Solutions to the 1st Workshop:

The supply side and the sell side map of a company which is in the business of selling Movies and TV programs online attached herewith. It is an area of business which is characterized by intense completion and has huge scope for IT innovation. The major players who are presently fighting for major share are Lovefilm and Netflix.

The supply side is essentially concerned with the purchase and procurement of the relevant software which can then be sold or streamed online. The major sources for the software are the various movie and documentary production companies, TV companies who have the rights to such software, Individual manufacturers of such software and other similar companies. Given the present market scenario, our company has to have a a huge huge inventory of movies and TV programs if it has to be successful in the present competitive market. Also the company should have complete rights over the software so as to sell, rent or stream the acquired inventory.

The sell side has huge scope for innovation and IT application. Our company intends to  have the following revenue streams:

1.    Online streaming of movies on PC, laptop

2.    Online streaming of movies on normal TVs if the owner has a PS3, XBOX or a high end blue-ray player

3.    Online streaming on Smart TVs

4.    Online streaming on iPads

5.    Postal rentals of DVDs, Blue-ray discs

6.    Sale of DVDs, Blue-ray discs

7.    Streaming to hotels and then to the customers by the hotels

8.    Selling rights to TV networks like Sky, Virgin etc who also require movies and other tv programs for telecasting

9.  Selling rights to Telecom companies like Orange, Vodafone etc who may require small movies and other TV programs for telecasting

Thus the sell side gives a lot of options to the company to generate revenue. It may be mentioned that there are B2B, B2C & C2B business models that can be seen here.

The supply and sell side of our business.

Benefits:

·       Providing program of choice on demand

·       Multiple platforms on which the product is being made available

·       No major expenses other than buying the software rights

·       Scalability

 

Risks:

·      Intense competition with very big players

·      Internet dependent ( any problem to the net to adversely impact business)

·      Security issues, to ensure that the rights acquired are not infringed

·      Reputation risks (children watching/accessing inappropriate content)

Value Addition:

There is a significant value addition as the company is offering content to its clients using cutting edge technology and making it possible to access the content in ways difficult to imagine a few years back. Streaming a movie/TV program of choice on demand, on a device of choice, wirelessly or otherwise, is a significant value preposition to the customers. The company gains a significant competitive advantage as only a couple of companies are presently offering a similar product which would result in the formation of an oligopoly and hence it can be a price setter rather than being a price taker.  Also, the customers can be constantly approached with tailored offers as per their tastes and likings making their online interaction with the company interesting and fruitful.