Pat Whittingham believes that Sony Electronics provides the best business solutions when it’s a reflection of the digital universe: integrated and streamlined.

Last June, the 27-year Sony veteran began putting these principles to work when he was named president of Sony Electronics’ newly created Business Solutions and Systems Company (BSSC), which provides audiovisual and information technologies to business markets.

Whittingham is excited about BSSC’s plans to market its professional products and services aggressively to the public sector, work through more strategic alliances, help companies turn their assets into digital data, and improve workflow and efficiency for Sony’s valued customers.

Whittingham’s new job allows him “to apply almost everything I’ve learned over my long career with Sony,” he says. Previously, he was senior vice president and senior general manager of the System Solutions Division within Sony Electronics’ Broadcast and Professional Company. Prior to his being named president of BSSC, Whittingham was executive vice president of Sony Canada.

Question: Sony recently organized its vertical marketing groups into the Business Solutions and Systems Company. What does this mean to Sony’s customers?

The view is to create one Sony for the customer. The team approach of selling to a customer is integrating one’s sales force and at the same time working effectively across the company to provide a single point of contact for the customer to have access to Sony’s powerful workflow enhancing tools.

Sony has frequently discussed its AV/IT product strategy. How is Sony translating this strategy into business solutions? And how will these solutions benefit Sony’s customers?

Sony’s AV/IT strategy is the integration of information technology into our audiovisual products, providing enhanced workflow by improving efficiencies and productivity.

Picture that a multipoint meeting is being held across the country and that PowerPoint® files are being shared in real time through drag and drop via the participants’ VAIO® computers. This eliminates travel time and overnight delivery of presentation materials, plus meeting participants are able to address any issues immediately.

Imagine IP-addressable hardware with which video can be shot in Tokyo, then transmitted to a New York City production facility via the Internet, eliminating shipping and satellite costs and reducing production time. Or imagine remote diagnostics being done on a 24/7 monitoring basis to alert customers when routine maintenance is needed or product failure is about to happen, thereby reducing or eliminating downtime in production facilities.

Businesses have changed dramatically in the past year. How has Sony adapted to meet the needs of its corporate customers in this rapidly evolving world?

The world has changed dramatically in the past year as the business world is relying more than ever on technology to protect its assets. For instance, the strategy of storing mission-critical data in multiple locations is now an important necessity. Protecting personnel and facilities with advanced security systems also has received a greater emphasis than ever before. The benefits of videoconferencing, which reduces travel time and expenses and increases employee productivity, has become an important competitive advantage. Sony’s broad range of technologies has been a critical component in our customers’ accomplishing these solutions.

What will be the single biggest area of growth for Sony’s Business Solutions and Systems Company?

Nonconsumer AV/IT. We have teamed up, for example, with Sun Microsystems to offer integrated next-generation AV/IT solutions, including video-on-demand and steaming media solutions for cable companies, telcos and broadcasters.

Our association with Sun in the development of video-on-demand and streaming solutions will give customers exciting choices in video storage and playout architectures, enabling them to develop new consumer revenue opportunities.

Our Systems Solutions Division, based in San Jose, CA, will serve as integrator for the projects, offering integration and connectivity with Sun’s server, storage and software technologies. The Systems Solutions Division integrates custom solutions such as central-casting facilities, integrated newsrooms and automated AV/IT network systems, including IP-casting. Offering extensive hands-on experience integrating not only Sony but also third-party technologies, the Systems Solutions Division is skilled at creating the technical “glue” that integrates diverse elements and applications within a system. The division also provides technical and business consultative services, project management and custom software development to enable new revenue streams, transition to digital broadband technologies, and infrastructure development.

As Sony’s senior manager for business-to-business sales and a former salesman, how are you organizing Sony’s sales force to better serve its customers?

The key is a sales force that has an intimate level of contact with our customers and actively seeks information from them to relay back to Sony’s marketing office. It’s not just important for us to find out what the customer needs today but, more importantly, what the customer needs two years from now. Otherwise, we’re a little like the target being towed behind a warship.

The key is that we must anticipate what the market will need in two to three years. While development times are shortening, our product life cycles—our product development times—are radically reduced over what they were just a few years ago. It puts pressure on us to be always looking ahead at least 18 months. That’s the absolute minimum because it’s the amount of time it takes to develop a device after it’s been approved and the design is finalized. That’s quite a challenge.

George Lucas’ Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones, the first CineAlta™ 24P production, has been a box office and technical success. How has this success translated into other areas of production?

Star Wars II was a milestone for Sony and for pop culture. It was the first major film shot using this technology.

Dozens of high-def films are now in the works. Nearly 100 feature or independent movies have been shot in 24P.

Last year just a handful of TV series used digital technology. Today, nearly 30 shows airing this fall on the major broadcast and cable networks are produced with CineAlta 24P cameras. More than a quarter of primetime comedies and dramas on the six broadcast networks are being shot in Sony’s 24P format.

In addition, many music specials and TV commercials scheduled to air on the networks this year will be shot in CineAlta 24P format. Likewise, an impressive number of other programs on the broadcast networks are being captured with Sony HDCAM® cameras, such as Hack on CBS, select CBS Sports events and NBC’s The Tonight Show

Shooting in 24P or 60i offers broadcasters a high-definition digital master whose content can be saved and used as consumers increasingly embrace HDTV programming in the emerging digital TV era.

With its broad range of products and consulting services, how is Sony assisting companies in improving their workflow?

Sony offers a full range of consulting services for our corporate customers. For example, Concadia Solutions, a joint venture between Accenture and Sony, provides technology and workflow assessment to assist customers in finding the best solutions available to maximize workflow efficiencies. For instance, Concadia assisted Sony Music Entertainment (SME) in setting up a digital asset management system for managing online production and release of recorded music, and for gaining access to its archives. Sony’s Systems Solutions Division (SSD) provides technology consulting, design and integration of both Sony and non-Sony solutions for our customers. And Sony Operations and Technical Services (SOTS) is dedicated to supporting and maintaining customers’ Sony equipment for optimal performance. Its SystemWatchSM program remotely monitors performance parameters of select Sony products, offering customers the security of proactive services for mission-critical systems. SOTS’ SupportNET repair program offers customers everything from depot support with repair services performed at a Sony authorized service location to specifically tailored programs for customers with 24-hour mission-critical applications that require around-the-clock coverage. Recently SSD and SOTS have been moved within the Sony BSSC Professional Services Group to better address the total solutions needs of our customers.

As corporations try to solve the growing problem of storing media-rich content, what storage solutions is Sony offering its customers to meet present and future needs?

Companies need to access their assets digitally if they want them to generate additional revenue in the future. Think about a CNN, for example. CNN owns the rights to more than 20 years of news footage and images. A lot of it is historical footage that can be aired again and again. But it must be converted to an easily accessible digital format.

Sony is uniquely qualified to take on the task at assisting enterprises such as CNN in converting its old videotapes to a digital database that can be manipulated from a server. Many other companies need to make the same transition by first converting their assets to digital data.

We can also look for additional growth by working with other companies that have a similar focus on market segments. There’s much more opportunity to build strategic relationships with these third parties. And this I feel is where the future success will be. This allows us to focus on sales opportunities that are generated by, for example, Sun’s sales force. There’s an expansion of our sales reach.

How has becoming BSSC president changed your personal life?

I’m a golf nut. I used to play twice a week. Since I joined Sony Electronics I think I’ve played five times. There aren’t enough hours at the end of the day!