Bus 320 - Cirque Du Soleil Notes

Cirque du Soleil Notes

• Danielle Savoie, VP of IT and Knowledge Management
• Members of staff and managers were wondering what role IT would play in the organization where creativity, imagination, and inspiration were paramount
• Savoie wanted to find ways for IT to support Cirque’s substantial growth
• For each show, IT team supported 45 IP phones, six servers, three routers, Ethernet connectors, a KM of optic fiber connecting to at least 175 devices
• There are IT teams in Montreal, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Melbourne, and Macau
• Cirque has over 200 servers
• Savoie says IT is IT no matter where its implemented, applications fit better in some environments than others, must ask whats next in store and how to continune to add value at Cirque

IT at the Heart of Cirque du Soleil

• Role of IT was to support knowledge management to capture, leverage, and transfer knowledge across processes and projects
• All applications to support creation of Cirque were specially designed and custom built to their requirements
• Cirque Memory, a knowledge repository seens as a “comprehensive bible” for the organization

• Accessible in 5 languages
• Stores all relevant info from the creation stage to the delivery of the show
• Artists make-up, costume sets, and staging

• Design activities draw heavily from the cetral repository
• Storing creative components is critical, seen as a corporate asset to grow and preserve their heritage, source for creative influence
• Memory was created to guide artists on their path, from resume to performing

• Facilitates the work of everyone from the creation division, designers, directors, performers, etc.

Tour Life Cycle

• IT supports entire value chain, from creation, production, to diffusion
• IT was implemented to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of their process
• Creation: scenography, choreography, and music composition

• IT records intentions behind the work, comments from creators, directors info, storyboard, character and costume descriptions, etc., thus a knowledge network

• Design: technical process of manufacturing the Cirque

• Brings together experts who create costumes, make-ups, lighting, sound engineering, technical engineering, equipment, etc.
• Used IT to better manage activities, using information from measurements, patterns, notes from the artist, no loss of information

• Preparation: helping artists prepare for the show, training, rehearsals, courses

• IT developed an internal application to enhance training experience, monitor muscular development

• Diffusion: facilitates ticket sales and actual performances

• IT contributed to the Cirque’s website, enhancing it for customers and organizational members, a forum for contests, promotions, galleries, experiences
• Interactive, easy to navigate and intuitive to use

• Logistics: tour planning and developing shows infrastructure (tickets, visas, immigration papers, travel arrangements, work permits, accommodations

• Cirque has over 20,000 categories of equipment for its infrastructure
• IT developed an electronic document management system to standardize terms to describe the equipment used

• Performance resource management: supports other activities throughout the value chain (screening, auditioning, and evaluating, recruiting, production integration, supervision, monitor health)

• IT creating an application that managed all casting process, videos submitted, and past, present, future auditions
• Analyzes appliations (Virtual Talent Scout), facilitates discovery and recruitment of promising artists

• Circus employ such a sophisticated method in 2008
• 2000 danielle arrived ppl wondered how IT can help
• Things that surprised
• Although it’s important to maintain, it’s also critical to continue to innovate and find other solutions to
• Provided benefits to the organization that was not considered,