William Reed is in the middle of a major technology and data transformation. PPA’s Mel McVeigh spoke with Rachael Miller, Digital Delivery and Development Director, about how they are approaching technology transformation, and what tools and approaches they used to help understand the business and industry landscape, including the newly launched PPA Media Technology Market Map.   

Where our conversation starts   

Publishers often face complex decisions around technology, whether adopting new tools, consolidating existing systems, or addressing operational pain points. The challenge lies not just in building in-house, or choosing the right vendor, but in having the confidence, clarity, and industry context to make decisions that align with business strategy.    

Miller said: “When leadership asks us to look at a problem or commercial opportunity and how tech can enable it, sometimes I am like where do I start? Depending on the brief, it might be a new event type, or an improved CMS, or a MarTech consolidation – and I immediately think, well, I’ve got four event software solutions, are they the right fit? I have ten CMS… I’ve got this, I’ve got that, the marketplace has got so many solutions, but how do I know which is the right one as a reference point?”   

William Reed were already on the path for technology transformation 

• Technology transformation is an ongoing and iterative process often constantly accessing, re-evaluating new and existing technologies.
  
  
• This is not unique to William Reed but an ongoing question for all media owners.   
  

William Reed, like many publishers, raised the questions: what are the technologies available, who is using what, and is there a quick and easy way to understand the technology landscape?

These are points often asked by PPA members, which led to the creation of the PPA Media Technology Market Map as a reference tool. With input in its design from various members of the PPA Digital Collective, including William Reed, we were able to map vendors who specifically cater and target the media sector. 

What is it? 

The PPA Media Technology Market Map is a visual or structured overview of all third-party providers, that helps publishers understand the potential technology vendors that can support their business goals, across a variety of verticals. 

• It is a curated, publishing-specific list of proven suppliers to accelerate decision-making.   
   

• It explores technology solutions relevant to media-specific challenges (e.g. Editorial, AdTech, MarTech, Data, Commerce).   
  
  
• It helps teams understand the ecosystem of tools, services, and platforms that support everything from content creation to monetisation.  

Miller commented: “In planning, what would have been helpful is having a publishing-specific list of proven suppliers. Building the Media Market Map out with the PPA, we discovered more companies and tools which we didn’t know where available. Knowing they also cater to media companies, and we can also understand and share knowledge across the sector, gives us more confidence when we start the software procurement process.”

How did William Reed use the PPA Media Technology Market Map?

“It was really useful to understand the categories, and things we hadn’t considered across the whole tech ecosystem.”, Miller answered. “As a template we could adapt it internally and it formed and inspiration to describe and map our technology.”  

Can you see the PPA Media Market Map developing over time? 

“The technology landscape is moving fast. It has the opportunity over time to be a clear reference point of the state of play. We can quickly access, almost like a cheat sheet key publishing partners, but also, I see a range of technology solutions that we may need in the future.  

The benefit of the PPA Media Technology Market Map and the Digital Collective is the community. We can also reach out to the network and start getting feedback on who is using what within the framework and add vendors over time that we think will be useful for others.” 

How can you use PPA Media Technology Market Map? 

• A reference point for understanding vendor landscape:   
  A trusted, sector-specific supplier list to understand their current technology ecosystem.   
   

• An education and alignment tool:   
  Helped internal teams structure conversations around technology options.   
   

How other publishers should think about their tech stack  

• Start with the business question:   
  Define whether the goal is new adoption, consolidation, or problem-solving before diving into vendor options or even build in-house.  
   

• Industry confidence:   
  Use of the publishing-specific vendor list reduces uncertainty and accelerates procurement, especially for smaller publishers.   
   

• Understand your current landscape:   
  Understanding the technology architecture of your organisation – the integration and pain points, but also opportunities to consolidate, save money, and invest in new technologies to support your business strategy. 
     

• Map your future state:   
  Speak to peers, and create a roadmap to change.   

 
Miller concluded, “This is a great tool and I can see it evolving and supporting members in many ways. I see two clear opportunities. If we start to map vendor scale with publisher size of business, we can share which vendors are most suitable. Not everyone can afford all technology costs, so it is also about understanding partner fit. More importantly, if we collectively know what everyone is using and we partner together on future requirements as an industry, we have more opportunity to inform our partners’ roadmaps to benefit all publishers.”  

 
Are you ready to see the map? Download the PPA Media Technology Market Map here.