October 12, 2003

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Kontiki: Case Study

Ernst & Young Deploys Business Video on Demand to Employees Worldwide to Improve Business Communications & Training

In an economic and regulatory climate that requires businesses to immediately and effectively communicate critical information internally, Ernst & Young is deploying Kontiki for full screen, high-touch video communications throughout its global operations

Ernst & Young, one of the world's largest professional services firms, is committed to restoring the public's trust in professional service firms and in the quality of financial reporting. Its people in more than 140 countries face challenges internally as well as externally as they work with colleagues to understand the implications of recent legislation, and work with clients to ensure that corporate governance and adherence to strict ethical standards form the cornerstones of their businesses.

Today, a business video on demand solution from Kontiki will allow Ernst & Young to deliver cost-effectively high quality video communications to all employees. Examples of the types of communications for which they will use Kontiki include, among other things:

  • Effectively communicate critical directives in corporate governance, regulations, and strategic practices from the very top of the organization to every employee
  • Ensure members of globally distributed practice groups can stay on the same page and more effectively complete their jobs with targeted communications
  • Provide effective education of new hires, including recent college graduates, so that they meet the high standards of the firm
  • Foster organizational knowledge and adherence to evolving best practices as determined by leaders within each business unit or industry group
  • Deploy effective "high-touch" communications and training to all employees without requiring expensive upgrades to the existing network infrastructure

    • Business Video to Promote Communication and Transparency
    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA), passed in mid-2002, was meant to address the crisis in corporate confidence. SEC regulations are now beginning to spell out more precisely what the Act will mean to companies. But one thing is clear: businesses must be more transparent, more accountable‹and pay more attention to what is happening internally‹if trust is to be restored. This includes managing non-tangibles such as the corporate culture and organizational ethics.

    Ernst & Young believes a "principles-based approach" to corporate governance requires that key changes in policies and procedures be thoroughly defined by those at the top‹and communicated quickly and effectively to the ranks.

    But how to communicate effectively with impact and power? To John McCreadie, chief information officer (CIO) of Ernst & Young, the answer was obvious: business video. As John McCreadie, commented: "We believe that by using business video on demand for corporate communications and training, we can maximize the return on our greatest asset, our employees." He asked the Ernst & Young IT department to investigate solutions that would allow him to utilize business video for globally distributed communications and training.

    Searching For a Solution
    Ernst & Young had a number of technical "must haves" when it began searching for a solution. Among others, the solution needed to:

  • Provide sufficient functionality and flexibility to universally reach all 106,000 employees in a timely manner through on demand and "push" video broadcasting
  • Enable "narrowcast" communications which are targeted and secure so that geographically dispersed practice groups could efficiently communicate
  • Enable flexible video delivery options, including push (automatically sending video to selected recipients), pull (fulfilling user on demand requests for video), subscription (periodic video delivery) and email
  • Deliver video globally without requiring expensive network upgrades or impacting country network capacities
  • Provide the capability to protect sensitive corporate information by leveraging digital rights management technology and existing directory services.

    • The firm investigated several business video technologies including hardware-based multicasting, hardware-based caching servers, and software based grid delivery.

    But only Kontiki¹s software enables Ernst & Young to meet all of its criteria for a business video solution, including the critical cost requirement of avoiding expensive upgrades of network hardware and bandwidth. More specifically, Kontiki is able to do this through its Grid Delivery Technology™ which leverages the normally underutilized power of desktop PCs and servers by forming a software-based delivery grid within Ernst & Young¹s network. This is done with complete IT control and security and will ensure video delivery has minimal impact to the network.

    The Solution
    Kontiki is providing Ernst & Young with a complete end-to-end solution for business video on demand with network-friendly delivery for all employees worldwide. The solution includes:

    Kontiki Delivery Management System 3.0. The DMS 3.0 is a software suite which allows Ernst & Young to publish, protect, deliver, and measure video and other rich media. This enables video communications and training for all Ernst & Young employees worldwide. It also includes Grid Delivery Technology which enables secure and centrally managed delivery of video, while greatly minimizing the amount of bandwidth and hardware required for full screen, high quality video communications.

    System Integration. Using XML Web Services, Kontiki is seamlessly integrated with Ernst & Young¹s enterprise-wide list management technology, the Global List Management System (GLMS) to allow flexible narrowcast delivery of video to targeted groups as well as broadcast communications to the entire workforce.

    Business Media Services. Kontiki worked together with Ernst & Young in identifying opportunities to easily and cost-effectively create video in house using standard software tools and inexpensive digital video cameras. For example, Kontiki helped Ernst & Young set up several "self-service" video production studios for less than $10,000 each.
    How has the system worked so far? The deployment is right on target, say Ernst & Young executives. As of the date of this writing, Kontiki is running on over 60,000 desktops and high quality business videos have been successfully delivered to Ernst & Young employees in 33 countries.

    About Ernst & Young
    Ernst & Young, a global leader in professional services, understands the business issues that are important to senior executives. With extensive business knowledge and hands-on industry experience, the global Ernst & Young organization can implement a broad array of solutions to help companies capture growth, improve financial performance, and manage risk anywhere in the world. Its 106,000 people serve as trusted business advisers in more than 140 countries, offering audit, tax, corporate finance and transaction services across all industries to many of today¹s leading global corporations as well as emerging growth companies. In addition, legal services are available in various parts of the world where permitted. A collection of Ernst & Young¹s views on a variety of business issues can be found at www.ey.com/thoughtcenter. Ernst & Young refers to all members of the global Ernst & Young organization, including the U.S. firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

    About Kontiki
    Kontiki provides a complete and compelling communication solution using business video on demand. Kontiki provides a suite of software, the Kontiki Delivery Management System, and a range of business media services to enable enterprises to deliver full screen business video to employees, partners, and customers. Kontiki¹s patent-pending grid delivery technology taps the unused bandwidth of networked PCs and servers, allowing enterprises to deliver full screen video and other rich media at a substantial cost savings. Chosen by Red Herring Magazine as one of the "Ten Companies to Watch in 2002," the company is backed by blue chip capital investors including The Barksdale Group, Benchmark Capital, Adobe Ventures, VeriSign and Angel Investors, L.P. Corporate customers include Adobe, Autodesk, CNET Networks. Ernst & Young, Nextel, Palm, VeriSign and others. Kontiki has offices in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, CA, and can be found at www.kontiki.com. All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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    Contact Kontiki Sales:
    (408) 730-3000
    sales@kontiki.com