom regulator seeking advice on parental control management in order to draw up clearly defined and technologically reliable legislation.
Why would a media company work with Altran?
Media companies looking for next generation solutions turn to Altran for help in making the right choices and in order to benefit from the Group’s innovation and engineering skills to transform their company into a leading player in today’s media world.
What is your major challenge this year?
For a consulting company like Altran, media and telecoms are two completely different markets. Although we have longstanding ties with telecom companies, we are relatively unknown in the media sector. The challenge will be to capture clients in this market by providing solutions tailored to media client requirements, based on the Group’s extensive know-how. This is of course something of a challenge, but I am confident that we will succeed.
