Case Study: Warner Music Outsources System Support

Challenge: Let IT Focus on Strategic Business Technology

In 1996, the new head of Warner Music Group (WMG) wanted to return the company’s IT emphasis to music systems rather than business systems. This meant reducing the in-house IT function and outsourcing any non-music-based IT work.

WMG needed to keep several business systems running. Unfortunately, the IT department and most of the company’s systems and users were in New York, while RBZ&A was in Southern California. This represented a geographical and time-zone challenge.

Also, users were accustomed to calling Warner’s IT group for support. Obviously, this had to change if outsourcing was to succeed.

Solution: Bi-coastal Outsourced Support

RBZ&A’s experienced project managers first became intimately familiar with the business systems and developed working relationships with the users. To address the bi-coastal challenge, RBZ&A placed a full-time support person on-site in New York. In addition, the company installed a dedicated high-speed line in Warner’s wide-area network for full-time online access to the applications and servers.

The result? For more than seven years, RBZ&A has supported WMG’s business systems, freeing Warner’s IT resources to focus on the music business.

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