Assignment:
Globalization has brought many changes in the way business is done in the world today. Not only has it expanded markets but has also dispersed customers and organizations. Ithas resulted in a change in the decision-making processes making collaborative decision-making more significant. In the current environment, decision making is a collaborative process between remotely located task forces and in-house teams. In this environment communication-driven group DSS makes it possible for each and every participant to send and receive information in real-time and interact with each other without having to meet physically (Power, 2002).
In the year 2001, DreamWorks released Shrek the animation that won the first Academy Award for animated films and broke Box Office records. DreamWorks set an ambitious goal to further its success after Shrek. They decided to release two animated films every year. This was a big task full of challenges considering that it takes three years to release an animated movie. Two other significant challenges were talent availability and the greatest of all, geography.
DreamWorks' animation teams were located on two different campuses approximately three hundred and fifty meters apart. One team was in Glendale, and the other team was in Redwood City, California. In the course of planning for Shrek 2 the director was caught up in another animation series and therefore was unavailable to travel back and forth between the two cities. Therefore, to solve this problem, the animation CEO challenged his technology team to develop a solution that would allow both teams to work together remotely with less traveling to avoid exhaustion and increase creativity.
The DREAMWORKS team had background information on communicating through the screen but knew it had to be finessed. With their background knowledge and information, they developed a number of prototype rooms before getting HP on board to bring in their expertise on enterprise-class networking, imaging, and service based products.
HP's ultimate solution for collaboration is the HP Halo Collaboration Studio. This solution gives companies with geographically spread teams to fast-track decision making, enhance individual connections and maximize productivity. It gives users secure data sharing and broadcast quality that is real time.
According to Polycom (2011), Halo Collaboration Studio is specifically designed for a broadcast studio with all necessary elements that are required to maximize on business communication. To use this Halo system, an organization, needs to acquire at least two rooms for a maximum six people each. The rooms are of studio quality with three plasma televisions each. The users utilize an on-screen user interface that is simple for collaboration.
Halo rooms work together efficiently with the aid of a software control system that is intricate. The system also provides color calibration and precise image so that users can appear like they do in real life. To allow for a seamless 24/7 connection, Halo Video Exchange gives a high-speed bandwidth with uninterrupted delays between all Hallo studios globally. Regular service and repair, equipment warranty, and network operations management eliminate the need for a business to maintain the Halo room.
Participating parties are able to easily share data and documents from their personal computers with participants in other Halo rooms via collaboration screens attached on top of the plasma displays. The Halo rooms, in addition, have a camera with high magnification that allows one to zoom in on table contents, thus able to reveal the color shading and finest details, together with an open call line for participants that are not in the rooms.
One of the challenges of using Halo includes the pricing. It costs fifty-five thousand dollars to install and eighteen thousand dollars per month to run. Another challenge is the lack of visual cues present in areal world scenario to allow people to know when it is their chance to participate or not. This is, however, controlled by bulletin boards and textual interfaces. One of the pros is that there are no charges per use; therefore, it can be employed by an unlimited number of people once acquired. There are also payment packages for U.S customers which are less than thirty thousand dollars plus services and network charges.
In producing Shrek 2, DreamWorks utilized Halo collaboration in the whole process of production. This has considerably helpedcreativity and productivity of the entire crew as no interruptions were incurred since critical artwork could be discussed and approved between production using high-resolution colors -calibrated HP platforms. This platform has changed the way DreamWorks carry out business by shortening product time and also offering the best talent available globally to participate in production with little cost and real-time. Hallo has enhanced collaboration, inclusivity and cut the cost of business for DreamWorks in a significant way. It has also enhanced creativity in a big way.
References
Power, D.J. (2002). Decision Support Systems: Concepts and Recourses for Managers. Westport Conn., Quorum Books.
Polycom, Inc. (2011). Polycom Halo Collaboration Studio. Retrieved from
https://polycom.co.th/global/documents/partners/strategic_global_alliances/brochures/halo-collaboration-studio-brochure.pdf