Breaking News - BNN Resolves Information Bottlenecks at the Service Desk
Publishers don’t have it easy these days: on the one hand, there’s the traditional newspaper business; on the other, the sweeping digitization of media and workflows. To ensure that everything runs smoothly, well-functioning and highly effective IT processes are essential. And yet, this is often where the problems lie. This was also the case at the “Badische Neueste Nachrichten” (BNN). With the help of new processes and the implementation of a unified workplace management solution, the long-established publishing house was able to get back on track in terms of IT.
Imagine the following scenario: At the printing plant, the presses are ready and the huge rolls of paper are loaded. Everything is set to get the upcoming newspaper issue off the press and into readers’ mailboxes on time. But then—a moment of shock. Although the press time has been reached, the necessary printing plates haven’t been exposed yet because the pages weren’t approved in the editorial system. The reason: a system failure caused by a critical software patch that wasn’t installed in time. But the clock is ticking, and every minute of delay in printing can negatively impact on-time delivery the next morning…
Such unexpected IT disruptions can have far-reaching consequences, particularly for newspaper publishers. This was a worst-case scenario that did not seem unrealistic for the BNN either, since for a long time there was no such thing as a modern software distribution system or effective ticket management. It eventually became clear to the publisher that it needed to roll up its digital sleeves and take action in the areas of IT and workplace management.
On the Peace of Innovation and Office Gossip
This traditional publishing house in Baden had some catching up to do in this regard, as Thomas Schramm also noted when he started as Head of IT at BNN in 2019. At the time, this situation was humorously described as “innovation peace.” “I suppose that just sounds better than stagnation,” he muses today with a smile. “Basically, everything worked somehow, but we often improvised and handled many things in a cumbersome way. That cost us a massive amount of time and resources.” This lack of resources was compounded by the effort required to keep the complex IT structures running behind the scenes of the publishing operation. After all, functioning systems and reliable support are essential for editorial workflows, print production, and logistics processes to mesh seamlessly.
But for a long time, there was no such thing as professional incident management at the BNN. There was no ticket system, and every report was handled on an ad hoc basis. Documentation? Nonexistent. The principle “What’s written down stays” applied only in the newspaper’s editorial department. When similar issues recurred, it was largely thanks to the gut instinct of experienced IT staff that underlying problems could be identified and resolved.
As a result, it could sometimes take an unreasonably long time to link individual glitches in the email system to a server issue, because the relevant reports were received by different support staff—via email, phone, or over coffee. This kind of word-of-mouth support ended up costing more time and effort than it saved.
Lack of transparency – data silos and manual installations
Other areas were also in a state of more or less technical crisis. “We didn’t really have an asset management system either,” Schramm explains. “That’s why we often didn’t know exactly who had which device or what was installed on it. If a user needed a new device, they would send us an email, and we had to figure out if and where we had a suitable one. The result: cumbersome searches and a lot of data dead ends because devices weren’t properly recorded, transferred, or decommissioned.” Software distribution was similarly cumbersome. “We used a Microsoft tool for this, which was cumbersome to use and also difficult to implement for third-party products. Software installations were therefore often performed manually on individual computers, which took a massive amount of time.”
Overall, according to the IT director, there was simply no consistent foundation for effective IT management. The result of this inadequate workplace infrastructure was a lack of transparency and overly cumbersome processes that consumed valuable time—time that was actually needed for important IT projects, such as consolidating IT infrastructures from acquired companies like the Badisches Tagblatt.
The Publishing Industry: A Special Case – IT Requirements with a Particular Focus
To efficiently structure, plan, and manage the BNN’s workplace infrastructure, Schramm and his team wanted a unified workplace management solution. The IT manager immediately had one vendor in mind: Matrix42. He had already had positive experiences with Matrix42’s “Empirum” software distribution tool at another newspaper publisher. Consequently, the vendor’s entire Workplace Management Suite quickly made it onto his shortlist.
What Schramm hoped to achieve was to significantly reduce the workload on his team so they could meet the unique IT demands of a newspaper publisher like the BNN. The main challenge lies in supporting time-sensitive production and logistics processes. After all, the newspaper must be printed on time every day, assembled with supplements, and delivered. This requires precise scheduling and high system availability, which in turn demands rapid responses to production-critical IT disruptions and high system stability. At the BNN, with a circulation of nearly 100,000 copies per day plus additional advertising supplements, this necessitates reliable 24/7 IT support that must always be on call.
Consequently, it is extremely counterproductive to have to spend more time than necessary on standard processes such as device rollouts, patch management, or resolving minor issues. And this is precisely where Matrix42 is designed to help. “Matrix42 was never intended for use directly in the production environment,” Schramm clarifies. “The machines and their control software are far too specialized for that. That actually runs separately from normal IT operations and, in the event of problems, is usually handled with the support of external specialists from the machine manufacturers. IT must provide the secure and functioning infrastructure and connectivity for this. Instead, Matrix42 should help standardize, document, and make common IT processes more effective. I expected the solution to deliver greater transparency and time savings, cost reductions, and a fundamental reduction in workload for my team—which was urgently needed given our chronic staff shortage.”
Easier than ever – Software Deployment and Device Management
The final decision was made in 2020, when Schramm made direct contact with the manufacturer at an event. Once the contract was signed, the only thing missing was a suitable service partner to implement and roll out the solution. “With Consulting4IT, we found a Matrix42 partner in our area, which was important to us as a regional newspaper. We are from the region and serve the region, so we prefer local partners whenever it makes sense to do so. Furthermore, the company was also recommended to us directly by Matrix42.”
Once Consulting4IT had been brought on board as the implementation partner, it was time to get down to business. At the project kickoff, it was agreed that software distribution and device management would be addressed first. “The launch went smoothly,” says Schramm. “We set up the relevant Matrix42 tools quite quickly together with the Consulting4IT technicians. There were no major special requirements, meaning no customization.”
Schramm was also finally able to establish a professional foundation for asset management with the Matrix42 Suite. The system provides full transparency regarding all devices used within the company, ownership, and workstation assignments. Additionally, Empirum can be linked to the application, allowing installed software to be viewed at a glance for each asset. For managing mobile assets, Schramm also integrated Matrix42’s “Silverback,” which integrates seamlessly into the suite.
Staff shortages and obstacles
This laid the foundation for professional software and device management at BNN, even though Schramm notes that there is still room for improvement in this area. “Unfortunately, we are chronically understaffed,” he says, explaining the partial stagnation. “Due to this staff shortage, we unfortunately haven’t yet reached the point we’d like to be at in terms of further developing the applications. There’s also another major stumbling block: the still-pending cleanup of the old asset data to create an up-to-date and accurate data foundation.” So far, Schramm says, they simply haven’t gotten around to it amid their packed daily workload and ongoing projects. “At least,” he continues, “there is already significantly more transparency regarding the newly added devices. And we can now see who is using which assets and what is installed on them. We can also access devices remotely. That’s already much easier than it used to be.”
The interaction between asset management and the subsequently implemented ticketing system also yields helpful synergies. For example, incoming tickets allow the affected devices to be identified immediately, which helps pinpoint potential causes of malfunctions. In addition, all reports are now consolidated in a central location, enabling connections to be identified more quickly. “For example, our users have a habit of integrating dozens of mailboxes and using them as data archives. It sometimes happens that a user has integrated 30 mailboxes,” explains Schramm. “This results in program crashes in the mail client. In the past, this would have been reported through various channels and, taken together, would not have been immediately noticeable. Today, we receive everything consolidated in the ticket system, can identify such performance issues more quickly, and respond accordingly to prevent a major escalation.”
Less workload, more standardization, and a realization
For Schramm, however, this is far from the end of the road for Matrix42. Next on the agenda: setting up the Matrix42 Service Catalog, as well as Consulting4IT’s“Service Catalog Plus”and“Asset Management Plus”custom packs. What matters most to him are the extensive opportunities for further standardization. “For example, we want to use Asset Management Plus to categorize devices into types, into which we can classify existing devices and offer them via the Service Catalog. So there would be, for instance, a ‘Standard Notebook’ and a ‘Performance Notebook,’ each of which could include different models within their respective categories. Matrix42’s standard tools cannot map this, but Asset Management Plus can.”
Overall, Matrix42 makes life easier for him and his team, Schramm notes with satisfaction. “We have more structure and clarity in our IT operations, especially thanks to the ability to automate and standardize processes. Matrix42 frees up time for us to focus on more important IT projects, such as the upcoming rollout of Microsoft 365. Added to this is the consolidation of various IT structures resulting from the BNN’s acquisition of different publishing groups and media companies,” he sums up. “The investment has also more than paid for itself in terms of costs. Because in addition to the general improvement in efficiency, we were also able to eliminate an entire full-time position that we would have had difficulty filling given the current job market situation.”
Schramm therefore considers the implementation of the Matrix42 Suite to have been a very good decision overall. The only thing he would do differently today: “It would have been better to clean up our database regarding asset source data before implementing the asset management system. Because now we’re dragging around data dead weight in the system that skews the values. We now plan to clean this up in light of upcoming projects and ensure that the data remains consistently up-to-date and accurate in the future.”
IT as a Foundation – The Importance of IT in the Publishing Industry
According to Schramm, the Matrix42 applications and Consulting4IT’s Custom Packs complement each other seamlessly and are increasingly evolving into a cross-organizational IT system for BNN—in line with the principles of enterprise service management. Schramm hopes this will enable the company to create additional value for the entire organization beyond the IT department in the future. Whether in HR for employee lifecycle management or in facility management for handling a wide variety of tasks—the tools from the Matrix42 Suite and Consulting4IT’s additional offerings make it possible.
By introducing and implementing the new system, Schramm and his team have brought about a comprehensive and positive transformation of the BNN’s IT infrastructure. In doing so, they have not only played a key role in improving internal processes but have also indirectly ensured that BNN editions continue to arrive on time in readers’ mailboxes—further proof of how crucial IT is to a publishing house’s competitiveness. In this context, Schramm hits the nail on the head when he concludes: “Our office is located—typically IT—in the basement. One could view that negatively, but we say: The basement is the foundation of the building. And isn’t IT also a cornerstone of every company these days?”
About BNN
The BNN (Badische Neueste Nachrichten) is a renowned media company founded in 1946. The Wilhelm Baur Foundation, established in 1994 by the publisher at the time, safeguards the BNN’s independence and supports employees as well as regional projects. The foundation is a public commitment to the social responsibility that the BNN assumes toward society. In 2021, the BNN acquired the “Badische Tagblatt” and has since combined the Baden-focused interests of two regional newspaper publishers. With the motto “Baden begins here” and values such as a connection to one’s homeland, proximity, and truthfulness, the BNN, with its approximately 1,700 employees, shapes public relations in Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden, and other locations throughout the region.