CASE STUDIES – DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
STRATEGIZING A LARGE, COMPLEX CLOUD MIGRATION TO ACHIEVE OPERATIONAL COST SAVINGS OF 60%
IMPACT
Lynda designed and led the successful implementation of a cloud transformation strategy, surpassing the goals of the original business case ahead of schedule by 4 months, and $0.5-million under budget. Aided by a team of 10+ infrastructure engineers and owning the strategy and results through all stages of transformation, Lynda achieved hosting cost savings of 60% resulting in millions of dollars in savings annually.
CLIENT
Global leader in mass media (US$3.1-billion annual revenue).
INDUSTRY
Media.
CHALLENGE
To stay competitive amidst sharply declining print revenues in the media industry worldwide, a global leader in mass media required a cloud-based infrastructure solution that could reduce operating costs, improve performance and boost innovation. The company requested a business case and implementation strategy to deliver these benefits by improving cloud security practices, lowering costs, and obtaining more flexible hosting terms in the cloud. However, the size and complexity of a cloud-based infrastructure solution presented a dilemma.
STRATEGY
TREYEO founder and chief strategist, Lynda Tonery, created an implementation strategy based on the newly defined objectives and outcomes of the business case.
Leading the design and execution of the implementation strategy, which emphasized organizational culture, leadership buy-in, and a phased cloud migration strategy for over 100 applications, were critical factors to success.
Lynda established a cloud governance structure consisting of a governance board, steering committee and working groups to ensure roadblocks to cloud migration were resolved quickly and ownership and accountability were clearly defined. Engaging cloud vendors and engineering leads on hosting, application evaluation, cost optimization, and cloud architecture design, generated momentum and mitigated risks. Leading a cloud-based Center-of-Excellence (CoE) fostered cloud innovation across the enterprise.
STAYING COMPETITIVE WITH STREAMLINED PROCESSES AND A NEW DEFINITION OF VALUE
IMPACT
The new open-source CMS system enabled content delivery 20 times faster than existing systems, technology costs plummeted, and labor cost savings measured in the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The system achieved end-user buy-in and enabled editors to efficiently search, create, manage, and publish premium content and digital products for multi-channel distribution using their preferred features and functions.
CLIENT
Global leader in mass media (US$3.1-billion annual revenue).
INDUSTRY
Media.
CHALLENGE
A global leader in media and publishing required a solution to reduce the time and costs of publication to remain competitive and profitable in an increasingly challenging market.
The company sought to replace its six separate content management systems with one high-speed digital system, developed in-house as an open-source solution, to achieve significant cost savings and enterprise-wide standardization. However, the true value of the initiative would be determined by the buy-in of its end-users (brand leaders and editors). The company had concerns about deploying a new content management system and publishing process amid other high-pressure priorities.
STRATEGY
TREYEO founder and chief strategist, Lynda Tonery, was tasked with building a strategic implementation plan, taking into consideration the tight deadlines and concerns over stakeholder and end-user buy-in.
Lynda’s comprehensive strategic implementation plan included the following:
- Establishing a governance and steering committee to champion the initiative enterprise-wide;
- Developing a risk mitigation strategy to address major stakeholder concerns;
- Collaborating with editors on rollout of the new content management system, gathering continuous feedback and prioritizing the product roadmap with enhancement of critical features; and,
- Establishing a 40+ member open-source development Center-of-Excellence to share expertise.
SUPPORTING POST-ACQUISITION ENTERPRISE-WIDE DIGITAL INTEGRATION TO ACHIEVE 40% ANNUAL INFRASTRUCTURE COST SAVINGS
IMPACT
The cloud strategy was rolled out on-time, within budget, and yielded benefits exceeding those anticipated:
- Achieved over 40% in annual infrastructure cost savings through the consolidation of cloud-based services and re-negotiated contracts;
- Unified assets, resources, and programs based on a single set of consistent, company-wide operating standards; and,
- Improved collaboration between business and IT groups leading to greater knowledge sharing and more opportunities for product innovation via cloud-based services.
CLIENT
Global media and marketing services company (US$2.3-billion annual revenue).
INDUSTRY
Media & Entertainment.
CHALLENGE
A global leader in publishing and entertainment acquired its primary competitor to create a new media and marketing company serving 200 million American consumers. The acquisition resulted in the company becoming the industry leader across digital, television, print, video, mobile, and social media platforms. The company needed a digital integration initiative that would unite the cloud strategies of both enterprises, leverage economies of scale, extrapolate and standardize the most innovative processes and implement a unified operating and security standard for the cloud.
STRATEGY
TREYEO founder and chief strategist, Lynda Tonery, performed a financial due diligence and cost-benefit analysis for a unified cloud strategy and designed a strategic implementation plan to achieve the projected results within 6 months. The plan focused on the key aspects of cloud transformation: financial management and cost optimization, security standards, architecture best practices, account consolidation, and contract negotiation. Lynda’s leadership of 30+ engineers, architects, developers, security experts, executive stakeholders, and vendors coupled with her precise, measurable and actionable strategic plan was the key to success.
EVALUATING AND DESIGNING A NEW DIGITAL COMMERCE SOLUTION IN 6 WEEKS
IMPACT
Lynda, and her team, evaluated and designed a new digital commerce solution in just 6 weeks, on-time and within budget. Executives commented on the quality of the solution and its enormous value in speeding up decision-making processes enterprise-wide and facilitating revenue growth.
CLIENT
Global leader in mass media (US$3.1-billion annual revenue).
INDUSTRY
Media.
CHALLENGE
A global e-commerce company faced declining sales as customer service expectations grew. The company required a new digital commerce platform that could handle both their B2C and B2B operations and respond more quickly to changing customer needs and expectations.
STRATEGY
TREYEO founder and chief strategist, Lynda Tonery, coordinating a team of more than 35 business and technology executives, led the solutions planning initiative. Lynda outlined a strategy to achieve the company’s goals and targets in just six weeks, earning buy-in from the team.
To build the strategy, Lynda set up a series of ideation workshops and solution design sessions. Leveraging the support of a specialist, an internal digital commerce architect with deep knowledge and experience in e-commerce, Lynda developed a digital commerce ecosystem map and implementation roadmap together with a detailed cost and benefit breakdown.
