Steve Canepa, IBM, Vice President, IBM Global Media & Entertainment Industry

The Role of Storage in Production and Distribution

Abstract

Steve Canepa will open his remarks on Storage in Production and Distribution with an integrated view of Media & Entertainment industry in relation to a digital content framework and discuss the challenges of content workflow. He will discuss how companies currently view storage acquisition, and how it is evolving to segmented storage types. He will also address how the industry is undergoing a fundamental change in production infrastructures towards centralized storage architectures that separate applications from the infrastructures.

Biography

As Vice President, Global Media and Entertainment Industry, Steve is responsible for IBM’s overall results in the Entertainment, Publishing, Broadcast, Cable, Satellite, Sports and Advertising customer segments worldwide. He is also the founder of and a key leader in IBM’s cross-industry Digital Media initiative.

Steve has guided the marketplace strategy and solution offerings for IBM’s Global M&E Industry organization since 1995. He directs the worldwide sales of IBM’s broad portfolio of hardware, software and services and is responsible for IBM’s marketing activities, including all messaging and partnerships. During that time frame, IBM’s overall business has grown dramatically and is now the largest technology and services organization serving the global M&E industry.

Steve has a deep understanding of the key business imperatives facing firms in the M&E industry and has consulted extensively with senior executives as they look to transform their organizations. He led the recent launch of a portfolio of business solutions - cost optimization and revenue maximization - to address the profit pressures at work in today’s highly competitive marketplace; and enhanced the IBM digital media framework which addresses the digital media value chain.

Steve represents IBM’s M&E efforts to the marketplace and has delivered many keynote addresses at Industry conferences: NAB, IBC, Broadcast Asia, Digital Hollywood, etc, and often speaks at events, including: NEXPO, CES, iStudio, Content World, etc. He has also appeared on numerous radio and television news programs, including CNBC, CNNfn, C/NET, CBS, ABC, NBC etc. In 2004, he was recognized as one of the 100 most influential executives by Digital Media Magazine.

First joining IBM in January 1983, Steve has 20+ years of experience building and leading significant sales, marketing, strategy, consulting, solutions and systems integration organizations. He graduated from UCLA in 1982 with two bachelor of arts degrees: Economics and Political Science with Phi Eta Sigma honors. He received a MBA in 1990 from UCLA, with Beta Gamma Sigma and top field study honors. He has participated in the Wharton School financial management program and Harvard University’s executive curriculum on Strategy formation.

With a personal dedication to improving the health and education of children; Steve serves on the Board of Directors for both the Junior Achievement of Southern California and The Bogart Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. He is also a Board Member of Digital Domain and Music Cares.

Steve and his wife, Marianne, live with their three children in Los Angeles, California. Marianne is a Supervising Producer of prime-time one-hour dramatic episodic television series’.