Sony Creates Intelligent Media Services

Sony has created a new division, Intelligent Media Services (IMS), dedicated to Sony's continued acceleration of its solutions and services offering in Europe.

Led by Stuart Almond (following his active role in developing Sony Professional's IT Workflow Solutions products and services portfolio over the past 4 years), the newly-formed IMS team will enhance the transformation of the company’s solutions business. Focused on innovative new services, combined with its core of consulting expertise, the IMS team will drive business transformation for media companies across the media and entertainment industry in Europe.

The strategic move is the latest in Sony’s ongoing growth and dedication to a services proposition - reinforcing its drive to provide turnkey solutions that meet the needs of its customers. Launched at IBC 2018, Sony's IMS offers a range of solutions designed to transform traditional media supply chains and unlock more value from customer content. Utilising Sony’s award-winning and revolutionary News Production platforms and services that include XDCAM air and Media Backbone Hive, as well as incorporating cloud-native Virtualised Production environments and Content Delivery solutions & OTT services, media customers will benefit from accessing the combined portfolio of Sony Professional solutions allowing scale, flexibility and efficiencies for a more agile production and distribution environment.

Commenting on the significance of IMS' European focus, Adam Fry, Vice President, Sony Professional Solutions Europe said: "We have been very transparent about our ambitions to grow our services capability and are making substantial strides in realising this vision. This announcement is yet another example of seeing this in practice. We are firmly focused on delivering integrated, end-to-end consulting services and technologies across the content value chain that enable media companies to thrive within the future landscape of this fast-evolving industry."

Working as part of a Global initiative, IMS will bring existing as well as new services and micro-services to media organisations, helping them to create, control, connect and deliver content anytime, anywhere, to an unprecedented range of distribution platforms. To lead the expansion of IMS in Europe, Stuart Almond will continue to develop the IMS proposition and will be supported by a strong team of expertise that includes Customer Engagement, Product Management, Pre-Sales Engagement, Workflow Specialists, Consulting Architects and Marketing.

"We exist to empower media companies to revolutionise their businesses in the post-digital age, and our IMS are perfectly positioned to enable this," commented Stuart Almond, Head of Intelligent Media Services, Sony Professional Solutions Europe. "With IMS, we are focused on the business needs of our customers; creating technology breakthroughs that deliver ROI and enable new and exciting ways to deliver deeper audience engagement, and partner with our customers over the long-term to create new and sustainable audiences."