SONY AND BULLDOG ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE

SONY Broadcast & Professional Europe (BPE) and The Bulldog Group have announced a strategic partnership.
The partnership will integrate their core digital asset management and video technologies to form a sophisticated media management tool kit for large and small-scale customers in Europe. Sony are to make a minority investment in Bulldog and the partnership includes a worldwide sales agreement, which in Europe is non-exclusive.
Chris Strachan, CEO of The Bulldog Group, said: “In an environment in which suppliers aren’t judged so much on their equipment as on the inherent versatility of their system solution, partnerships such as these are critical. By combining our R&D efforts, technology, and services, the Sony/Bulldog alliance will provide an integrated solution that allows media-rich organisations to fully exploit the value of their digital content with the confidence that they are backed by two industry leaders.”
Bulldog asset management software enables organisations to turn digital assets into revenue-generating digital products. With an emphasis on the converging new media, broadcast, and entertainment sectors, Bulldog provides an enterprise platform to ingest, store, browse, manage, and distribute any kind of digital content through multiple channels of delivery, including the Internet, broadcast, and Interactive Television.
The combination of Bulldog’s technology with Sony video servers, storage equipment, and expert knowledge of the broadcast market provides a powerful solution in a digital multi-channel environment where the ability to protect and re-purpose content is critical to long-term success and growth. The partnership provides customers with an end-to-end solution, from the ingest and storage of content, to the play out of broadcast-quality video and the creation of low-resolution streaming Internet versions.
Miles Flint, President of Sony BPE, said: “This is a strategic partnership. It provides proven business awareness, systems delivery capability, and advanced technology to a critical and rapidly evolving marketplace. The ongoing development of new business models and the integration of our core technologies provides a sophisticated platform which, in turn, can be focused on developing solutions for individual sectors.”
Initially, the alliance will focus their technical expertise and industry knowledge on delivering solutions to companies in the media and entertainment industries. From strategy formulation through to workflow process, system design, installation, and commissioning, the Sony/Bulldog partnership will provide customers with a specific service that meets their strategic and tactical business needs.
The two companies plan to grow their combined share of the Digital Asset Management market over the coming three years, targeting sectors where there is a clearly defined need for high-volume storage and strategic asset management.
Sony BPE will continue to work on projects with other vendors and intends to continue to actively invest in these third-party relationships. (GB)