Case Study: Twentieth Century Fox
CherryRoad has extensive experience working with complex entertainment enterprises, including Fox Sports International, Sony Pictures, Paramount, and Twentieth Century Fox. With our clients, we have addressed scenarios such as multiple bargaining unions with varying pay scales and schedules; project-based operations that present unique finance and human resources ramifications; and multiple standalone business units within a single enterprise. As a result, unlike many integrators, we have a deep understanding of the entertainment industry’s intricacies – and how to effectively address them in ERP implementations and upgrades.
In addition to implementation and upgrade experience across ERP product lines, CherryRoad provides the web-based customization expertise that entertainment organizations often require with their ERP systems. This includes pervasive studio order management systems for more effective product distribution as well as enhancements to meet the complicated general ledger, asset management, and payroll requirements often inherent in multi-dimensional enterprises.
CherryRoad’s extensive experience with entertainment customers includes numerous initiatives with Twentieth Century Fox, a $4 billion integrated entertainment company with film, television, and cable operations. Most recently, we upgraded their Financials system while transitioning them to a web-based n-tier architecture. To ensure we simultaneously supported Fox’s large base of 500 users and maintained a high level of uptime, CherryRoad conducted comprehensive pre-upgrade planning, load testing, and system monitoring. As a result, Fox rolled out their new system to a large user population without experiencing any significant performance issues. And, given their prior experiences with CherryRoad, they expected nothing less. Previously, we had successfully performed various Financials implementations, upgrades, and evaluations – all on time and on budget.
Our entertainment market expertise is also why Sony Pictures Entertainment selected CherryRoad as their integration partner. Sony is a complex, multi-dimensional enterprise, with global operations that encompass motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home video acquisition and distribution, and more. Most recently, we implemented project management and budgeting applicatiions, and enhanced management reporting for Imageworks, Sony’s digital entertainment company. Prior to that, CherryRoad redesigned and rebuilt Sony’s Order Billing System. This highly customized and successful solution gave a variety of user groups more flexibility, improved the billing process, reduced the turnaround time of billover charge processing, and improved the reporting process. Sony expected no less than success from CherryRoad, as we had already proven our expertise when we previously provided analytical, project management, and technical support for their Order Management implementation project for AR and billing.