In our March issue, we wrote about how Mumbai-based DOT1 Solutions has launched an AI-enabled ‘Integrated Media cloud’ product – an alternative to SAP’s Media Engine that would not be ported to its S4 HANA platform. The new Integrated Media from DOT1 is said to be a cost-effective safe passage for those customers who want to move to S4 HANA and are looking for a solution that would replace the SAP Media Engine.
SAP announced in 2015-16 that it would not have any future road map with its Media Engine, which would not be ported to the S4 HANA platform. Ever since, media houses have been scouting for effective alternatives. About two-and-a-half years remain for the transition.
In an interaction with Indian Printer and Publisher, Sanjay Hiranandani, managing director of DOT1 Solutions – a management consulting, technology services, and business transformation outsourcing company – said they have set the ball rolling on its Integrated Media platform. It has onboarded new customers that have already gone live with the solution ever since it was announced last December at an event in Mumbai.
Currently, Marathi-language newspaper Lokmat, Hindi newspapers Amar Ujala and Rajasthan Patrika, the Kolkata-based ABP group and TV9 network are using the AdCraft platform. On the other hand, Lokmat, Rajasthan Patrika, and Tamil language newspaper Daily Thanthi are using the SD Craft solution.
SD Craft from Dot 1 Solutions is a circulation and subscription system that handles the sales and distribution of newspapers and magazines. Ad Craft is an advertisement lifecycle management system that can manage print, broadcast, and digital ads across all three platforms, including scheduling, publishing, broadcasting, and invoicing.
On 12 December 2023, DOT1 Solutions launched the AI-enabled ‘integrated media cloud’ at the event co-hosted with software and technology solutions provider SAP.
Said to be a first-of-its-kind media product that converges print, broadcast, and digital media’s advertising, sales, and distribution on a single platform, the integrated media cloud can integrate with all fulfillment systems such as page planning and playout systems to ensure a complete digital workflow across the lifecycle of advertisements. Tightly integrated with the SAP S4 HANA Cloud — a next-generation ERP designed to run exclusively on the HANA database — it uses its latest BTP (business technology platform) integration layer.
Hiranandani said the media houses are responding very positively to its solution. DOT1 Solutions, a partner of SAP in India, held a second advisory council meeting that was attended by the global leadership of SAP and DOT 1 and attended by 13 of its customers to discuss the new software.
Indian Printer and Publisher had written about the advisory council, where customers can connect regularly with SAP and DOT1 Solutions to answer any questions that may come up during the decision-making process of these companies.
Explaining the benefits of the integrated media cloud, Hiranandani had said in an earlier interaction, “The product is AI-enabled and brings in use cases through ML and AI to address key requirements of print media, which would benefit them on the revenue side and save costs.”
Hiranandani had mentioned how publishers would benefit from its new solution as industry-relevant AI such as dynamic pricing of ads and demand versus supply information — ensuring a control on unsold or perishable inventory — is built into the system.
