Media Companies Worldwide Subscribe to Applix TM1 Business Intelligence ApproachMedia Companies Worldwide Subscribe to Applix TM1 Business Intelligence Approach

Applix, Inc., a global provider of business intelligence (BI) and business performance management (BPM) solutions, announced that TM1, the company's flexible business intelligence tool for planning, forecasting, reporting and performance management, has been adopted by a large number of media and entertainment companies. With industry consolidation, increased regulation and privacy concerns, and a continued move to Internet-based media, this industry recognizes that business intelligence and performance management plays an important role in providing a competitive advantage. Media and entertainment companies included in Applix's customer roster include MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, CBS Corporation, Primedia, Time Warner Cable, and Viacom.

In addition to operational budgeting and planning capabilities, media and entertainment companies often use TM1-based solutions for advertising sales and customer analysis, circulation and viewer analysis. and subscriber marketing reports. TM1 offers the ability to respond immediately with answers to 'what-if' analytic questions, a flexible environment for matching a company's financial and business models, the familiar Excel environment, and the minimal work required by IT for implementation and maintenance.

Applix TM1-based solutions allow users to work with their data interactively, enabling them to collaboratively analyze, plan, and report whenever they need to. In media and entertainment, this allows executives to comprehend and better manage critical performance indicators to gain a better understanding of the immediate impact of their decisions. Ease-of-use and ease-of-implementation help make Applix solutions appealing to a multitude of users throughout an organization, including sales, marketing, and financial operations.

"The Internet drove a paradigm shift that is still being felt throughout the media and publishing industries," said David Menninger, vice president, worldwide marketing, Applix. "Online news organizations compete with print-based empires; e-books can be downloaded to reader devices or a laptop; and all sorts of media are integrating their programming to include the Web. Planning and 'what-if' analyses are needed to be able to anticipate and counter competitive moves, and deal with changes in the overall business environment."

Primedia, a leading targeted content and integrated marketing solutions company in both the consumer and business-to-business sectors, publishes more than 150 popular magazines that offer targeted information, advice and entertainment. Primedia uses TM1 in a number of departments throughout the company, from circulation and manufacturing to sales, and also for managing the company's corporate general ledger.

"With a TM1 data warehouse to capture key financial and statistical competitor data, we can now perform extensive competitive analysis to highlight areas of improvement needed to bolster our position in the marketplace," said Jeff Polner, senior director of financial systems and analysis at Primedia. "Additionally, this analytical OLAP environment helps us recognize our competitive strengths and, consequently, gives us the ability to allocate our resources appropriately."