All3Media 
Cobweb switch on mobile communications for leading TV
production group.
ALL3MEDIA, one of the UK's largest
independent TV production groups and the power behind some of the
UK’s most popular TV programmes including Richard & Judy,
Midsummer Murders, Formula 1, Fifth Gear and
Hollyoaks, has turned to Cobweb Solutions for an outsourced IT
solution to manage its communication and messaging
requirements.
Following the deployment of Cobweb’s
Microsoft Hosted Exchange service, production teams within the
ALL3MEDIA group can now access email, diary and address books
whether they are in the office or on location
anywhere around the globe.
All3Media Video Case Study
AL3MEDIA is headquartered in London and
currently has over 1000 employees throughout the group.
The company has doubled its turnover and size since its inception
in 2003 through a combination of acquisition and strong organic
growth.
Today, the companies that make up the
ALL3MEDIA Group in the UK include Assembly TV, Bentley Productions,
Chrysalis TV, Cactus TV, Lion Television, Mersey Television and
NorthOne Television.
Overseas operations include IdtV in the
Netherlands, South Pacific Pictures in New Zealand and Lion
Television in the USA. The company also has a distribution arm,
ALL3MEDIA International.
The Challenge
As a fast growing international company,
ALL3MEDIA relies heavily on electronic communications to stay in
synch across its operations. With much of the company growth coming
through acquisition ALL3MEDIA needed a messaging and communication
system that was able to be quickly delivered to new companies as
they were purchased.
The solution had to ensure efficient
communication and collaboration between the head office,
international operations and regional group companies, and be
robust and flexible enough to support their expansion plans.
Prior to the implementation of Cobweb’s
Microsoft Hosted Exchange service, ALL3MEDIA used Chrysalis TV’s
legacy GroupWise messaging system. However,
following the acquisition it soon became apparent that it did not
meet the expectations and the working needs of the expanding
group.
ALL3MEDIA quickly ruled out implementing its own internal Microsoft
Exchange system and employing an in-house IT specialist,
due to the significant expenditure this would
incur.
What ALL3MEDIA most wanted was a single
scalable, flexible and secure company-wide communication system. It
also wanted to avoid the IT headache of integrating different
disparate systems each time it acquired a new production
company.
IT director of ALL3MEDIA, Damien Frost commented, “Email is a
business critical application for ALL3MEDIA but I knew from the
start that I would not have the time to deal with the daily hassles
and threats from spam, viruses, system failures and backups.
Security of our systems is a top priority and I wanted to ensure
that the solution we put in place would provide comprehensive
protection.
As our company grows, so do the number of email accounts
required and with that comes the problem of spam, Cobweb’s
Microsoft Hosted Exchange service which includes MessageLabs
Anti-Spam service provided us with the level of protection we
wanted. In my view, email management and all that comes with it is
something best outsourced and dealt with by a dedicated and
experienced IT partner.”
A key requirement for ALL3MEDIA was a mobile working solution
that would provide its production teams, who are frequently on
remote locations, the ability to keep in regular contact and share
information with colleagues back in the office. After reviewing the
available options ALL3MEDIA made the decision to move off the
legacy Novell GroupWise system, and source a hosted communications
and messaging solution that could meet the complete needs of the
business, including accommodating mobile working.
The Solution
Within three months, instead of the expected
twelve ALL3MEDIA had entirely switched its messaging and mobile
working requirements to Cobweb Solutions. At the time of
implementation just over 300 email users were setup and this has
now risen to over 450.
Damien Frost comments, “ALL3MEDIA has grown
rapidly over the last two years. With Cobweb’s managed service in
place, we can deliver a cost-effective solution to
the newly acquired companies and production teams as and when
needed.”
Cobweb’s predictable monthly pay per user
model allows ALL3MEDIA to set up temporary offices for any number
of staff, irrespective of location, and when the programme has been
completed the additional users can be removed.
This approach allows the Formula 1
production team, a NorthOne Television production, to stay in email
contact with the main office in the UK, using mobile devices such
as BlackBerry's when covering races. Damien Frost adds, “This has
created massive cost savings, as it is far cheaper to send emails
than it is to make international phone calls from mobiles back to
the UK. It has also enabled us to avoid expensive dial up costs
from laptops.”
Michael Frisby, Business Development
Director concludes, “At Cobweb we recognise that the nature of the
TV production industry requires an incredibly flexible mobile
communications and messaging solution. Cobweb’s Microsoft Hosted
Exchange service provides ALL3MEDIA with the security and
functionality required to meet their business needs, with the added
guarantee that any email problems will be dealt with quickly and
efficiently, with no disruption to their business.”
With day-to-day email management and mobile
working taken care of, Damien Frost is now able to aid in the
development of business strategies for future acquisitions and
concentrate on looking after the more strategic
aspectsof ALL3MEDIA’s IT network and infrastructure.
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