"We Want To Create Value"

Actually, it’s a very simple concept: Let’s say a Bertelsmann company is developing a new IT application that it needs for its business – but would also like to make it available to other Group companies if required. Or another company urgently needs an IT solution, but does not have the capacity to develop it itself – and is, therefore, looking for existing technology. How does the first company know which others might be interested in IT applications? And how does the second company know which tools, algorithms, applications, or software programs exist in the Group and where it could get them from? The Bertelsmann Collaboration Platform (BCP), which Bertelsmann CIO Matthias Moeller presented at the Management Meeting in Gütersloh in May, represents a Group-wide solution to this problem. In the meantime, Corporate IT, in cooperation with Arvato Systems, has implemented a Group-wide platform operation. Several interesting IT applications are already available for download, which explains Moeller in an interview with BENET. For the platform to become properly established, it is important that as many companies as possible participate in the collaboration now, contribute their own solutions, and use the existing applications, he emphasizes.

BENET: Mr. Moeller, why is the Bertelsmann Collaboration Platform so important for the Group?

Matthias Moeller: It supports companies in the technologization and digitalization of their businesses, relying on the entire Group’s know-how and expertise. In accordance with the focus topics of Cloud, Data, and Artificial intelligence defined in the Bertelsmann Technology Heatmap, we are using this central platform, which is open to everyone, to create the prerequisites for the necessary technological change across all divisions. It serves as an “enabler” for the Bertelsmann Tech Agenda, so to speak. Knowledge transfer, giving ideas, and offering specific solutions – the Bertelsmann Collaboration Platform aims to combine all of this and make it available throughout the entire Group.

BENET: Who is the platform aimed at and what specifically does it offer companies?

Matthias Moeller: The platform is aimed at all tech developers at all Bertelsmann companies, as well as anyone who is interested in innovations and is open to exchange on the topic. In terms of content, it is firstly about improved collaboration and a more intensive exchange of ideas in the area of IT. At our companies, we have so many colleagues with such extensive expertise, the kind that is urgently needed in other places as well. Why shouldn’t we be able to share and use this expertise? However, this requires a Group-wide exchange and communication channel, which we are opening with the Bertelsmann Collaboration Platform. Secondly, we want to set up a kind of virtual showroom to highlight which business scenarios already exist in the Group that can serve as a point of reference or model for others. If you are interested, the relevant information can then be exchanged directly. Thirdly, a central collection point for IT solutions and software packages that have already been developed is the heart of the platform. Such existing assets can be used via technical interfaces, where data can be entered, evaluated elsewhere, or edited, and then sent back. Or a software source code is available that can be downloaded and used directly for your own purposes. Bertelsmann has never had either of these in this form or to this extent.

BENET: What applications are already available on the platform?

Matthias Moeller: There are already some exciting applications. For example, an IT solution designed by Arvato Systems, Gruner + Jahr, and the Corporate Legal department that uses artificial intelligence to review draft contracts is available. It checks them to see whether they are compatible with the relevant legal standards and specifications, and where there is a need for further revision. This solution can even be used on smartphones. The AI is still training. It’s getting smarter and smarter so that the application will be available at full capacity in the near future.

BENET: Can you give us another example?

Matthias Moeller: The Arvato Systems subsidiary Vidispine offers cloud-based technology for the broadcast and media industry that makes it possible to analyze video content. The video asset management system can quickly search videos for known persons, e.g., or recognize unwanted sequences, such as content that glorifies violence. This will greatly free up all those colleagues who are involved with the video material. This IT solution is already available on the Collaboration Platform for all interested parties. The partners then have to agree on the terms of use among themselves.

BENET: What’s the next step? How do you plan to roll-out the Bertelsmann Collaboration Platform?

Matthias Moeller: Now we have to breathe life into it, use it everywhere, and above all add even more content to it, so that it is accepted throughout the Group– happily, many other applications are already in the pipeline. We need to network and create value together. To achieve this, we will use all available channels to address the IT community at Bertelsmann. We mustn’t forget that our key competitors have been using similar platforms for a long time. To leverage our potential here, Bertelsmann also has to make the comprehensive use of our collective IT resources a matter of course. Bertelsmann’s Executive Board took a clear position on the Tech and Data Agenda at the Management Meeting in May, and the Group Management Committee also expressly supports the activities. And this summer, the Bertelsmann Tech and Data Advisory Board, headed by Rolf Hellermann, began work on developing initiatives and measures to implement the Bertelsmann Tech & Data Agenda – which the Bertelsmann Collaboration Platform increasingly and fully supports. All this puts high demands on the platform team but is also a great motivation. So we are very happy that it’s been so well received by our contacts in the divisions. A later step, incidentally, could be to open elements of the Collaboration Platform and its contents to the outside and expand the possibilities of collaboration with other interested partners. This would also enable us to tap into further business potential.

If you have any questions about the Bertelsmann Collaboration Platform, please contact Jochen Grochtdreis, Vice President IT Transformation Corporate IT, by email at jochen.grochtdreis@bertelsmann.de

This article was written by the BENET team.